Overview
- The peer-reviewed PLOS ONE study, published Thursday, reports the first fossil egg containing a Lystrosaurus embryo.
- High-energy scans at the European Synchrotron in France revealed an unfused lower jaw, showing the embryo had not hatched and could not feed.
- The researchers infer soft, relatively large, yolk-rich eggs that produced precocial young that did not rely on milk.
- The team links this reproductive strategy to Lystrosaurus’ post–End-Permian success because larger leathery eggs lose less water in drought.
- The egg was found in 2008 near Oviston in South Africa’s Karoo Basin by fossil finder John Nyaphuli and held at the National Museum in Bloemfontein.