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J.A. Peñas - SINC
An artist's impression of the egg-laying of the sauropod Ampelosaurus.
By LiveScience staff
Researchers in northeastern Spain say they've uncovered hundreds of dinosaur egg fossils, including four kinds that had never been found before in the region. The eggs likely were left behind by sauropods millions of years ago.
Eggs, eggshell fragments and dozens of clutches were nestled in the stratigraphic layers of the Tremp geological formation at the site of Coll de Nargó in the Spanish province of Lleida, which was a marshy region during the Late Cretaceous Period, the researchers said.
"Eggshells, eggs and nests were found in abundance and they all belong to dinosaurs, sauropods in particular," the study's leader, Albert García Sellés from the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Palaeontology Institute, told Spanish news agency SINC this week.
"Up until now, only one type of dinosaur egg had been documented in the region: Megaloolithus siruguei," Sellés added. His team found evidence of at least four other species: Cairanoolithus roussetensis, Megaloolithus aureliensis, Megaloolithus siruguei and Megaloolithus baghensis. Megaloolithus eggs are thought to be associated with sauropods, long-necked dinosaurs that were among some of the largest to roam the planet.
The Coll de Nargó area is considered one of the most important dinosaur nesting areas in Europe, the researchers said, adding that their study shows it was used by several dinosaurs from the Late Campanian age (around 71 million years ago) to the Late Maastrichtian age (around 67 million years ago).
"We had never found so many nests in the one area before. In addition, the presence of various oospecies (eggs species) at the same level suggests that different types of dinosaurs shared the same nesting area," Sellés said, adding that the dinosaur eggs could help scientists determine the date of future findings at the site.
"It has come to light that the different types of eggs are located at very specific time intervals," Sellés explained to SINC. "This allows us to create biochronological scales with a precise dating capacity. In short, thanks to the collection of oospecies found in Coll de Nargó we have been able to determine the age of the site at between 71 and 67 million years."
The findings are published in the March issue of the journal Cretaceous Research.
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Leave a Comment:
I should think that this would go without saying, although Easter is just around the corner...
Damn, that was funny. : )
No picture? Weak!
Easter egg hunt ???
Someone cheated and looked for the eggs early.....
My theory is that they have stumbled onto the lair of the ancient saber-toothed Easter bunny, a fearsome 600lb mammal that terrorized the dinosaurs by preying on their young.
I agree !!!!
i agree
Then they will need the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
its possible for any egg to be any where in the world with great events going on that would move them any where.
yet they all somehow all magically stay together even despite some mythical "great flood", right?
The devil planted them there to mess with us.
markwills, your ignorance is as apparent as if you where wearing your underwear outside of your pants. First of all virtually every civilization on earth even into ancient Africa has a flood account with differing reasons as to why it happened. One account from Africa claims that a woman who was overly exuberant in pounding grain poked a hole in the sky with her staff. Regardless as to their explanation, they ALL contain a flood account. Next point. Since the dinosaurs existed millions of years before man and these eggs would have been buried well below the surface, how exactly would the flood have affected them?? If ignorance is bliss you must be the happiest person on earth. Your just what this planet needs, another moron spouting stupidity.
And not one account factually valid. All they are is stories, and stories which are borrowed from other sources and given different spins. But stories is all they are.
And yet, your post implies that you buy in to the "Great Flood" myth, am I correct?
gee - and just THINK ... There is NO RECORD of that WORLD WIDE FLOOD in either the GEOLOGICAL OR FOSSIL RECORDS - just in the book of dogmatic assertions and other oral traditions. How about them apples? Of course, there IS a record of the flooding of the Black sea some 700 feet deep backwards from the DARDANELLES and also funny is that that is EXACTLY the area and time frame (about 7000 years ago) that the mythical Noah's flood happened and a waterfall of that volume would have lasted 40 days (and nights) and produced massive mists which then fell like RAIN.... Funny how a significant LOCAL event would become "world wide' to a stone/ bronze age person who generally didn't know what EXISTED 15 miles away from their cave.
jim pnw, marmaduke49 is a believer in the "great flood" and the Earth being only 6000-9000 years old, in other words, a YECreationist
there is plenty of evidence for large, even catastrophic, regional floods at various times in various locations (the Missoula flood for example swamped much of the Pacific northwest), but no evidence for a global, world-drowning flood a few thousand years ago.
you jumped into a conversation without knowing the full context of it, try again.
