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A nest of Protoceratops andrewsi (Dinosauria, Ornithischia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

D. E. Fastovsky ,
D. B. Weishampel ,
M. Watabe ,
R. Barsbold ,
Kh. Tsogtbaatar  and
P. Narmandakh
D. E. Fastovsky
Affiliation:
1Department of Geosciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA,
D. B. Weishampel
Affiliation:
2Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA,
M. Watabe
Affiliation:
3Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, 2-3. Shimoishii-1, Okayama 700-0907, Japan,
R. Barsbold
Affiliation:
4Director, Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Avenue 63 Ulaanbaatar 210351, Mongolia,
Kh. Tsogtbaatar
Affiliation:
5Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Avenue 63 Ulaanbaatar, Ulaanbaatar 210351, Mongolia,
P. Narmandakh
Affiliation:
6Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 210351, Mongolia
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Abstract

A remarkable specimen of the small neoceratopsian dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi (Late Cretaceous, Mongolia) reveals the first nest of this genus, complete with fifteen juveniles. The relatively large size of the individuals and their advanced state of development suggests the possibility that Protoceratops juveniles remained and grew in their nests during at least the early stages of postnatal development. The nest further implies that parental care and sociality are phylogenetically basal behaviors in Ceratopsia. Finally, it reaffirms the conclusion that Protoceratops lived (and died) in the sandy aeolian dune fields of the central Asian craton.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 85 , Issue 6 , November 2011 , pp. 1035 - 1041
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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