Dinosaur Fossil Eggs the Size of Basketballs Found?
Hundreds of dinosaur eggs have been discovered in Spain, according to researchers.
The eggs were discovered at the Coll de Nargó site in the Spanish province of Lleida, and their proximity to each other is of interest to scientists.
"Eggshells, eggs and nests were found in abundance and they all belong to dinosaurs, sauropods in particular," the study's leader, Albert García Sellés from the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Palaeontology Institute, told Spanish news agency SINC this week. "We had never found so many nests in the one area before."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The eggs also appear to be from various types of dinosaurs; it was previously thought that only one type of dinosaur had roamed that particular area.
"Up until now, only one type of dinosaur egg had been documented in the region: Megaloolithus siruguei," Sellés said. His team found evidence of at least four other species: Cairanoolithus roussetensis, Megaloolithus aureliensis, Megaloolithus siruguei and Megaloolithus baghensis.
The placement off eggs from different types of dinosaurs has suggested a new theory to researchers.
"In addition, the presence of various oospecies (eggs species) at the same level suggests that different types of dinosaurs shared the same nesting area," Sellés added.
The discovery of varying types of eggs located within different time intervals has allowed researchers to peg the age of the site.
"It has come to light that the different types of eggs are located at very specific time intervals," Sellés explained to SINC. "This allows us to create biochronological scales with a precise dating capacity. In short, thanks to the collection of oospecies found in Coll de Nargó we have been able to determine the age of the site at between 71 and 67 million years."
Megaloolithus dinosaurs are believed to be some of the largest animals to roam the planet. According to the book "Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: Look at Dinosaur Reproduction," some of the larger eggs could be around the size of a basketball.
