Abundant fossil finds of many fragmentary and complete skeletons indicate that Plateosaurus was a herd animal, relying upon sheer weight of numbers to deter carnivores from attacking. Aside from the obvious strength of numbers a herd provides, it also gives a stable environment within which to rear the young, from the moment the eggs are laid to the time they achieve maturity. One exceptional fossil find even suggests the way in which dinosaur eggs were laid, with layered circles of up to twenty elliptical eggs placed upright in a shallow pit. How the dinosaurs managed this feat of arrangement can only be guessed at but it shows an aptitude which belies the common view of them as lumbering, unintelligent giants.
