One of the world’s most remarkable dinosaur nesting grounds has been found by palaeontologists in Southern France.
In the nesting ground hundreds of fossilised eggs as old as 72 million years old were found.
Scientists were conducting excavations at the Meze fossil site where the discovery was made. They found a vast concentration of dinosaur eggs preserved within upper Cretaceous rock layers.
The structure of many eggs is still intact. Their shells and internal structures are visible even after tens of millions of years.
Alain Cabot, the director-curator of Musee Parc des Dinosaures de Meze, the site represents exception concentration of fossilised eggs. They are spreading around 15 square miles.
Within weeks of excavation more than 100 eggs were uncovered. According to the researchers many of them remain buried underneath the sediment.
The huge number of eggs indicates that the area was once used as a large nest ground repeatedly used by prehistoric dinosaurs.
The initial analysis that has been done indicated that these eggs belong to the massive Titanosaurus. It was a massive, long necked, herbivorous dinosaur which was alive in the late Cretaceous period.
Some other smaller species eggs were also found suggesting that the breeding ground was shared by multiple dinosaur species.
Among the findings were:
- Eggs linked to armoured ankylosaurs
- Small carnivorous theropods, including the rare species Prismatoolithus caboti
Researchers have assumed the opinion that the diversity of eggs means that different species shared a nesting habitat similar to modern bird colonies.
According to scientists the reason why these eggs are preserved is periodic flooding which buried them under sediment. The nests were sealed and natural time capsules were created from the time of dinosaurs.
Also read: Discovery of Spinosaurus rewrites history of fish-hunting dinosaurs
