Finding fossilized eggs is not the most arduous task. Finding a completely intact fossil, however, is as rare as finding a dinosaur in the first place. Therefore when researchers found a perfectly preserved embryo in December last year, needless to say, they had a lot to dig.
What fascinated the researchers was not simply the fact that the embryo was well-preserved, but also the position in which it was placed in the egg. When investigating the egg, they realized the 'tucked,' posture of the embryo was typical of that of a bird. The head lies facing the abdomen, with the feet on either side of the bird and the back coiled along the edge of the egg. This is worth noting because it is similar to that of modern birds. The fossil is recognized to be an oviraptorosaur- a group of tetrapods that are closely related to birds.
What is intriguing, however, is that no other non-avian dinosaurs have been recognized to have a similar posture. However, after examining the specimen in contrast to other late-stage oviraptorosaur eggs, the researchers suggested that prior to hatching oviraptorosaurs develop avian-like postures. The 'tucking' position is, in fact, crucial for successful hatching in modern birds, and given the novel information, the behavior could be an indication that it may have evolved in on-avian theropods first, during the Cretaceous.
What is interesting is that these fossilized eggs had been acquired by Liang Liu back in 2000, and had been completely forgotten in storage. 10 years later they were rediscovered during the construction of the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum. The dino, in fact, is named after the group responsible for discovering it- the Yingliang. What I am curious to know is what would have happened had the discovery been made sooner, or the eggs not forgotten at all?
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