The fossils of baby Rapetosaurus which is a genus of long-necked sauropod dinosaurs are discovered by researchers Upper cretaceous Maevarano formation of Madagascar. This report published in the journal science reveal that the baby Rapetosaurus weigh about 7.7 pounds and just a few weeks when it is dead.
The researchers mistook the partial skeleton for crocodile fossil, with further analysis of preserved showed patterns of blood supply. Also the cartilage growth at limb bones ends.
“This baby’s limbs at birth were built for its later adult mass; as an infant, however, it weighed just a fraction of its future size. This is our first opportunity to explore the life of a sauropod just after hatching, at the earliest stage of its life,” says lead researcher Kristi Curry Rogers from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
These creatures are more capable than older ones, this baby dinosaur was like a miniature of fully grown Rapetosaurus. In many birds and mammals today there is a rapid developmental growth observed.
The baby rapetosaurus starved to death says the researchers most likely to extreme drought in lifetime. The growth of cartilage resembles the modified growth of these cartilages which occur among vertebrates starvation.
“Between its hatching and death just a few weeks later. This baby Rapetosaurus fended for itself in a harsh and unforgiving environment,” adds Curry Rogers.
Sauropod dinosaurs are long necked among the largest animals walking on the land and their eggs are about the size of Soccer ball.