Eli5: how do scientists “know” the behavior of dinosaurs without actually observing them?
In: Biology
Sometimes we find fossils that suggest behaviour.
The first example of Oviraptor, for example, was found with some fossilised eggs which seemed to belong to another species. The paeleontologists who found it interpreted that find as *eating* eggs – they named it Oviraptor because that name means “egg thief”. They thought it was stealing eggs from another species for food.
We find stuff that suggests the diet of different species. We find stuff that suggests mating behaviour, or parental behaviour; for example, if paeleontologists find an adult dinosaur with a half grown juvenile…that suggests the adult delivered some level of care to their offspring, and the offspring stayed with them. We find stuff that suggests various relationships between different species.
The fossils tell us something about what the living creature was like. We just have to figure out what.
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