Which Came First: The Dino or the Egg?
The dinosaur egg is an iconic image of our modern idea of the Mesozoic. In southern China, an exquisite specimen of such an egg has been discovered, especially exciting due to the fossilized embryo still inside. This specimen comes from the genus, oviraptor, and dates around 70 million years old.
The completeness of the embryo is surprising, as most fossil specimens of early life in dinosaurs are disjointed and missing pieces. This 9 inch skeleton though is almost entirely whole and even more incredible is tucked into the egg in a pose quite similar to modern bird embryos. This shows an amazing link in the evolution of birds from their dinosaur ancestors and has scientists amazing to see what else they can discover about the similarities between the animals. Check out the full article on the dinosaur here!
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