North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Rare Dinosaur Eggs Unearthed at the Museum
Eggs and nests are among the rarest dinosaur fossils. Although large numbers of spectacular fossil nests have been discovered in Asia, very few dinosaur eggs have been discovered in North America and those that have, largely belong to duckbill or raptor dinosaurs.
Now a team of paleontologists led by Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and assistant research professor at NC State University, has recovered the first clutch of eggs from a fascinating group of feathered, bird-like dinosaurs — known as oviraptorosaurs — ever discovered in North America. The 97-million-year-old clutch contains at least eight football-sized eggs (the exact count is currently unknown) found buried next to the remains of an ancient bank laden with trees.