These 80-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Eggs Are Around The Size Of Grapes And Were Discovered In China
During a 2021 field survey of a construction site located near Ganzhou in southeastern China, six tiny eggs were unearthed just days before building work took place.
They are the smallest non-avian dinosaur eggs ever found. Ganzhou is known as one of the world’s richest egg fossil sites.
The eggs were about the size of a grape and had been arranged within a lump of rock, so it was difficult to tell if they were part of the same nest.
The rock dates back to about 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago).
The fossilized shells have been nicknamed the “Ganzhou mini eggs.” The smallest egg was 1.1 inches long, unseating the previous record for the smallest non-avian dinosaur egg, which was found in Tamba City, Hyogo, Japan.
According to Guinness World Records, the egg from Japan was laid around 110 million years ago by a dinosaur the size of a chicken called Himeoolithus murakamii. It measured 1.8 inches.
In a recent study, researchers revealed that the eggs from China likely belonged to a previously unknown species of non-avian theropod dinosaur that is part of a group of bipedal, largely predatory dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex.
They analyzed the fossils for three years before officially determining they were dinosaur eggs from a new species.
They named the species Minioolithus ganzhouensis. Currently, it is unclear how large M. ganzhouensis would have grown after hatching.
SeanPavonePhoto – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
The tiny eggs are remarkably well-preserved. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction were used to complete a detailed analysis of the fossilized shells.
The scanning techniques work by using an electron beam to examine an object’s surface material and produce high-resolution images.
Then, the images are inspected to identify patterns in the shell. The team found that the internal structure of the eggs had remained almost fully intact.
More research could provide further insights into the biology and reproductive habits of theropod dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous period, according to a translated statement from Fenglu Han, a co-author of the study and a paleontologist at China University of Geosciences in Wuhan.
Dinosaur eggs come in all shapes and sizes. The size of an egg does not always indicate how large the species that laid it will grow.
For example, some duck-billed dinosaurs, or ornithopods, laid eggs that were 5.4 inches long, while some titanosaur eggs were just 5.9 inches long, and they grew up to be four times longer than ornithopods.
The eggs from China may be small, but they are not as tiny as eggs laid by birds, the last remaining dinosaurs on Earth.
The smallest known avian egg belongs to the vervain hummingbird (Mellisuga minima). Its eggs are 0.4 inches long and are lighter than a paper clip.
The study was published in the journal Historical Biology.
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