Maria A. -- It all began with the study of an adult plesiosaur fossil that was found in 1987. Scientists recently discovered that the animals abdominal cavity contained tiny bones which were of a unborn baby plesiosaur. This find was the first proof that plesiosaur's gave birth to live young. This discovery was not shocking to many scientists because plesiosaur's were not built to go on land and lay eggs. While scientists have had the idea that plesisosaur's only gave birth one baby at a time this discovery has gave them the idea that their abdominal cavity is fit to have more than one baby. This impacted the way scientists believed this species cared for their offspring. There is no official answer to whether mothers cared extensively for the offspring or not but, this discovery has changed the way they had thought about it before.
The miracle of birth has never ceased to amaze me and this is no exception. The fossil was found in 1987 which means that they were unaware what the bones were and finally after 24 years of extensive research they came to this discovery. New technology not only influences our present but now it is helping scientists decipher the past. The discovery of the abdominal cavity in the plesiosaur has been so eye opening for me. The idea that mammals wouldn’t care for their offspring was a complete shock to me because I had always pictured a mother caring for her baby. They have not had an official answer to the question of whether or not they care for their young for a period of time but they plan to come up with one as soon as possible. Although this isn’t the first record of an ancient marine reptile to give birth underwater it has changed the way scientists look at not only plesiosaur's but also at other fossils.
Link: "Sea Monster" Fetus Found -- Proof Plesiosaurs Had Live Young?
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