70-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Egg Fossils Discovered In China

Paleontologists have recently discovered five dinosaur egg fossils that date back to 70 million years ago. The fossils were unearthed near Foshan in the southeast part of China. According to the research team, the round-shaped eggs could have belonged to the plant-eating phytophagous type of dinosaurs that were found in the late Cretaceous period.

According to a Zee News report, the shells were found 26 feet below the ground and were preserved in red sandstone. Qiu Licheng from Guangdong's Archaeological Institute in China said that they found five eggs, of which three were destroyed but are still visible. "The other two have their imprints on the stone,” Licheng added. “The eggs were round in shape, belonging to phytophagous dinosaurs.”

The paleontologists have indicated that the egg shells were damaged to varying degrees. The veining that marked the surface of the shells is still apparently visible and sandstone fills the inside of the eggs. The researchers also added that without peer-review verification, they cannot be absolutely sure about the exact age of the eggs or the dinosaur species that the eggs belonged to.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that dinosaur eggs have been found in China. In fact, there have been similar discoveries in the Foshan region itself. Since the 1980s, Foshan and its neighboring city Heyuan have been found out to be a treasure trove of dinosaur eggs. Forty-three fossilized dinosaur eggs have been unearthed in the region in 2015 alone.

The region of Foshan is located in the Sanshui Basin, which is a place rich in minerals that had high levels of animal life and plant life in the past. In addition to finding many dinosaur eggs from the Cretaceous period, researchers have also unearthed fish fossils from the Paleogene period in the region. The latest discovery is very important for the researchers’ study about sedimentary environment and paleoclimate, according to a Science Alert report.