Tiny Titan cover art

Tiny Titan

Tiny Titan

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 By looking at fossilized dinosaur nests, scientists have determined that most dinosaur babies needed to be nurtured by their parents, like modern birds. However, a new discovery points to a different upbringing for some of the biggest dino species. Recently, paleontologists discovered the fossil of a baby titanosaur from Madagascar. As an adult, this species could grow to 50 ft long. Yet their eggs were smaller than soccer balls, and their hatchlings weighed just 7 lb. How did they get from the size of a human baby to bigger than a city bus? While the infants of many species look very different from adults, this fossil baby was almost a perfect copy. The scientists used CT scans to look inside its bones and discovered patterns of very rapid growth showing that, since hatching, it had added 10 times its weight in a matter of weeks. A study of its joints then showed it would have been much more agile than its lumbering parents. Taken together, its adultlike proportions, rapid growth, and athleticism suggest that this little sauropod—unlike humans—would have had to fend for itself right after hatching, like many modern lizards. Its ability to find large quantities of food to be able to grow that quickly must have been key to its success. Scientists still don’t know much about the parenting habits of dinosaurs, but this tiny titan is shedding new light.
No reviews yet