New study suggests that hard eggshells evolved at least three times in dinosaur family tree
Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - 10:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
New research suggests that the first dinosaurs laid soft-shelled eggs—a finding that contradicts established thought. The study, led by the American Museum of Natural History and Yale University and published today in the journal Nature, applied a suite of sophisticated geochemical methods to analyze the eggs of two vastly different non-avian dinosaurs and found that they resembled those of turtles in their microstructure, composition, and mechanical properties. The research also suggests that hard-shelled eggs evolved at least three times independently in the dinosaur family tree.