Hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs found in India

by Vlad Jecan, Astigan Editor

Indian scientists investigating an ancient riverbed in the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern India have discovered, by chance, hundreds of dinosaur eggs. Scientists describe the find to be “very exiting” as it may offer more clues on the extinction of dinosaurs.

The eggs are each 13 to 20 cm in diameter. They were found in clusters of seven to eight and were strewn over an area of 2 square km. According to the researchers, the eggs are estimated to be 65 million years old and were found in layers suggesting the presence of a major nesting site for leaf-eating sauropod dinosaurs.

Plant-earing Sauropod dinosaur

“The important finding is that these eggs have been found in different layers which means that the dinosaurs came to the place over and over year after year,” said MU Ramkumar, head of the Geology Department, Periyar University.

Ramkumar told the BBC that “we have ash deposits on the eggs which suggests that volcanic activity could have caused their extinction.” Investigations have revealed that the dinosaur eggs are infertile. Currently more research is being done to uncover the reasons for their infertility. The research could prove to be imperative as the theory of extinction of the dinosaurs may be rewritten.

Ramkumar and colleagues believe that the eggs belong to the docile leaf-eating Sauropod dinosaurs. Their remains have been found on every continent, including Antarctica. Paleontologists describe them as large, four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs with bulky bodies, long necks and tails and tiny head with relative small brains, according to the BBC.

“Jurassic treasure trove” found completely by chance

The eggs were found when a team of scientists went to research an ancient riverbed in South India in the state of Tamil Nadu. Instead, the Periyar University team has come across hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs.

They were discovered underneath a stream in the Cauvery river basin region in a small village in Ariyalur district near Tiruchirapalli. The finding took the geologists completely by surprise.

The fist time dinosaur eggs were discovered in the region was in 1860 by a British geologist and in the 1990s a dinosaur egg was found in factory, writes the BBC.

Further research

“It is an exciting find and opens up several exciting possibilities,” said Prof. A D Ahluwalia of Punjab University, Chandigarh, for the Hindustan Times. The discovery could add new information or completely change the theory concerning the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Samples of the fossilized eggs have been sent to Germany for further research and further verification.