A new study published in PLOS One reported that nesting habits of today’s birds and crocodiles could give a hint about how ancient dinosaurs incubated their eggs. Study researchers, after analyzing dinosaur eggs, found that most dinosaur species incubated their eggs like today’s crocodiles do.

As per the researchers, they examined more than two dozen types of dinosaur eggs. After analysis, they realized that like modern crocodiles, ancient dinosaurs had a habit of burying their eggs in nests. These nests were usually covered with vegetation and dirt, the researchers added.

The study also reported that some meat-eating theropods were similar to modern-day birds when it comes to laying eggs. Those bipedal dinosaurs incubated their eggs in one nest. It allowed the dinosaurs to shift their nesting to other places, the study explained.

Dinosaurs’ method to incubate their eggs has been baffling researchers from a long time. They were not aware of the creature’s nest structure and material.

Kohei Tanaka, a researcher from the University of Calgary and an author of the study, said as there were no fossil records of dinosaurs’ nest structures, it was difficult to find how the ancient creatures buried their eggs. It wasn’t clear whether dinosaurs incubated their eggs like crocodiles, or like modern-day birds, Tanaka explained.

“There are many papers that seek the incubation method of dinosaurs, but our research is one of the most comprehensive studies in that it analyzes large datasets on the eggs of both living and fossil species”, as per Tanaka.