Re: Psittacosaurus adult found with 34 juveniles

[Brian Choo <bchoo@bigpond.net.au>]

> I personally suspect that live birth is not possible for archosaurs 
> because
> the embryo gets its calcium from the eggshell. There are live-bearing
> geckos, however, while other geckos have hard eggshells. Does someone 
> know
> if those shells are a necessary calcium source, too?


All the livebearing geckoes (Rhacodactylus trachyrhynchus of New 
Caledonia, Hoplodactylus & Naultinus of NZ) are of the diplodactyline 
clade which all (aside from the livebearers) lay soft, leathery eggs - 
these guys are probably more closely related to pygopod legless lizards 
than they are to other geckoes.

In the Australasian region at least, all geckoes that lay hard, 
calcareous eggs are gekkoines - none of which have ever produced a 
live-bearing reproductive strategy.

(yes Dave, I've given up on livebearing dinosaurs for Spec)
>
Brian Choo
Website  = http://www.geocities.com/ozraptor4/