In the egg, found in Mongolia, from the collection of the Prehistoric Museum, fossilized pieces can be seen on a scan, which indicates the presence of an embryo. Moreover, the pieces are all laid out in a nice pattern. The enthusiasm of the curators of the museum is therefore great: “this is world news”, Omroep Brabant says.
Paleontologist Koen Stein of the Royal Belgian Institute agrees with the Dutch researchers: “If an embryo has indeed been found in a dinosaur egg, you can speak of a unique discovery,” he says to VRT NWS. Worldwide, less than 10 such embryos have been found. The latest discovery of an embryo in a dinosaur egg – a perfectly preserved example – dates from the end of 2021 in China.
With the possible discovery of a new dinosaur embryo, the scientists at the Oertijdmuseum hope to learn a little more regarding how dinosaurs developed in the egg. Little more is known regarding this to date. There is also a lot to learn regarding which dinosaur hatches from which egg.
The egg in question will soon be sent to Switzerland, where better scanners can be used to determine whether it is actually an embryo. Until then, the already famous egg will be exhibited in a display case in the museum. The Oertijdmuseum also has 172 other dinosaur eggs in its collection, so the chance of finding more dinosaur embryos is considerable.
