Scientists have discovered that dinosaurs incubated eggs worse than birds

The results were published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

At the centre of the study were oviraptors - dinosaurs that looked like birds and lived about 70-66 million years ago.

They built nests in the form of rings of eggs, leaving the centre empty. Scientists recreated such a life-size clutch and conducted a series of experiments.

Details

It turned out that the adult dinosaur could not completely cover all the eggs with its body. As a result, the temperature in the clutch was unevenly distributed - the difference could reach up to 6°C.

This meant that some eggs developed faster and some slower, and the chicks could hatch at different times.

Unlike modern birds, which warm their eggs with their body heat, dinosaurs appear to have used a combined method.

They partially warmed the clutch, but sunlight and ambient temperature played a significant role.

Therefore, eggs warmed more evenly in warm climates, while they warmed worse in colder conditions.

Why it matters

The study helps to better understand how the transition from dinosaurs to birds occurred.

Modern birds have developed a more efficient way of incubating - they have complete control over the temperature of the clutch.

In dinosaurs, on the other hand, this system was less precise, which could have affected the survival rate of the offspring.

Background

Oviraptors are a group of dinosaurs closely related to the ancestors of birds. Their nests with eggs have been found in China for many years, and they are considered one of the most well-studied among dinosaurs.

The new study is based on modelling the clutch and experiments with heating it.

Source

Chun-Yu Su et al, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2026), DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2026.1351288