Ancient Reptile Birth Preserved in Fossil

Link: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/02/13/ancient.reptile.birth.preserved.fossil

Recently a fossil of an Ichthyosaur, a Mesozoic marine reptile, was found in China. The Ichthyosaur was a large retile that had made the transition from land to sea, but this fossil shows that the large reptile might have returned to land when giving birth instead of giving birth in the water which is what scientists previously though.

The unusual thing about this fossil was that it was of a mother surrounded by three embryos. The first embryo was found just outside the mothers body, the second found still inside of her, and the final one was found in a birth canal. The third embryo coming out head first shows that live births took place on land. The fossil might be the oldest Mesozoic era embryo fossil almost 10 million years older than ones found in the past. This also brings to question about when live birth of land reptiles started.

NOS Themes:

Science is based on evidence- The scientist had the fossils to back up their findings.

Science is subject to debate and is tentative- Before this fossil was found, it was thought that marine reptiles gave birth in the water.

Role of Chance- The scientists were not looking for the fossil, they found it by chance.