H Dhiman et al/Scientific Reports
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Fossil eggs in eggs from the nest of a titanosaurid dinosaur. This is the world’s first discovery of its kind and provides valuable new insights in the field of evolutionary biology.
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Nationalgeographic.co.id—Egg inside an egg, known as ovum-in-ovo, is something that is sometimes seen in poultry such as chickens. However, for the first time for dinosaur -Dan reptile in general– researchers have found fossilized eggs inside other eggs that have also become fossilized. This is discovery which is really surprising.
This ovum-in-ovo find came from a titanosaurid dinosaur. These findings reveal clues to the morphology of their oviducts, which may be more similar to birds that are well-adapted to successively laying eggs. This could suggest that this group of sauropod dinosaurs was also able to lay egg after egg, like their extant relatives.
This “rare and important find” comes from the Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation in Madhya Pradesh, western Central India. These findings have been reported and detailed in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.
In the paper, the researchers explain that they found the unique egg in Bagh Dinosaur Fossil National Park (Fossils National Park Bagh). In the national park, they found a total of 52 titanosaur sauropod nests near the village of Padlya.
One of the sauropod dinosaur nests contained 10 eggs, including one containing the egg. After they examined it, it was revealed that the fossil egg contained two layers of shells. The importance of this ovum-in-ovo finding is in terms of knowledge of this dinosaur’s reproductive strategy and the morphology of its associated organs.
It has long been known that reptiles such as turtles lay eggs in one fell swoop from the common womb and deposit up to hundreds of eggs in one session. In contrast, birds have a special uterus that lays one egg before working on the next, which is believed to be related to the formation of this defective double egg.
Crocodiles have a specialized, segmented uterus more similar to birds but still use the reptilian method of making and releasing all the eggs at once. So what are the new insights from the sauropod ovum-in-ovo fossil finding?
“The discovery of ovum-in-ovo eggs from nests of titanosaurid dinosaurs suggests that their oviduct morphology is similar to that of birds, which opens up the possibility for sequential egg-laying in this group of sauropod dinosaurs,” the researchers wrote in their study report paper. IFLScience.
Also Read: Watching the Hatching Process of Komodo Eggs, The Last Dragon on Earth
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