Titanosaur Hatchling with Nose Horn coloring page

 

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Titanosaur

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a nose horn. 

Titanosaur Hatchling with Nose Horn

Recently a Titanosaur egg was purchased in the USA.  Someone had illegally imported it from Argentina, South America.  It has now been returned to South America.  It was sent through a CT scan... a form of X-ray technology.  It was discovered that the embryo dinosaur... a Titanosaur... had two very unique features.  It had a nose horn and front-facing eyes. 

This is very unusual because adult Titanosaurs have eyes that face out the side of their heads.  There are several species of Titanosaur and they are the biggest land animals to have ever walked the Earth.  It is also known that dinosaurs lined their nests with leaves.  

This egg is probably from Patagonia, although we may never know exactly where it was found.  This is the problem with illegal fossil hunters.  

The nose horn may have been used to punch out of the shell at hatching time.  Or/and it may have been used to defend itself while young.  No known species of Titanosaurs had nose horns.  But it IS possible that this is a new species where the nose horn was also a part of the adult dinosaur.  In this drawing the guard dino that was left behind after the herd moved on DOES have a horn.  

It is thought that Titanosaurs laid their eggs and abandoned them.  As mentioned above, possibly one Titanosaur from the herd kept an eye on the nesting grounds, but with around 100 eggs per nest, it is thought that the young were on their own when they hatched.  This is how Sea Turtles reproduce. 

The fact that Titanosaurs seemed to have grown at a phenomenal rate indicates that maybe the forward-facing eyes helped the young catch small prey like lizards and insects.  This would mean that Titanosaurs and maybe all Sauropods were omnivores when young.  Eating meat is a good way to get enough protein to grow fast.  

NOTE:  This drawing, in printable form, is found by clicking on the bottom labeled "Paleontology."

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