Flying lizard eggs 120 million years in China

Five intact eggs and many adult flying lizard fossils were discovered in the Turpan-Hami basin, south of the Tianshan mountain range of Xinjiang autonomous region, northwest China.

The eggs are soft and flexible, have a hard outer shell, the inner layer is thick and soft, similar to the eggs of some snakes. Flying lizards may have buried eggs under sand to protect them from drying out.

An intact egg was unearthed in Xinjiang, China.(Photo: Live Science)

The fossils are defined as adult flying lizards, with differences in size, shape and condition of the crest. The team identified the eggs and fossils of the new flying lizard, whose scientific name is Hamipterus tianshanensis , thought to have died about 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. Thousands of bones may still be being repelled in this area.

Live Science quoted Xiaolin Wang, a paleontologist at the Beijing Academy of Sciences, who said rare lizards of fossils were discovered. Previously, scientists only discovered 4 flying lizard eggs with flat forms.

Simulation image of a flying lizard Hamipterus tianshanensis.(Photo: Live Science)

Like birds and bats, flying lizards are also flying vertebrates, but different in wing parts. Their wings are composed of a skin membrane, muscle and other types of cells that extend from the legs to the fourth finger length.

The discovery of eggs near the bones of adult flying lizards suggests that there may be a shelter of this species near the excavation area. The finding also shows that flying lizards often live in large groups and prefer to live in the herd.