Study: Dinosaurs Had Teen Pregnancies

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A group of scientists concluded from a study that dinosaurs also engaged in adolescent pregnancy. The reptiles were found to have reached their sexual maturity long before they were fully-grown.

Experts from the University of California-Berkeley discovered this fact after cutting open the arm and leg bones of 10 to 20 specimens of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Allosaurus and Tenontosaurus. All specimens came from those in their juvenile stages, or near fully-grown, as determined by lines on the bones similar to tree rings.

The scientists discovered a medullary bone, a tissue rich in calcium, in thigh and shin bone cavities of the dinosaurs. The tissue is the same as that deposited by female birds, the known descendants of the giant reptiles, before laying their eggs. The tissue was believed to have been used for the production of eggshells.

"We were lucky to find these female fossils," graduate student and co-author Sara Werning said.

Dinosaurs were believed to have had a lifespan of about 30 years, and reached their peak maturity by 25. Scientists believe that the short time that they would have had considering the 5-year average of mature life was what led them to die before giving birth.

"If you only live to be 30 or so and it takes about 25 years to finish growing, it really limits the amount of time you have to reproduce if you wait till you're done growing," said Werning.

"If most dinosaurs died pretty early, it would have paid to reproduce early," abridged Andrew Lee of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Live Science reported that according to Lee, early pregnancy that ensured dinosaur offsprings was the ideal solution for the preservation of the species.

The study was published in an issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.