New Research Finds Dinosaurs Took Up To 6 Months To Hatch

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- New research suggests that some dinosaurs took up to six months to hatch out of their eggs. And you thought your kid's Hatchimal was taking forever!

The study, published in Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences, found that nonavian dinosaurs had a much slower incubation period than originally thought.

Study authors explain that birds have a short incubation period, averaging just 11-85 days. But it turns out these "living dinosaurs," whose "rapid development has been considered to reflect the primitive dinosaurian condition" are actually quite different from their grounded ancestors in this respect.

Researchers determined these dinosaurs took anywhere from 2.8-5.8 months to hatch. They determined this through empirical data on the growth of embryonic teeth.

In this case, being a "late bloomer" may not have been a good thing. Researchers say that shorter incubation periods may have been better for survival because it limited time the eggs were vulnerable to predators and environmental disturbances. A shorter hatching also "facilitated rapid attainment of adulthood."

The researchers argue that a longer incubation "may have affected [dinosaurs'] ability to compete with more rapidly generating populations of birds, reptiles, and mammals," possibly aiding in their extinction.