The smallest fully intact dinosaur egg ever discovered has been unearthed in a remote area of China.
The egg, which measures just over an inch long, was one of six dinosaur eggs found in a fully preserved nest from the Late Cretaceous period.
The eggs’ small size, ‘irregular egg arrangement, worm-like and nodular ornamentation,’ and shell thickness signified that they were unlike any other known predatory dinosaur.
This fossil marks a significant discovery that could shed light on dinosaurs’ reproduction habits and diversity.
Researchers at China University of Geosciences recovered six dinosaur eggs at a construction site in Ganzhou in 2021, which is known as one of the ‘richest egg fossil sites in the world.’
The team studied the fossils for three years before confirming they were dinosaur eggs and determined they belong to a new species called Minioolithus ganzhouensis.
Researchers are planning to conduct more studies that they hope will shed light on the type of dinosaur the egg came from and what the species looked like.
Researchers reported that they discovered the new egg at a construction site in Meilin, a town located along the perimeter of Ganzhou City.
A rare, well-preserved nest of six eggs was found at the site and according to Han Fenglu, an associate professor in vertebrate paleontology at CUG.
Fenglu reported that the eggs were from small theropods – a species of carnivorous and predatory dinosaurs that include the well-known Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Their findings were published in the journal of Historical Biology last week.
The team used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction to analyze the shell’s shape and type of ornamentation.
This type of scanning technique works by directing an electron beam to examine the surface material of an object and generate high-resolution images.
Election backscatter diffraction then scans the SEM findings and analyzes the material’s texture and structure to discern patterns in the shell.
The technology revealed that the fossil’s size, thickness, pore system and its ultrastructure was significantly different from other previously discovered egg fossils.
Their findings allowed the researchers to classify the fossils as part of the ellipsoidal family of oval-shaped dinosaur eggs.
More research needs to be conducted to uncover how the Minioolithus ganzhouensis species evolved and its strategies for reproduction millions of years ago.
The next phase of research aims to gain ‘deeper insights into the life and ecology of these ancient creatures,’ according to the Global Times.
The fossil, named the Ganzhou mini egg, shattered the previous record-holder for smallest egg which measured 1.3 inches in length.
Paleontologists at CUG, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ plan to conduct further research on the Ganzhou mini egg using micro-CT scanning which uses X-rays to create a three-dimensional model of the egg’s internal structure.
They hope this process will help them better understand how the eggs formed and determine the exact type of dinosaur that laid them.
It could also reveal new aspects of dinosaur’s biology and the environmental conditions the species experienced during the Late Cretaceous period.
The researchers said in the study: ‘This discovery increases the diversity of dinosaur eggs in the Late Cretaceous and is significant for our understanding of the evolution of theropods in the Late Cretaceous.’
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