Karoo's Dragons, Dragon Hunters, and Their Children

After Plateosaurus, Massospondylus is the poster child early sauropodomorph (or, as they were called before their ties to sauropods were clearer, prosauropods). Not only are they known from complete adult skeletons in Early Jurassic sites across southern Africa, but they are also the earliest dinosaurs known from eggs and embryos. Baby Massospondylus were big-headed quadrupeds, in stark contrast to their small-headed bipedal parents. Because they were born without teeth, and since adult tracks (but no adult bones) have been found in close proximity to fossilized nests, it's possible that Massospondylus provided their offspring with basic parenting -- perhaps cutting up and regurgitating vegetation for their brood like modern birds.

The contemporary Dracovenator may well have been these dinosaurs' chief predator. While it's known from only a few skull fragments, these bones seem to have belonged to a dilophosaur. This classification is probably best demonstrated by the end of a juvenile Dracovenator's snout, filled with snaggle teeth and arching between the nostril and front teeth, as in adult dilophosaurs.