By Pauline Go

Dinosaurs were reptiles that roamed the earth for some 185 million years. They went into extinction some 65 million years ago perhaps due to climactic changes they could not cope with. Since they survived for 185 million years they obviously bred prolifically. But the modalities of reproduction remain a secret that perhaps will never be unraveled. The reproductive organs comprise soft tissue of which no traces remain. Fossils have been found the world over of hundreds of genres of species of dinosaurs which have enabled paleontologist to deduce much about them.

We know about their eating habits and their movements and a host of other information. But on the subject of reproduction whatever has been projected is pure hypothesis. It is a matter of great confusion because, for a variety of physical reasons, it would seem that mating for them was almost an impossibility, and yet we know they procreated, and successfully at that. For instance, the stegosaurus has scaly plates that ran down the length of its spine, so mounting from the rear as is done with elephants and horses and a great number of animals of today would have been impossible. Similarly evidence indicates that some of the largest dinosaurs would have weighed up to 100 tonnes. Had the male mounted the female, his sheer weight would have crushed her. Furthermore the enormous tails in some species would have proved an impossible physical impediment.

Scientists generally believe that the reproductive organs of a dinosaur were much like those of snakes and reptiles of today. They lacked a penis in the sense that we know it and their organs perhaps were shrouded within a cloaca, a common vent used for reproduction, urination and defecation. Quite possibly these organs exposed themselves only when the animal had the urge to mate. Nonetheless, the cloacae of the male and the female would have to have meshed together in what is generally called a 'cloacal kiss' to copulate, a task that requires well nigh impossible precision in a biped of 100 tonnes. Scientists have speculated on possible positions - whether they lay sideways or whether the larger dinosaurs copulated underwater to reduce their body weight. But it would appear the answer is lost to us for all time - dead as the dinosaurs.