Fossils of ancient marine reptiles that lived 230 million years ago show the prehistoric creatures gave birth to live young, scientists said on Wednesday. Although thousands of specimens of a large group of ancient reptiles called sauropterygians have been found, scientists were not sure whether they laid eggs on land, like sea turtles, or delivered their offspring live in the water. But the remains of two pregnant reptiles known as Keichousaurus hui have answered the question. The fossils from the National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan revealed they had a moveable pelvis, which could make birth easier, and both contained several embryos. "This is the first time we have found a specimen of a big marine group that has a baby in their body," said Xiao-chun Wu, a palaeontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Canada. "Now we have solved the problem," he added in a telephone interview. Although scientists had suspected the prehistoric reptiles produced live young, until now there has not been any concrete evidence. The complete specimens, which are described in the science journal Nature, were found in China and measure up to 30 cm (12 inches) long. The finding will also enable scientists to identify the sex of the other fossils by comparing their anatomy, according to Wu and his colleagues. Sauropterygians, which include large animals such as plesiosaurs and mososaurs, lived from 250 to 65 million years ago. Wu said most of the fossilized embryos were facing backwards, instead of forwards, so the animals probably died because of complications during birth.
