Abnormal Titanosaurid Dinosaur Egg discovered in Madhya Pradesh

Abnormal Fossil Egg Discovery: In a historic first, a team of Indian researchers has discovered an egg-in-egg or abnormal Titanosaurid dinosaur egg in the Bagh area of Dhar District in Madhya Pradesh.

The discovery was published in the latest issue of a nature group journal -Scientific Reports. The study is titled 'First ovum-in-ovo pathological titanosaurid egg throws light on the reproductive biology of sauropod dinosaurs'.

The researchers had recently documented a large number of titanosaurid sauropod nests near the Padlya village close to Bagh town. While studying these nests, the researchers discovered an abnormal dinosaur egg.

READ ALSO: Why Mumbai is sinking? Study reveals Mumbai sinking at 2mm per year

Abnormal Fossil Egg Discovery: Know in 5 Points 

1. The research team discovered a sauropod dinosaur nest consisting of 10 eggs including one abnormal egg near Padlya village. 

2. The abnormal egg has two continuous and circular eggshell layers separated by a wide gap reminiscent of ovum-in-ovo (one egg inside another egg) pathology of birds. 

3. The microstructure of the pathological egg and that of an adjacent egg in the same nest identifies it with that of titanosaurid sauropod dinosaurs.

4. This is the first egg-in-egg abnormal fossil egg discovery in India. No egg-in-egg abnormal fossil egg has ever been found in India of dinosaurs and other reptiles including lizards, turtles and crocodiles. 

5. The pathological egg was discovered during PhD fieldwork by the lead author Dr.Harsha Dhiman (Department of Geology, Delhi University) in the region. Besides Dhiman, the team comprised Vishal Verma (Higher Secondary School, Bakaner, Dhar District) and corresponding author Prof. Guntupalli V. R. Prasad (Department of Geology, Delhi University).

Why is the fossil egg discovery important?

• The new discovery of an ovum-in-ovo pathological egg characteristic in titanosaurids argues for a segmented oviduct as in crocodiles and birds and possible sequential laying of eggs as in birds.
• The lead author of the study, Delhi University's Dr Harsha Dhiman said that "The finding of ovum-in-ovo egg from a Titanosaurid nest opens up the possibility that sauropod dinosaurs had an oviduct morphology similar to those of crocodiles or birds and they may have adapted to a mode of egg-laying characteristic of birds"
• The discovery brings out significant information on whether dinosaurs had a reproductive biology similar to that of turtles and lizards or their immediate cousins crocodiles and birds, said corresponding author of the study Prof. Guntupalli V.R. Prasad.
• Earlier it was suggested that dinosaurs have a reproductive function similar to that of turtles and other reptiles (unsegmented oviduct) in contrast to the segmented reproductive tract of crocodiles and birds.
• The crocodiles though ovulate and release all the eggs simultaneously just like turtles and other reptiles in contrast to sequential ovulation of birds, who lay one egg at a time. 

Background

The new discovery shows that central and western India hold great potential for dinosaur fossils that may provide key information on dinosaur species diversity and their nesting behavior and reproductive biology.