Re: live birth

[Bill Adlam <bill.adlam@st-peters.oxford.ac.uk>]

On Wed, 8 Mar 1995 AnmlPeople@aol.com wrote:

> Since apparently no sauropod eggs have been found,  is it reasonable to
> postulate that perhaps sauropods gave live birth?

This has been proposed.  I find it hard to imagine it evolving: it would be
necessary to go from big, calcified air-breathing eggs to much smaller ones
before ovoviviparity and then viviparity could be possible.  Only then could
large size at birth re-evolve.  Not a problem for most invertebrates, small 
squamates and small mammal-like reptiles but only possible, I'd expect, in 
the smallest dinosaurs.  Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

                                                                Bill Adlam