Re: Titanosaur eggs

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

hard to say.

in MAMMALS the juvenile face is preadapted for cuteness.  That is -
large eyes and snubby snout.  This triggeres nurtering behavior.  These
facial proportions grow out/become the adult morph usually within the
first year (us humans are genetically deficient in this)

This juvenile face structure is not a survival trait commonly found in
BIRDS (baby birds being some of the ugliest damn things you ever saw)
but is found in CROCODILES.   

Maiasaurs at least seem to show the large eyes and snubby snout in the
juveniles, but that's no guarantee across species lines.  So it's tough
to say whether sauropod juveniles would show this 'cuteness' trait or
show the fully adult morph of the skull.  These are the first ones after
all.

-Betty

Dann Pigdon wrote:
> I wonder if anyone can answer a question I have: If the embryos
> are those of titanosaurs, can the ellusive shape of an adult's skull
> be infered from them, perhaps by looking at the growth patterns of
> better known sauropods and extrapolating the growth of the skull?
> I am under the impression that there are no titanosaur skulls known
> (which in itself may not be correct on my part).
>