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Nature 431, 145-146 (9 September 2004) | doi:10.1038/431145a; Published online 8 September 2004

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Palaeontology:  Parental care in an ornithischian dinosaur

Qingjin Meng1, Jinyuan Liu1, David J. Varricchio2, Timothy Huang3 & Chunling Gao1

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A dramatic fossil may shed light on how modern archosaurs became devoted parents.

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Crocodilians and birds show extensive parental care of their young1, 2, but whether this behaviour evolved independently in these two groups of living archosaurs is unknown — in part because features of parenting among related fossil groups such as dinosaurs3 are unclear. A dramatic specimen of the small ornithischian dinosaur Psittacosaurus sp. (Dalian Natural History Museum D2156) from Liaoning in China reveals a single adult clustered with 34 juveniles within an area of 0.5 square metres, providing strong evidence for post-hatching parental care in Dinosauria.

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