Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Found Inside Fossilized Egg

[Judi Lynn]

The 66- to 72-million-year-old specimen is one of the most complete dinosaur embryos ever found.
author
BEN TAUB

An incredibly rare, fully articulated dinosaur embryo has been found inside a fossilized egg that had been collecting dust for over a decade in the storage room of a museum in China. Thought to be between 66 and 72 million years old, the unborn specimen reveals an incredible link between dinosaurs and modern birds.

Belonging to a group of feathered, toothless theropods known as oviraptorosaurs, the unhatched creature is estimated to be about 27 centimeters (10.6 inches) long, and marks the first discovery of a dinosaur embryo displaying a posture that is typical of present-day bird embryos. Shortly before hatching, modern birds engage in a series of maneuvers known as tucking, which involves curving the body and bringing the head down under the wing, yet the evolutionary origins of this behavior have until now remained unknown.

Reporting their discovery in a 2021 paper, the study authors explain that their specimen – nicknamed Baby Yingliang – was found with its head “ventral to the body, with the feet on either side, and the back curled along the blunt pole of the egg.” Such a posture, they say, is “previously unrecognized in a non-avian dinosaur, but reminiscent of a late-stage modern bird embryo.”

Tucking is thought to play a vital role in the hatching process of birds, and those that fail to adopt this position are much less likely to survive their escape from the egg. That Baby Yingliang appears to have adopted the same pose suggests that the phenomenon may have first evolved among the ancient theropod ancestors of modern birds.

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/perfectly-preserved-dinosaur-embryo-found-inside-fossilized-egg-72164

[Silent Type]

1. Very interesting. It's amazing how some of these discoveries are in storage for decades.

[2naSalit]

2. That's really cool!

But, what if it doesn't matter if it's a bird-like species or a lizard and that's just how anything inside an egg gets ready to get out?

[BadgerKid]

5. Yep, plausible posturing for breaking out.

I can imagine it would straighten its spine and widen its wings.

[BWdem4life]

3. Do they know if it had a heartbeat?

[Bayard]

4. I hope you had a Merry Xmas, Judi Lynn

I really appreciate your informative and interesting posts.

[mitch96]

6. What I want to know is how did they get such a pristine look inside the egg? Fossilized in this case would

mean rock? Not amber or some other medium.
Years ago a doc I worked with was a "junior" anthropologist. When in China he "bought" some fosilized dino eggs. To get a look inside we did highly detailed CT scans of what to me looked like rocks.
All had similar looking insides as in the article. He had one he opened and it was almost impossible to see that quality of detail.
That was a fun distraction from doing real live people..
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