The discovery of 256 eggs sheds new light on the reproductive strategies of the largest known dinosaurs.
Paleontologists digging in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh in central India have turned up a massive and rare hatching site belonging to a colony of titanosaurs, containing 92 nests and 256 eggs.
Located at the Lameta Formation, a sedimentary geological bed, the nests, or clutches, were spaced closely, with each housing about one to 20 eggs or eggshells. The intact eggs ranged in sizes from circular to sub-circular, and in diameter from six inches to 6.7 inches, according to new research from scientists at the University of Delhi.
“Our research has revealed the presence of an extensive hatchery of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs in the study area,” said Harsha Dhiman, the study’s lead author, in a statement, “and offers new insights into the conditions of nest preservation and reproductive strategies of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs just before they went extinct.”
Paleontologists in India Have Hit on an Epic Find: Hundreds of Bowling Ball-Sized Titanosaur Eggs | Artnet News
Paleontologists digging in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh in central India have turned up a massive and rare hatching site belonging to a colony of titanosaurs, containing 92 nests and 256 eggs.
Located at the Lameta Formation, a sedimentary geological bed, the nests, or clutches, were spaced closely, with each housing about one to 20 eggs or eggshells. The intact eggs ranged in sizes from circular to sub-circular, and in diameter from six inches to 6.7 inches, according to new research from scientists at the University of Delhi.
“Our research has revealed the presence of an extensive hatchery of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs in the study area,” said Harsha Dhiman, the study’s lead author, in a statement, “and offers new insights into the conditions of nest preservation and reproductive strategies of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs just before they went extinct.”
Paleontologists in India Have Hit on an Epic Find: Hundreds of Bowling Ball-Sized Titanosaur Eggs | Artnet News