Dinosaurs, like all animals, needed to reproduce to ensure the survival of their species, but exactly how they mated remains a subject of scientific investigation. While no direct evidence has been found, such as fossils capturing the act of mating, experts can make educated guesses based on scientific studies.
How did dinosaurs mate?
After a female sauropod indicated her receptiveness (maybe by releasing pungent odours then moving her tail aside), a huge male would have had to raise himself onto his hind legs before mounting.
Meanwhile, dinosaurs like Stegosaurus would have needed to avoid hurting themselves on spikes and plates.
And if sexual intercourse was similar to what happens in crocodiles and birds, reproduction would mean internal fertilisation – penis into cloaca – and it would have been quick. But as yet, no fossils have caught dinosaurs in the act of copulation.
How did dinosaurs attract a mate?
Scientists are more confident about courtship behaviour. A trackway in Colorado features hollows (some over 5m long) created by the backwards scraping of large theropods, which could be evidence of a lekking ground or lek – a place where males perform a mating ritual to attract passing females, as seen in birds such as grouse. It’s amusing to think that T. rex might have danced to impress a potential partner.
Many dinosaurs had appendages that may have functioned in mating. The elaborate horns and frills of ceratopsians like Kosmoceratops (‘ornamented horned face’) may have not (only) been used to defend their herd, but as weapons in male-male competition – like deer antlers – or for display, to encourage female choice.
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