Precocity in a tiny titanosaur from the Cretaceous of Madagascar

Abstract

Tiny giant Titanosaurs were the largest land vertebrates to have evolved, but even they had to start small. Curry Rogers et al. describe a baby Rapetosaurus only 35 cm at the hip at death. Histological and limb analysis suggest that this tiny giant had a much greater range of movement than it would have had as an adult. Furthermore, the work confirms hypotheses that these largest of dinosaurs were precocial, being able to move independently immediately after birth. This pattern differs from that seen in many contemporary dinosaur groups, such as theropods and ornithischians, for which increasing evidence suggests that parental care was important. Science , this issue p. 450