Researchers discovered "three-dimensionally preserved pterosaur eggs" in China, revealing a new species and genus.
The findings suggest that pterosaurs (ancient flying reptiles) lived in colonies, a Cell Press news release reported.
The eggs were found surrounded of possibly hundreds of pterosaur fossils. Entire families, including the eggs, were preserved together.
"Five eggs are three-dimensionally preserved, and some are really complete," Xiaolin Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology said in the news release.
In the past the pterosaur fossil record has been generally scarce. Before this amazing find there were only four flattened eggs in the hands of scientists.
The pterosaurs described in the recent study were discovered in the Turpan-Hami Basin ("south of the Tian Shan Mountains in Xinjiang, northwestern China") in 2005, the news release reported. The site could be hiding thousands of more fossils.
Researchers found three-dimensional male and female pterosaur skulls among the eggs. The researchers believe the dinosaurs died in a giant storm that occurred 120 million years ago.
The team found the well-preserved eggs had a "thin, calcareous eggshell outside and a soft, thick membrane inside," the news release reported. They could be most closely compared with the eggs of a modern-day snake.
The researcher found about 40 male and female subjects as well, suggesting there was an ancient nesting site nearby. The ancient reptiles most likely buried their eggs in the sand on the shore of a lake that once resided there. This behavior would keep the eggs from drying out.
The findings revealed a great deal about the dinosaurs' behavior, but there is still a lot to learn.
"Sites like the one reported here provide further evidence regarding the behavior and biology of this amazing group of flying reptiles that has no parallel in modern time," the researchers wrote, the news release reported.
