Lisbon [Portugal], January 14: A nest containing dinosaur eggs dating back 150 million years from the Late Jurassic period has been discovered on the cliffs of Santa Cruz beach, near the city of Torres Vedras, approximately 50 km north of Lisbon, the Torres Vedras Natural History Society said on Tuesday.
The Lusa News Agency quoted the Society as saying that the fossils will begin to be studied in the laboratory, but based on the general characteristics of the eggs' shape and the porosity of the shells and researchers believe they were laid by a carnivorous dinosaur.
Researchers were surprised by the small size of the nest and the type of sediment in which it was found, a granular sandstone, which is rare and may indicate that the eggs were laid on a riverbank.
Preliminary observations suggest that the eggs were not accumulated by water flow, as they are arranged in an orderly manner, the researchers added.
Bruno Camilo, director of the Society and a researcher at Instituto Superior Tecnico, said it appeared that almost all of the dinosaur hatchlings appeared to have emerged successfully, as indicated by shell movement from the hatching side back into the eggs, with little lateral dispersion. He added that there might still be traces of embryos inside the block, as a cross-section could not be observed because it was covered by sediment.
Unlike other dinosaur nest fossils that suggest the eggs were laid on the surface, these findings indicate that in this case, the eggs "may have been partially buried."
In the laboratory, the eggs will undergo Computed Tomography (CT) scans to create a three-dimensional model of their interior and determine whether any preserved embryo remains exist.
According to paleontologists, Portugal is one of the few places in the world where dinosaur eggs and nests from the Late Jurassic period are known.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
