A team of researchers has found a dinosaur embryo between 72 and 66 million years old inside a fossilized egg. The specimen, which comes from southern China, appears to be a oviraptorosaur, belonging to the group of toothless theropods. It is “exquisitely preserved”, according to the researchers, and allows us to know the way this type of species developed before hatching.
The surprising thing about this embryo, nicknamed “Baby yingliang“It is its excellent state of preservation. Experts assure that fossilized ovules have been found during the last 100 years, but none with such excellent preservation.” Most of the known non-avian dinosaur embryos are incomplete with disarticulated skeletons, “he assures Waisum Maof, a researcher at the University of Birmingham, UK, to CBS News.
The research, published in iScience, details the curious and familiar posture of the specimen. The 27-centimeter-long dinosaur has kept its head under its body, with its feet on either side. On the other hand, its spinal column is “curled along the blunt post of the egg”, which has dimensions of 17 centimeters. This is the first time that this position has been recognized in non-avian dinosaurs. It is also, a position very similar to that of modern modern birds in its last stage of incubation. It suggests, therefore, that the oviraptorosaur was in a pre-hatching phase.
Where does the dinosaur embryo come from?
Interestingly, the specimen kept in storage for a decade following its discovery in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, southern China, by Yingliang Group, a stone quarrying company. It was not until the construction of the Yingliang Stone Natural History Museum was carried out that the specimens were handed over to the team of experts for investigation, who paid special attention to the egg for its possible content.
While the first studies reveal important data on the behavior of non-avian dinosaurs, the scientific team, led by experts from the University of Birmingham and the Chinese University of Geosciences, they hope to collect more data in future researchs. Some of the bones are still covered with dirt, which makes research difficult and requires more advanced imaging and study techniques.