Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
A group of scientists on Tuesday (21/12) announced the discovery of eggs and embryos dinosaur which is estimated to be 66 million years ago.
The embryo that is ready to hatch from the egg is said to have a character like a chicken, complete with the presence of feathers.
The fossil was found in Ganzhou, China. The embryo is said to be close to the character of the Oviraptorosaur species. Researchers have dubbed the dinosaur embryo the Baby Yingliang.
“This is one of the best dinosaur embryos ever found in history,” University of Birmingham researcher Fion Waisum Ma, who co-authored the paper in the journal iScience, told AFP.
Ma and the research team identified the position of the dinosaur’s head under the body. The legs are on each side, between the arched back.
The posture of the embryonic dinosaurs identified were not seen in any of the dinosaurs that existed before, but were similar to those of modern birds.
The position of the head tucked under the body exactly like the position when the chicks are preparing to hatch.
Chicks tuck their heads under their right wing to guard the head as they crack the shell with their beaks.
“This suggests that such behavior in modern birds first evolved and descended from a dinosaur ancestor,” Ma said.
Oviraptorosaurus itself was a feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now Asia and North America. They have varied beak shapes, and their size ranges from 8 meters.
Baby Yingliang’s Embryo measures about 27 centimeters from head to tail, and lies within the egg and is 17 centimeters long. If born, the dinosaur is estimated to have measured a maximum of three meters.
The researchers believe that the eggs found were accidentally buried by a landslide, and were not detected by humans.
“The dinosaur embryo inside its egg is one of the most beautiful fossils I have ever seen,” said Professor Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh, part of the research team, in a statement.
The research team hopes to study Baby Yingliang in greater detail using advanced scanning techniques to depict her complete skeleton, including her skull, as part of her body is still covered in rock.
(AFP/FJR)
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