Rare 'abnormal' dinosaur egg in found India's Madhya Pradesh

In a rare find, a team of researchers from Delhi University has discovered a rare dinosaur egg in India's Madhya Pradesh.

As per a statement by the university, this is probably the first time in fossil history that such a find has been found. What's rare about this find is that the egg had another egg inside it.

This egg-in-egg is a "rare and important find" as no 'ovum-in-ovum' was found in reptiles before this discovery. As per a PTI report, the findings have been published in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

Professor Guntupalli V R Prasad, the corresponding author of the published article, said “the new pathological egg is a rare and important find as no ovum-in-ovo egg was found in reptiles until now and as it brings out significant information on whether dinosaurs had a reproductive biology similar to that of turtles and lizards or their immediate cousins crocodiles and birds.”

This abnormal titanosaurid dinosaur egg was discovered in the Dhar district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It can be determined whether dinosaurs had reproductive biology, similar to turtles and lizards or if they resembled the species considered their immediate cousins, birds and crocodiles. 

Central India's Upper Cretaceous Lametta Formation has long been known for dinosaur fossil discovery (both skeletal and egg remains). Exploring the Padlya village close to Bagh town, the researchers documented a large number of titanosaurid sauropod nests. 

There they found a dinosaur nest consisting of 10 eggs, including the abnormal egg. Before this find, no egg-in-egg fossil eggs had ever been found for dinosaurs or other reptiles like turtles, lizards, and crocodiles.