Scientists have discovered a beautifully preserved dinosaur embryo there in the process of hatching from its egg, precisely like a chicken. All birds are descended from theropods, a family of two-legged dinosaurs that includes the colossal Tyrannosaurus Rex as well as the minuscule Velociraptors. Dinosaurs of the same species are also known to have perched on top of the eggs to nurture them in the very same manner as birds do.
It has been given the name Baby Yingliang and is thought to be a toothless theropod dinosaur or oviraptorosaur. Oviraptorosaurs, which means “egg thief lizards,” have been known as the feathered dinosaurs that existed between 100 million and 66 million years ago in what was then Asia as well as North America during the Late Cretaceous era. Small, feathered dinosaurs developed into oviraptorosaurs, one of the closest ancestors of birds. This species of dinosaurs had been growing and diversifying in the last few millennia before being wiped off by an asteroid approximately 66 million years ago.
The fossil was discovered in China’s Jiangxi province and purchased in 2000 by Liang Liu, a director of the Yingliang Group, a Chinese stone firm. It was mostly overlooked until museum personnel combed through the crates and uncovered the fossil during the building of the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum some ten years later. The corporation contributes to the museum’s operation. The Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum in China has a baby Yingliang that is 10.6in (27cm) long from base to tip and lies within a 6.7 inch-long egg.
Image Credit – Courtesy / Shoulin Animation
So when the company’s natural history museum was being built, the fossil storage was organized, and museum workers took the dinosaur eggs out of the collection for deeper inspection. They observed some bones on the fractured cross-sections from one of the embryos at that point. The animal had been on the edge of hatching, according to researchers, but it was likely protected when it was buried by a violent mudslide, shielding it from scavengers.
Wrapping Up
Researchers will utilize sophisticated scanning techniques to obtain a picture of the dinosaur’s whole skeleton because part of its body is still covered by rock. The skeletons of the majority of non-avian dinosaur embryos were avulsed. The discovery of this embryo well preserved within a dinosaur egg, laying in a bird-like position, has stunned researchers. This stance had never been seen before in non-avian dinosaurs. While fossilized dinosaur eggs have been discovered in the previous 100 years, finding a very well-preserved embryo is extremely unusual, according to experts.
The embryo’s position has never been seen before in a non-avian dinosaur, which is particularly noteworthy because it resembles a late-stage contemporary bird embryo. The experts will continue to dig more into the unique species. They’ll try to visualize its interior anatomy. Some sections of its body are still encrusted with pebbles. Their discoveries might be used for additional fossil embryo research.
Sources :
https://globalnews.ca/news/8468563/dinosaur-egg-embryo-fossil-found-china/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59748281
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/21/asia/baby-dinosaur-inside-egg-scn/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dinosaur-egg-embryo-fossilized-oviraptor-yingliang-ganzhou-china/
