Over 200 well-preserved pterosaurs eggs some with embryonic remains unearthed in China

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This site is a pterosaur Eden. Over 200 extremely well-preserved pterosaurs eggs have been unearthed in China. 16 of the 215 miraculously preserved eggs contain embryonic remains of the pterosaur species. This means that paleontologists now have more information about how pterosaurs progressed from egg to adult than ever before. These eggs thus offer new insight into the life of the rulers of the skies in the age of dinosaurs about 66 million years ago.

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More than 200 fossilized eggs from Hamipterus tianshanensis have been unearthed in China’s Gobi Desert. It represents the largest pterosaur egg collection ever found. via Science Paper

Pterosaurs laid soft eggs like snakes or lizards, not brittle ones like birds. The fossilized eggs found at the nesting ground look more like deflated balloons than eggs cracked for an omelet.

Researchers believe that there could be as many as 300 more eggs within the same sandstone block found in China’s Turpan-Hami Basin in Xinjiang.

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Pterosaur family by Zhao Chuang

The virtual treasure trove of eggs laid millions of years ago gives scientists a unique chance to cut them into cross-sections to study growth rates… And imagine the omelet you could have eaten! Dinosaur-esque!

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