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Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Discovered in China

By Shiwani PandeySeptember 04, 2022
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Is This Real-Life Jurassic Park: Real Embryo of Dinosaur Found in China

You must have seen the movie Jurassic Park, right? The story is that all dinosaurs come to the earth while we are living on it and that too in the modern day. Say what you might, that movie sure did give us terrifying images. From tyrannosaurus rex to other ferocious dinosaurs, there were so many to battle. Seeing the movie kind of made us sigh in relief that it was only a movie. But what if we tell you that something very close to that might be happening in real life. Yes, according to the news, a perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo was found in China. So, does that mean we are going to experience a real-life Jurassic Park here? 


The Extinction of Dinosaurs 

Those days are long gone when humongous creatures like dinosaurs and mammoths walked around us. A meteor struck the earth more than 65 million years ago and basically destroyed the entire population of dinosaurs on the planet. However, can we really say that the dinosaurs are extinct? There are several pieces of evidence to prove the contrary. 


In fact, thanks to the factors of evolution, the modern-day chicken that we see around us are said to be evolved from the dinosaurs and birds that once roamed the earth. So, from the ferocious tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops to other species of dinosaurs, there must be some counterparts that have evolved since that time of extinction. It cannot be said with absolute surety that all dinosaurs are extinct. Now with the discovery of the perfectly preserved dinosaur egg, the possibility of the re-emergence of dinosaurs is definitely increased. 


An Egg of a Dinosaur Found in China: All Ready to Hatch 

Can you imagine what the world would be like if the dinosaurs were to come back again? With the latest news about the real dinosaur eggs found in China, this imagination might possibly turn into a reality. Scientists in China have recently made a very astonishing discovery that has shocked the entire world. They found a dinosaur embryo that had been perfectly preserved in the Ganzhou Province of China. According to the research data found from studying the egg, the embryo was fossilised and it dates back to about 66 million years. 


This egg was discovered in 2000 and that too by a company for mining. The egg was carefully stored in the container storage for a very long period of time. During the construction of the Yingliang Stone Natural History Museum in China, the egg was discovered. Scientists and researchers have a lot to say about the egg. According to them, it is the best sample of a preserved dinosaur egg that has ever been found. After the discovery of the dinosaur egg, it was given the name Baby Yingliang. Here is a picture of dinosaur egg that we are talking about. 


Embryo of a Dinosaur Egg


Embryo of a Dinosaur Egg


As you can see from the picture, the embryo looks like it was completely ready to hatch, just like any other egg. The embryo is said to be that of an oviraptorosaur. It is a bird-like dinosaur species that had feathers in its body. Not much is known about these birds except that they belonged to the Late Cretaceous Period. They were usually seen in the parts of the world that we know today as North America as well as Asia. These birds had variable shapes for their beaks and there were differences in their diets as well. Oviraptorosaurs would range somewhere between modern-day turkeys to huge Gigantoraptors that were actually 26 feet long. 


According to the researchers, if the egg would’ve hatched and survived all those years ago, it would have grown to a similar size that of a turkey. Also, it would have been a complete herbivore, as per the research. Baby Yingliang currently measures about 27 centimetres (10.6 inches) in length directly from head to tail. It lies inside a 17-centimetre-long egg which is now in the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum. The researchers believed that the egg was fossilised due to an accidental mudslide that managed to bury the egg and hence it was protected for aeons from different scavengers. 


This particular specimen was basically one of the very few fossilised eggs that were left in storage by accident. The team that was responsible for the research of Baby Yingliang have suspicions that there are some other dinosaur eggs which might contain such unborn creatures. The latest reports state that scientists are going to examine the egg real dinosaur fossils in order to study the skeletal structure and other details about it. 


Does That Mean Dinosaurs are Coming Back? 

So what can we expect from such a discovery? Is the real-life Jurassic Park event going to take place? Well, the answer to that question would definitely be a no. Still, the discovery of this perfectly preserved dinosaur egg is definitely a significant inclusion in the study of fossils. This discovery can be seen as a direct link of the modern-day birds to the ancestors that they had in the past. 


The experts say that dinosaur embryos, although found many times before, didn’t have complete joints and features like this one. Hence, it was difficult for the researchers to properly study the creatures. However, in the case of Baby Yingliang, the embryo was in the ‘tucking’ position. It is a position where the legs of the young bird are tucked right above the head. This position is basically seen in embryos right before they start hatching. This is one of the main reasons why this particular embryo has managed to become a very useful edition for the study of dinosaur fossils. 


All birds are basically considered to be the descendants of theropods. In simpler terms, theropods were a species of dinosaurs that walked on two legs. This species also included the Oviraptorosaurs and also the T-Rex. Some birds from this species had different feathers in their bodies and they would hatch their eggs by properly sitting on them which provided them with warmth. The discovery of the dinosaur embryo could be a way for further development in studying such species in detail.