Discovered the world's smallest dinosaur egg fossil

The fossil egg weighs only about 10 grams, which belongs to a small pedicellated dinosaur that lived 100 million years ago.

The researchers discovered a 4.5 cm long, 2 cm wide dinosaur egg fossils in a Cretaceous stratum stratum in Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, Japan Times on June 23. believe. Egg fossils are estimated to weigh 10 grams and are over 100 million years old.  

Some dinosaur egg fossils (marked by arrows) at Tamba. (Photo: Japan Times).

After analysis, researchers at the University of Tsukuba and the Hyogo Museum of Nature and Human Activities said it was most likely the egg of a small flightless dinosaur animal. This dinosaur was named Himeoolithus murakamii.

Small dinosaur bones are more rare than large species, such as tyrant dinosaurs, creatures that also belong to the group of animal dinosaurs. Researcher Kohei Tanaka at the University of Tsukuba, a member of the research team, hopes the new discovery will provide more information on how small dinosaurs breed and nest.

The team surveyed the 110 million-year-old stratigraphy in Tamba between 2015 and 2019 and found four fossil eggs and more than 1,300 pieces of broken eggshell. They belong to four different dinosaurs, including the Himeoolithus murakamii.    

The new discovery shows many small dinosaurs nest together in ancient strata of Tamba. This is also one of the areas with the most dinosaur eggs in the early Cretaceous period in the world. Fossil dinosaur eggs are found in other places like Spain and Mongolia, many of which are 5 to 7 cm long and weigh about 30 grams.