Dinosaur-era bird fossil found with unlaid egg


A group of scientists in Gansu province have discovered a fossilized bird dating back about 110 million years and the first ever to have an unlaid egg in its abdomen.
The fossil represents a new species, Avimaia schweitzerae, belonging to a group called the Enantiornithes, which was abundant around the world and coexisted with dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period.
The well preserved fossil was discovered in the city of Yumen.
Because the specimen was crushed flat, it was only after a small fragment was extracted and analyzed under a microscope that the research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology realized the unusual tissue was an egg, said Alida Bailleul, the lead author of the article.
- Xinjiang–Xizang rail project marks a key moment
- Roads, power restored in NW China county hit by mountain torrents
- Uncovering Tianjin's unsung resistance heroes
- Relief efforts begin in flood-affected areas of Gansu
- China rehearses 80th anti-fascism victory event
- Roads to flood-hit Gansu villages are reopened