New Delhi: According to a statement from Delhi University, a team of experts discovered an 'egg-in-egg' dinosaur egg in Madhya Pradesh, which is likely for the first time in fossil history. The discovery is a "rare and important find," according to the researchers because no 'ovum-in-ovo' egg has ever been discovered in reptiles before.
The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports' most recent issue. The unusual titanosaurid dinosaur egg was discovered in the Bagh area of MP's Dhar district, and researchers believe it could reveal whether dinosaurs had reproductive systems comparable to turtles and lizards, or crocodiles and birds, their close relatives.
Near Padlya village, in Bagh town, the authors discovered a huge number of titanosaurid sauropod nests. The researchers discovered one 'abnormal egg' while investigating these nests. According to the statement, the research team discovered a sauropod dinosaur nest with ten eggs, including one aberrant egg with two continuous and circular eggshell layers separated by a broad gap, similar to ovum-in-ovo (one egg inside another egg) pathology in birds.
“The finding of an ovum-in-ovo egg from a titanosaurid nest opens up the possibility that sauropod dinosaurs had an oviduct morphology similar to those of crocodiles or birds and they may have adapted to a mode of the egg-laying characteristic of birds,” said DU researcher Dr. Harsha Dhiman, lead author of the paper.
Professor Guntupalli V R Prasad, who is the corresponding author of the published article, concurred with his colleague. “The new pathological egg is a rare and important find as no ovum-in-ovo egg was found in reptiles until now and as it brings out significant information on whether dinosaurs had a reproductive biology similar to that of turtles and lizards or their immediate cousin's crocodiles and birds.”
