CHINA TOPIX

03/28/2024 03:28:49 pm

Make CT Your Homepage

Dozens of Dinosaur Egg Fossils Unearthed in China

egg

(Photo : China National Radio) Dozens of dinosaur egg fossils were found at a construction site on a street in Heyuan in south China's Guangdong Province.

Dozens of dinosaur egg fossils were found at a construction site on a street in Heyuan in south China's Guangdong Province, reports China state news agency Xinhua.

Archaeologists from the city of Heyuan unearthed a nest of 43 dinosaur egg fossils at the site, 19 of which are intact. 

Like Us on Facebook

"These eggs are large in size, and one even has a diameter of 13 centimeters," said Du Yanli, curator of the city's Dinosaur Museum.

The eggs have been sent to the museum for protection and further research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was unknown what kind of dinosaur the eggs came from, Du said.

This is not the first time egg fossils have been uncovered in the city of Heyuan, which bills itself as the "city of dinosaurs."  A trove of nearly 17,000 dinosaur egg fossils have been discovered there since the first group of fossils was found by children playing at a building site in 1996.

In 2005, the city's museum made the "Guinness Book of World Records" with its 10,008 dinosaur egg fossils, the largest collection in the world. Eight fossilized dinosaur skeletons and 168 dinosaur footprints have also been found in the area, attracting the attention of experts worldwide.

Du said it was possible that many other dinosaur remains would be found in sandstone beds around the city and that construction projects should be put on hold if fossils were unearthed.

Last year, a team of international scientists unearthed the fossil of a new species of pterosaur and its eggs in the city of Hami in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The fossils dated back to the Early Cretaceous period.

The geology of Heyuan is special in helping to preserve fossilized eggs, and plays a unique role in helping understand Asian dinosaurs. Dinosaur egg fossils found in China account for one-third of the total number discovered in the world, according to Professor Zhao Zikui of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Palaeoanthropology.

Real Time Analytics