China Researchers have discovered a new species of dinosaur weighing about a ton that lived during the Jurassic period along with dozens of unhatched eggs in a nest.
A nest of Q. shouhu eggs. Photo: Han Fenglu
A research team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) excavated fossils representing at least three adult individuals of the newly discovered species in Guizhou Province in southwestern China, according to a study published in the journal National Science Review, Newsweek reported on November 17.
The newly discovered species, scientifically named Qianlong shouhu , belongs to the sauropod dinosaur branch, which includes the largest land animals that ever lived on Earth. These dinosaurs could reach enormous sizes, walked on four legs, and had extremely long necks, long tails, small heads, and large thighs.
Q. shouhu was a medium-sized dinosaur that measured about 6 meters long and weighed about a ton. Along with the adult specimen, Chinese researchers also found 50 fossilized eggs of the same species, scattered in five different nests, containing the skeletons of embryos inside. Both the adults and eggs date back to 190 million years ago during the Jurassic period (145-200 million years ago).
The new discovery may be the earliest fossil evidence ever found of an adult dinosaur alongside its eggs. Analysis of the eggs showed that they were oval in shape and relatively small. The analysis also revealed that the eggshells had a leathery texture. Based on the findings, the team named the new species Q. shouhu, which means “guizhou embryo guardian dragon.”
Our understanding of dinosaur reproduction before the Cretaceous is limited by the scarcity of fossils. However, the discovery helps fill in some gaps. The team’s analysis found that the eggshells were semi-rigid, challenging current understanding of the nature of early dinosaur eggs. Dinosaur eggs from a similar period have been found in South Africa and Argentina, but those of Q. shouhu retain the most complete shell structure, according to lead author Han Fenglu, a professor in the School of Earth Sciences at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan.
Additionally, the team found that all of the embryonic skeletons inside the eggs in Q. shouhu nests were at the same stage of development, suggesting that the dinosaurs hatched simultaneously, much like modern sea turtles. This was a strategy that reduced the risk of predation when the individual emerged from the egg.
An Khang (According to Newsweek )
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