BABY YINGLIANG

This Amazing Baby Dinosaur Was Found Curled Up in an Ancient Fossilized Egg

The embryo was curled in its egg in a “bird-like posture,” suggesting dinos might have had more in common with modern birds than previously known.

“One of the best preserved dinosaur embryos ever found” has offered scientists an unprecedented glimpse into how the prehistoric creatures were born, suggesting dinos might have had more in common with modern birds than previously understood. The oviraptorid embryo inside the unhatched egg, laid between 72 and 66 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period, was discovered in Southern China and has been nicknamed Baby Yingliang. Scientists said in a research paper published in the journal iScience on Tuesday that the infant dino’s curled body posture resembles tucking, a behavior exhibited by baby birds prior to hatching and previously thought to be unique. Chicks preparing to hatch would shift in the egg, tucking their head under their wing in order to stabilize their skull before cracking through the shell with their beak. “This indicates that such behavior in modern birds first evolved and originated among their dinosaur ancestors,” said Fion Waisum Ma, a vertebrate paleontologist and a co-author of the paper. Baby Yingliang measures around 27 centimeters, and would have grown between two and three meters long if it had survived, scientists believe.