In the last few years many new sites have been discovered with dinosaur eggs and
our knowledge about dinosaur eggs and nesting is exploding. Researchers are learning
much more about dinosaurs through the study of these eggs especially in terms
of what they have gleaned from new embryonic dinosaurs that have been found in
some of the eggs. This page will contain those better sites that contain information
on this growing area of dinosaur research. DINO RUSS 4-5-00
Sauropod Eggs From Pantagonia, Argentina. Below are links to sites
by project leaders (and other info sites) about an exciting site in Argentina
where thousands of sauropod eggs have been found as well as a number of dinosaur
embryos (and some hatchlings) with fossilized skin impressions. This major
find will give us much understanding about the embryonic development and growth
of sauropods. This site represents a number of firsts in the recent explosion
of dinosaur egg sites, it represents the first find of fossilized skin impressions
with embryos, the first sauropod embryos, and the first dinosaur embryos from
the Southern Hemisphere. I am sure much new an exciting information will be
forthcoming from this find and the studies of the material recovered.
Project
Patagonia is a field expedition to the world's largest dinosaur nesting
site ever discovered where thousands of eggs litter the ground. Discovered
in late 1997, Auca Mahuevo, a square mile area in Patagonia, Argentina,
produced the world's first dinosaur embryos with fossilized skin that
date back 71 to 89 million years. Scientists are now collecting eggs in
various stages of growth to learn about the embryonic development of sauropods.
The team is mapping and analyzing Auca Mahuevo to increase scientific
knowledge about dinosaur nesting patterns and behavior. This site includes
the field notes and some photographs taken by Dr. Luis Chiappe one of
the leaders of this project.
First
Dinosaur Embryos Found With Fossilized Skin. An exhibition at the
American Museum of Natural History, December 17, 1999 to May 1, 2000.
In November 1997, Dr. Luis Chiappe and Dr. Lowell Dingus went to Patagonia
with an expedition team and discovered a nesting site that contained thousands
of dinosaur eggs, including fossilized embryos and fossilized skin. Sauropods,
a type of plant-eating dinosaur, not only gathered in this area of Patagonia
to lay their eggs, but returned there for numerous seasons.
Patagonia
- InfoQuest Foundation. On November 17, 1998 a team of researchers
announced in the journal Nature the discovery of a dinosaur nesting ground
strewn with thousands of eggs, dozens of which still have unhatched dinosaur
embryos inside. In addition to tiny embryonic bones, many of the eggs
contain patches of delicate fossilized skin, providing the first glimpse
of the soft tissue covering baby dinosaurs. The extraordinary new fossils
represent a number of scientific firsts: the first dinosaur embryos to
show fossilized skin; the first known embryos of the giant plant-eating
dinosaurs called sauropods; and the first dinosaur embryos found in the
southern hemisphere. As well as appearing in Nature, the discovery is
also featured in the December issue of National Geographic.
Tiniest Giants
web site. Our team set up this web site to correspond to the Tiniest
Giants museum exhibit and provide additional information and resources
to you about this amazing and fun discovery. The exhibit and this site
are a joint project of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
and the Carmen Funes Museum in Neuquen, Argentina. Our team discovered
the first ever sauropod eggs with babies still inside. Sauropods are a
group of giant, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs. This discovery showed
that tiny hatchlings can grow to be the largest dinosaurs. The search
is on to learn more about the giant parents of these tiny eggs...
CHINESE
DINOSAUR EGGS. General Discussion by Florence Magovern Taxonomic nomenclature
of dinosaur eggs is based on thin section analysis of shell fragments. There
are four main parataxonomic families of eggs found in Henan Basin, Xixia County,
China (1) Faveoloolithidae, (2) Dendroolithidae (3) Spheroolithidae and (4)
Elongatoolithidae. The fossilized remains of dinosaur eggs are, in most cases,
limited to the egg shell. The embryos themselves were rarely preserved. The
morphology and structure of the egg shells reveal few clues which can be cited
to justify naming which taxon produced them. Only with fossilized remains
of embryos in relatively advanced stages of development, can we begin to associate
dinosaur types with fossilized eggs and egg shells. Check this link for more
information on the numerous Chinese dinosaur eggs. For more information see
the National Geographic article below that includes a number of the eggs and
work by the Magoverns.
Montana State
University Dinosaur Research. Dinosaur Eggs and Embryos. Research by Vickie
Clouse, instructor of biology and paleontology at Montana State University-Northern.
Several nest localities have been found within this newly discovered, 100
km2 dinosaur nesting ground. Clutches of up to 22 lambeosaur eggs, some with
embryos, are preserved in nests that average six-feet in diameter. (A lambeosaur
is a type of hadrosaur or "duck bill" dinosaur with a bony crest on top of
its skull.) Associated with these nests are the preserved bones and teeth
of many other ancient animals including: crocodiles, turtles, mammals, birds,
fish, amphibians, and many different types of adult and sub-adult dinosaurs.
The mixture of animal fossils found hints at the ecological diversity which
must have existed here 75 million years ago.
Dinosaur
Eggs-National Geographic Society. This story takes you behind the scenes
of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine's May 1996 article, "The Great Dinosaur Egg
Hunt."
Dinosaur Eggs - The Time Capsule
Eggs Project The Time Capsule Dinosaur Eggs have become a major tourist
attraction at the Hunterian Museum (University of Glasgow). The reason for
the current world-wide interest in these particular eggs is that they appear
to contain the remains of dinosaur embryos. State of the art technology has
been used to examine the eggs without damaging them and the eggs have undergone
the specialized CT and MRI scanning treatment.