Dinosaurs have 'relatives' with modern birds

Spanish researchers say the discovery of dinosaur eggs in a unique shape - oval - shows a connection between modern dinosaurs and birds, according to UPI news agency.

>>>Video: Fossil dinosaur eggs in Patagonia

Unlike other non-feathered dinosaur eggs, which are symmetrical, oval of theropod dinosaur eggs (hindquarters moving) in the early stages of the chalk era discovered in Spain. birds and theropod dinosaurs have common ancestors.

The oval shape is rarely seen in eggs collected from the upper period and similar to the eggs of modern times, the research group of Madrid Complutense University and the University of Barcelona said.

The oval of bird eggs is related to physiology: they take this shape due to the presence of just one egg, which can form only one egg at a time. The area in the eggshell that creates the eggshell membrane is the place for eggs to have an asymmetrical oval shape.

Larger heads contain an airbag that allows birds to breathe in the later stages of its development, a relatively poor evolutionary step in most dinosaurs, the researchers say.

Therefore, eggs discovered by Spanish researchers may symbolize misplaced chains between dinosaurs and birds, the team concluded.