Kirsty Mckenzie
PALAEONTOLOGISTS in Spain have extracted large nests of dinosaur eggs, belonging to a species that is believed to have lived some 68 million years ago.
Currently, the international team of paleontologists, led by the Aragosaurus Groupare, are extracting a nest that contains at least 12 eggs in northeastern Spain.
Around 60 eggs, some believed to contain well-preserved embryos, were unearthed after multiple nests were found in Huesca province in 2020.
The creature appears to be an ancestor of the family that includes the titanosaur sauropods – four-legged herbivores with long necks and long tails.
The study at the University of Zaragoza also sheds light on the size of the dinosaurs’ eggs.
“They are spherical and have about 15 centimeters in diameter and they present an optimal state of conservation, and are grouped, suggesting the existence of several nests,” said researchers.
Aragosaurus have said that the fossil recovery process is ‘complex’ and has taken a total of 50 days so far, requiring five people to working for eight hours a day. .
Previous missions have seen two nests, containing around 20 eggs, be extracted.
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