For more than a century, people believed that dinosaurs were just brutal animals that didn't take care of their offspring. But starting in the 1970s and 1980s, archaeological discoveries revealed that dinosaurs also had more complex social behaviors. Maiasaura is a plant-eating dinosaur that lived about 77 million years ago. Its scientific name comes from Greek and Latin, meaning "good mother".
Fossil mounds of Matrosaurus have clear evidence of parental rearing
Research published in Scientific Reports in October last year went further and showed that dinosaurs that lived 193 million years ago were already moving in groups and raising the next generation.
"We now have a better understanding of dinosaurs and know that at least some of them cared for the next generation and some didn't," Barrett said.
Some dinosaurs "took care of themselves," DiGiacmo said.
"Some species of dinosaurs are thought to have engaged in parental rearing. In fact, one species called Charmander was nicknamed 'Big Mama' because of fossils of it incubating eggs in its nest."
