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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 15, 2026

Milk Collection Methods for Mice and Reeves' Muntjac Deer

Milk Collection Methods for Mice and Reeves' Muntjac Deer

Published on: July 19, 2014

Dinosaur lactation?

¹Metabolic Research Centre, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. pelse@uow.edu.au

The Journal of Experimental Biology

|January 18, 2013

Summary

Some dinosaurs may have exhibited

Area of Science:

Paleontology
Comparative Physiology

Background:

Mammalian lactation involves milk production for offspring nourishment.
Certain avian species exhibit 'crop milk' secretion for feeding young.
Parental care in birds is hypothesized to have evolved from dinosaurian behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the potential for secretory feeding, analogous to lactation, in dinosaurs.
To explore how this feeding strategy might have influenced dinosaurian offspring growth and development.
To examine the implications of dinosaurian 'lactation' for immune support and parental care.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of avian 'crop milk' and mammalian milk composition.
Examination of fossil evidence and biomechanical principles related to dinosaurian parental care.

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Case study focusing on herbivorous, site-nesting dinosaurs.

Main Results:

Dinosaurian secretory feeding could have supported growth rates comparable to modern birds and mammals.
This feeding strategy may have provided immunological benefits and extended parental protection.
Hypothesized 'lactation' could have served as a crucial transitional feeding method for hatchlings.

Conclusions:

Secretory feeding represents a plausible ancestral form of parental care in certain dinosaur groups.
Dinosaurian 'lactation' could have played a significant role in offspring survival and development.
This feeding strategy offers insights into the evolution of parental care from non-avian dinosaurs to modern birds.