Crystallized dinosaur egg fossils discovered in central China

Three crystallized dinosaur egg fossils have been discovered in central China’s Hubei province, providing evidence for the study of dinosaur eggs and the paleoenvironment, according to a local nature reserve.

The three egg fossils are all well preserved, with the eggshells and inner crystalline mineral intact, said Zhao Bi, a scholar at the Hubei Institute of Geosciences, adding that the three egg fossils are believed to be without cracks and not hatched.

Compared to common fossilized dinosaur eggs, crystallized dinosaur egg fossils are rare in the world due to the harsh environmental conditions required for their formation. This is the first time that crystallized dinosaur egg fossils have been found in Hubei province.

Clusters of dinosaur egg fossils, dating to the Middle Cretaceous period, about 60 to 80 million years ago, were first discovered on Qinglong Mountain in 1995. To date, researchers have found nearly 3,000 egg fossils exposed in the surface or well preserved in place.