Hundreds Of Eggs From Ancient Flying Reptile Are Found In China

Hundreds Of Eggs From Ancient Flying Reptile Are Found In China

A cache of hundreds of eggs discovered in China sheds new light on the development and nesting behavior of prehistoric, winged reptiles called pterosaurs.

Pterosaurs were fearsome-looking creatures that flew during the Lower Cretaceous period alongside dinosaurs. This particular species was believed to have a massive wingspan of up to 13 feet, and likely ate fish with their large teeth-filled jaws.

Researchers working in the Turpan-Hami Basin in northwestern China collected the eggs over a 10-year span from 2006 to 2016.

A single sandstone block held at least 215 well-preserved eggs that have mostly kept their shape. Sixteen of those eggs have embryonic remains of the pterosaur species Hamipterus tianshanensis, the researchers said in findings released today in Science.

The fossils in the area are so plentiful that scientists refer to it as “Pterosaur Eden,” says Shunxing Jiang, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. “You can very easily find the pterosaur bones,” he says, adding that they believe dozens more eggs might still lie hidden within the sandstone.

Artist’s rendition of a family of pterosaurs, which had massive wingspans of up to 13 feet and likely ate fish with their large teeth-filled jaws. Illustrated by Zhao Chuang

Hundreds of pterosaur bones from the Lower Cretaceous period lie on the surface of an excavation site in the China’s Turpan-Hami Basin. Alexander Kellner/Museu Nacional/UFRJ