More than 200 fossil reptile eggs found in China

Scientists working at a location in northern China found 215 rare fossil eggs of flying lizards - the flying reptile that lives with dinosaurs.

Scientists working at a location in northern China found 215 rare fossil eggs of flying lizards - the flying reptile that lives with dinosaurs.

Fossil eggs were discovered at a place in the remote desert in Xinjiang in northwestern China.

According to the researchers, this is the largest reptile egg collection found and will give a glimpse of how lizards live in this area in the past.

More than 200 fossil reptile eggs found in China Picture 1More than 200 fossil reptile eggs found in China Picture 1

These findings were published in the journal Science by researchers in China and Brazil.

Wang Xiaolin, a scientist at the paleontological and archaeological institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, spent more than 10 years with his team investigating the area in Xinji, belonging to Tan. Cuong.

He told Theuters.cn about the area he previously called Garden of Eden, which means that the place is crowded with ancient lizards and reptiles.

" You can discover a pterosaur lizard in an area of ​​one square meter ," Wang said.

This reptile egg fossil dates back about 145 to 100 million years ago.

Pterosaurs are the earliest known vertebrates that have grown and are flying reptiles on lakes and shallow seas.

16 of the eggs found in Xinjiang have an internal fossil embryo, the most complete part with the wing bones and skull bones including the lower jaw.

Researchers believe that instead of living alone, the pterosaur lives in groups. This explains why many fossilized eggs and scavengers are still found in the same place.

Conducting a CT scan of one of the eggs also showed that the teeth of the embryonic lizard developed quite late, indicating that they still need to eat and take care of their parents after birth.

The lack of muscles that cannot support the bones show that the child lizard goes on the ground and probably cannot fly at an early age.

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