Discovery of world's tiniest dinosaur egg rewrites history
In a remote region of China, the smallest fully preserved dinosaur egg, measuring just under 3 centimetres, was discovered. The find is 80 million years old and belongs to a new, previously unknown dinosaur species.
22 October 2024 09:54
Scientists from the China University of Geosciences (CUG) discovered six dinosaur eggs on a construction site in Ganzhou in 2021. After three years of research, they confirmed that the eggs belong to a new species named "Minioolithus ganzhouensis."
The eggs differ from those known until now because of their small size, irregular arrangement, ornamentation, and specific shell thickness.
The team used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and backscattered electron diffraction to analyse the shape and structure of the shell.
Research continues
The research results, published in the journal "Historical Biology," allowed for the classification of these eggs as part of the family of ellipsoidal, oval dinosaur eggs. Scientists plan further research using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to create a three-dimensional model of the egg’s internal structure. They hope this method will help better understand the egg formation process and learn more about the dinosaur species that laid them.
"This discovery is crucial for our knowledge of dinosaur biodiversity and is significant for understanding evolution," the scientists stated in their study quoted by "Daily Mail."
The smallest dinosaur egg
The discovered "mini egg from Ganzhou" has broken the previous record and is the smallest in the world. Further research may reveal new aspects of dinosaur biology and the environmental conditions in which these species lived in the Late Cretaceous period.
