A team of Indian palaeontologists has discovered a nest with 12 dinosaur eggs – the largest number in a single nest – in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.
The fossilised eggs will be subjected to radio scan to ascertain whether there is an embryo inside them.
“All the eggs were discovered from a single nest on the banks of the Hathini river,” researcher Vishal Verma said.
Hundreds of such eggs have been found in the Kukshi-Wagh area of western Madhya Pradesh, said Verma who has been associated with such discoveries for over a decade.
Dinosaur eggs are a great fascination for palaeontologists. The eggs, in their actual form, are said to be hard enough to escape predators’ attacks, yet soft for the baby reptile to break through on birth.
“These animals used to come from faraway areas to lay eggs on the sandy banks of the rivers in this area. The animals were 40-90 feet in length,” Verma informed.
In 1828, then East India Company Army Captain, William Sleeman, was the first to find a cache of large bones in the Jabalpur Cantonment. Since then, several discoveries have been made in the Narmada valley – in
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh to Kheda in Gujarat.
The eggs in Kukshi-Wagh were first discovered in February this year when palaeontologists claimed to have discovered 100 eggs and 40 eggs on two different occasions.
The find is a significant step in the study of pre-historic life in the Narmada Valley, which has been attracting palaeontologists since 1818.
“We also found footprints of the dinosaurs through which the ‘track way’ of the heavy animals could also be traced,” Verma informed. “The discovery of more
fossilised eggs of herbivorous dinosaurs belonging to the early Cretaceous era – that dates back to 65 million years or so – is expected to go a long way in the study of the pre-historic life in the Narmada Valley.”
Verma said that dinosaur eggs were discovered from the same site in the past too, but there were only six or seven eggs per nest.
“This is the first time that so many eggs have been recovered from the site,” he added.
D M Mohabey, Director of Geological Survey of India (Palaeontology), who visited the area May 11 to 13, has confirmed that the bones discovered earlier belonged to dinosaurs and has promised to get the area declared ‘protected’.
“With the latest find, the scientists would be able to know more about the reasons of the extinction of dinosaurs. The nesting site would throw light on the variety of dinosaurs that existed in the Cretaceous era,” he said.
The fossilised eggs will be subjected to radio scan to ascertain whether there is an embryo inside them.
“All the eggs were discovered from a single nest on the banks of the Hathini river,” researcher Vishal Verma said.
Hundreds of such eggs have been found in the Kukshi-Wagh area of western Madhya Pradesh, said Verma who has been associated with such discoveries for over a decade.
Dinosaur eggs are a great fascination for palaeontologists. The eggs, in their actual form, are said to be hard enough to escape predators’ attacks, yet soft for the baby reptile to break through on birth.
“These animals used to come from faraway areas to lay eggs on the sandy banks of the rivers in this area. The animals were 40-90 feet in length,” Verma informed.
In 1828, then East India Company Army Captain, William Sleeman, was the first to find a cache of large bones in the Jabalpur Cantonment. Since then, several discoveries have been made in the Narmada valley – in
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh to Kheda in Gujarat.
The eggs in Kukshi-Wagh were first discovered in February this year when palaeontologists claimed to have discovered 100 eggs and 40 eggs on two different occasions.
The find is a significant step in the study of pre-historic life in the Narmada Valley, which has been attracting palaeontologists since 1818.
“We also found footprints of the dinosaurs through which the ‘track way’ of the heavy animals could also be traced,” Verma informed. “The discovery of more
fossilised eggs of herbivorous dinosaurs belonging to the early Cretaceous era – that dates back to 65 million years or so – is expected to go a long way in the study of the pre-historic life in the Narmada Valley.”
Verma said that dinosaur eggs were discovered from the same site in the past too, but there were only six or seven eggs per nest.
“This is the first time that so many eggs have been recovered from the site,” he added.
D M Mohabey, Director of Geological Survey of India (Palaeontology), who visited the area May 11 to 13, has confirmed that the bones discovered earlier belonged to dinosaurs and has promised to get the area declared ‘protected’.
“With the latest find, the scientists would be able to know more about the reasons of the extinction of dinosaurs. The nesting site would throw light on the variety of dinosaurs that existed in the Cretaceous era,” he said.