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Dino Trove Yields 187 Fossils in Mongolia

Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

"We find new species all the time," he said. "A hundred Psittacosaurus are a lot more interesting to me than new species."

That's because the paleontologists plan to analyze the fossils, looking for evolution-driven variations that occurred in a single group.

Horner compared the study to an examination of a group of people. While individuals would have traits in common, the people could be divided up into subgroups. Beyond that, each person would have his or her own unique characteristics. The same likely holds true for Psittacosaurus.

Since the dinosaurs represent different age groups, the team also plans to identify changes that occurred over time with their growth.

Paul Barret, a paleontologist at Britain's Natural History Museum, thinks such collections of Psittacosaurus prove that it was a very "social" dinosaur that lived together in groups from a very early age.

Barret recently led an excavation in China where the fossilized remains of six young Psittacosaurus were found together in what he calls a "nursery." It appears that the youngsters died together suddenly in a volcanic mudflow.

Psittacosaurus was an early relative of Triceratops and Proceratops, dinosaurs known for their horns and frills. Since Psittacosaurus had no such adornments, the paleontologists now believe these features emerged, at least in part, to enhance dinosaur social behaviors that possibly included mating displays and related competitions.

Horner and his team plan to return to Mongolia next year when they hope to collect even more fossils for the project.

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