Eggshells fill a 30 million-year-old fossil record gap for dinosaur migration

Eggshells found in Utah Paper In Plos one.

The fossils include egg shells from three feathered bird -like dinosaurs, two vegetable dinosaurs and a crocodile -like way. It is also the first new discovery of dinosaur eggs from the region for 50 years and the first proof of a crocodile species outside of Europe.

The collection of mussels from Utahs Cedar Mountain from three different types of animals represents a wide range of creature-“one of the best preserved records of paleobiodiversity in the early late chalk,” says the newspaper.

Dinosaurs hike to the west

This time was a particularly busy time for dinosaurs. Many species hiked west, over a country bridge that connected today's Russia with Canada. The dinosaurs were possible pioneers in the west because early people may have driven millions of years later to North America. This period of dinosaur dynamics was referred to as the early chalk -Laurasian exchange event (eclene).

Earlier studies show that the newcomers from Asia finally train some North American natives. Which dinosaurs appeared where and when is an important part of paleontology. At some point, the dinosaur variety reached its peak, but began to lose weight for at least two million years before the creatures had died out.

Read more: The variety of dinosaurs took back 2 million years before Asteroid scored hits

Filling the gaps

The story that the mussels tell fills a 20 million-year gap when the “egg thief” Oviraptorosaurs arrived in North America and a 15 million year hole on the continent when arriving of crocodile-like species.

“Egg shell data is particularly crucial for the understanding of wider paleo environmental issues,” said the paper. “They provide data points about body fossils and a fascinating window into the behavioral ecology of this taxa.”

There is a great variety From dinosaurs eggs that vary depending on the shape, size, texture and color. It was found that a species 35 has laid – presumably to thwart predators. The more eggs you lay, the better the chance that at least one descendant will survive. Dinosaurs also vary in shape, size and color. And the biggest dinosaurs don't necessarily lay the biggest eggs. By investigating increased dinosaurs, we can put together more information about the extinct creatures.

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Before Paul Smaglik came to the Discover Magazine, he was a scientific journalist for over 20 years and specialized in US living science and global scientific career questions. He started his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work appeared in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature and Scientific American.