A Toothy Family Walk

About this drawing

Seeing a T-Rex and baby side by side raises a tricky question. Did dinosaurs actually take care of their kids? Fossils can't tell us everything, but they do leave clues, and some of those clues are pretty surprising.

For some dinosaurs, the proof is solid. A few were found sitting right on top of their nests, covering their eggs just like a hen. In Montana, scientists found a big nesting ground of a plant eater called Maiasaura. Its name means good mother lizard, and the babies seem to have stayed in the nest while they grew.

We know far less about the T-Rex, since nobody has found one of its nests yet. Still, its closest living relatives are birds and crocodiles, and both look after their young. Mother alligators gently carry hatchlings in their jaws, and birds bring food to their chicks. So many scientists think a T-Rex parent might have protected its babies for a while.

We do know that young dinosaurs grew fast and faced a lot of danger. Having a huge grown-up around would have been a big help. We may never know exactly what family life looked like for this giant, but wondering about it is half the fun of learning about dinosaurs.

• dinosaurs
• t-rex
• families
• baby animals