Discovered the first dinosaur fossil complete with a nest, intent on hatching its eggs, some of which still retain embryos.
The fossil is described in the study published in the journal Science Bulletin by paleontologists from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, coordinated by Shundong Bi.
70 million years old and found in Jiangxi province in southern China, the fossil belongs to an oviraptorosaur, a group of feathered Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived in present-day Asia and North America.
According to the reconstructions of paleontologists, the eggs had a curious blue-greenish color.
The unique fossil contains the incomplete skeleton of a dinosaur crouched, like a modern bird, on a brood of at least 24 eggs.
According to Shundong Bi, “at least seven of these eggs retain partial bones or skeletons of unhatched embryos within them.
It is the first time - he specifies - that a dinosaur fossil has been found sitting on an egg nest, which still retains embryos in a single spectacular specimen ".
According to paleontologists, the advanced stage of development of the embryos indicates that the dinosaur had been caring for its nest for quite a long time.
"As a demonstration - concludes Shundong Bi - that this dinosaur was a caring parent, who gave his life to take care of his children".