30 Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs Found On Christmas Day In China

Construction workers in China discovered a cache of fossilized dinosaur eggs on Christmas day. The eggs, which were found in what appears to be a dinosaur nest, are described as being in great condition, a fortunate reality considering the use of explosives in the area during the construction process. The preserved nest and egg cache is located on a site that will ultimately be a middle school.

The fossilized eggs were discovered in the Jiangxi Province, and though details are still forthcoming, researchers estimate they date back between 70 and 130 million years, placing them during the Cretaceous period. The fossils came close to destruction, though, as construction workers were using explosives for soil blasting excavation of the property.

Around 11AM local time on Christmas morning, construction workers broke the fossilized dinosaur nest free of the Earth using explosives without realizing what the large boulder-like chunk of rock contained. Local news publication China News reports that the workers only realized what they had discovered when they prepared to further break down the boulder, at which point they noticed the egg-shaped fossils embedded within it.

The egg fossils are described as being oval-shaped and joined by "black fragments" measuring about 2mm thick. The workers, suspecting they'd found dinosaur egg fossils, stopped working and reported the discovery to the local Dayu County Museum. Staff from the museum, upon investigation, confirmed that the boulder contained fossilized eggs and that there are up to 30 eggs in the nest.

Talking about the discovery, Museum Director Liu Xiaoming said, "This is a fossilized emerald fossil, its year is generally in the Cretaceous period dating back to 130 million years or so. This nest has complete eggs, there should be between 20 and 30." China is home to a huge number of fossils like these; a similar find was made in Guangdong back in early 2015, for example.

SOURCE: China News