PROTOCERATOPSIAN EMBRYOS FROM INNER-MONGOLIA, PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-CHINA

New protoceratopsid fossils from Bayan Mandahu include the smallest sp ecimens of Protoceratops and Bagaceratops recovered to date. None of t hese specimens were found associated with dinosaur eggshells, but all are small enough to fit within any of the eggs that have been attribut ed to protoceratopsians. It is concluded that they represent embryonic dinosaurs. No specimens are complete, but together they allow a bette r understanding of the cranial anatomy of the embryos. The absence of embryos in the thousands of eggs collected from Cretaceous sediments o f China and Mongolia may represent a taphonomic condition whereby embr yos were destroyed by the decomposing contents of the eggs. If this is correct, embryonic dinosaurs from central Asia may only have been pre served when the eggs were broken so that the liquid contents drained.