Page 94 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)

Dinosaur eggs

The nest was a
mound of earth lined
with ferns and twigs.
This dinosaur egg
was about the size of
a basketball.
Sauropod egg

Maiasaura nest

Tiny at first,
young dinosaurs
grew very quickly.

Saltasaurus

Thousands of
Saltasaurus
eggs were found in
one nesting site—
they were laid
80 MYA.

Just like their closest living relatives, on the ground. The biggest dinosaurs such
birds and crocodiles, all dinosaurs as the sauropods seem to have buried their
laid eggs. They had hard, chalky shells like eggs in warm earth, or in piles of warm,
birds’ eggs, and at some fossil sites, the ground decaying vegetation like modern crocodiles.
is covered in shell fragments. Where the eggs The warmth was essential to make them
92 are intact, they have clearly been laid in nests hatch. Many smaller, lighter dinosaurs like

US_092-093_Dinosaur_eggs.indd 92 10/04/18 3:33 PM