Dinosaurs may have endured terrible teen years: researchers

Acne and rapid hair growth may not be involved, but researchers say dinosaurs may have had a difficult teenage phase before reaching adulthood.

Scientists at Florida State University discovered this while putting together an unprecedented dinosaur growth chart.

The scientists used 22 Albertosaurus fossils from a Canadian bone bed to conduct the study.

Using a small bone in the lower leg of one of the creatures, the scientists measured the growth rings of the dinosaur from two to 28-years of age, when it died.

The results showed a significantly accelerated growth when the dinosaurs hit puberty (around 14-years-of age), a trait that the creatures now share with mammals.

And like humans, the harsh reality of life also comes along with sexual maturity.

The scientists say that the dinosaurs' death rate increased by 23 per cent once they reached adolescence, with the pressure of mating, disease, and combat as major factors.

Unlike crocodiles and snakes, dinosaurs hit a certain age when they just stop growing and become "old", according to the scientists. Other reptiles undergo indeterminate growth, where they just continuously grow until they die.

The researchers' results are one in a string of discoveries that paint a picture of dinosaurs as more mammal-like than reptile-like. The scientists say the find could affect the people's perception of dinosaurs.

The researchers' findings appear in the latest issue of the journal Science.

Photography: Globi Web Solutions

Source: Discovery Channel Reports, July 14 edition