Paleontologists discovered rare finds in central India, namely 92 nests and 256 dinosaur eggs. The fossil represents a colony of titanosaurs, giant plant-eating dinosaurs.
As quoted by us from CNN, the egg is about the size of a bowling ball, comes from the habitat of dinosaurs that lived about 66 million years ago. Each clutch, there are between 1 to 20 eggs. The location of many nests close together.
"Because titanosaurs were so large, such close proximity of nests made it impossible for them to visit because they would step on them," said study leader Guntupalli Prasad of the University of Delhi.
Finding fossilized dinosaur eggs is a rare occurrence. This is because special conditions are needed for eggs to survive and become fossils over a period of millions of years. The hundreds of dinosaur eggs found were in good condition, so there was plenty to examine.
It was concluded in research that the characteristics of titanosaurs in laying eggs were similar to crocodiles and birds that exist today. For example, these dinosaurs laid their eggs together in colonies, as many modern birds do.
The discovery of ovum-in-ovo eggs, or eggs that have a different layer than the shell, suggests that these dinosaurs had eggs similar to those of birds. But on the other hand, their nesting pattern is similar to that of crocodiles.
Researchers believe the eggs were partially buried in shallow pits, similar to those of modern crocodiles, and incubated using solar radiation and geothermal heat.
On the other hand, unlike birds and crocodiles, titonasurus does not seem to incubate eggs in nests. They just leave it and let the child grow on their own, although this still requires further study.