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Published online 8 September 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040906-9

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Fossil hints at devoted parenting in dinosaurs

Prehistoric familial care may explain instincts of modern birds and crocodiles.

Michael Hopkin

Fossil hunters in China have unearthed what looks like the final resting place of an adult dinosaur with 34 offspring. The unique discovery shows that at least some dinosaurs cared for their young after they hatched out, and suggests that the parental instincts of present-day birds and reptiles such as crocodiles may have a common evolutionary precursor.

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