It doesnt matter if im a young or old earth creationist, there is plenty of evidence for a world wide flood.
only if you completely ignore the overwhelming evidence against a worldwide flood
Its all a matter of perspective..
Just like the simple example of looking at a deep riverbed. It was formed with a lot of water in a little bit of time, or a little bit of water over a long period of time. Both can do the same thing, but no one would know for sure unless someone was there to witness the event. Both can be right, and both do happen.
Its all about evidence and how it is interpreted. So when we find fossils to animals that are high on top of mountain peaks, that have no business up there, nor were ingenious to the area, we can say perhaps it was washed there by a great flood. Now we dont know 100 % for sure since none of us were there to witness such, but we interpret it how we want.
We can talk forever about rock beds, petrified trunks, fossils being in places they shouldnt be. , limestone..
Facts dont speak for themselves, it takes people to talk for them, and frankly , personal bias views sometimes make those decisions.
Present it then!
the simplest grade-school experiment disproves the "great flood" speculation. take a jar with assorted soil , rocks, sticks and small animal bones and shake it up. how do they sort out? nothing like what is found in nature on a global scale.
O.K. I am going to say it......
Marmaduke 49,
You're an idiot!
quite wrong mark. A jar full of stuff isnt even a fair comparison to an world wide flood event. I am sorry your views of the evidence out there seem to one sided.
How nice that all civilizations recorded such events also.
ROgerstv, totally uncalled for. Name calling is a violation of the Code of honor on these forums. Your name calling doesnt bring anything to a debate. If you have nothing better to say, or logical, then I can gladly put you on ignore. Up to you
marmaduke, try again, I stated:
still no evidence of a global flood, and plenty of evidence against, including the laws of physics
I dont have time to waste arguing the evidence for Global floods, its there, it exists. I leave you many links to read.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1791
http://www.icr.org/geological-strata/
You can read all the related links under the article.
http://unmaskingevolution.com/18-flood.htm
http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers/features/worldwide-flood-evidence
http://www.messagetoeagle.com/greatflood.php#.UVClqFebWf0
http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/38/38_3/Crimean.htm ( technical )
Final COnclusion to note in this article.
It is clear that a conceptual framework influences the interpretation of geologic features to a great extent. This is why researchers with similar qualifications and ability can draw radically different conclusions from the same data. Numerous investigations confirm this viewpoint. Valid interpretations have been performed based on a catastrophist framework at the Grand Canyon (Austin, 1994, pp. 21–56). Similarly, the age of submarine placer deposits in north-eastern Russia has been shown to lie in a range between 2000 and 5500 years, rather than the 40 million years estimated by uniformitarians (Lalomov and Tabolitch, 1996) and the age of associated alluvial placer deposits has been shown to be less than 2000 years—hundreds of times less than what uniformitarian geologists believe (Lalomov and Tabolitch, 1999).
YOu get my point , i can keep on and on with endless links from research , science and viewpoints.
What I list is not proof for the existence of global flood, its evidence. There is a Big difference between the two. Just as people who claim there was local flooding, you only have evidence, you can not prove it. Evidence needs to be interpreted, and that always is based off of presumptions. So there for we can just say there is evidence for both a local and world wide flood.
time to make the worlds largest omelet.
And a Spanish one at that!
darn somebody done took me idea!!!!
You have to have the sauce, though.
yeah but the question is what do we make the bacon out of??
How about Jurassic Pork!!! LOL!!!!!
I agree
gee - and just THINK ... There is NO RECORD of that WORLD WIDE FLOOD in either the GEOLOGICAL OR FOSSIL RECORDS - just in the book of dogmatic assertions and other oral traditions. How about them apples? Of course, there IS a record of the flooding of the Black sea some 700 feet deep backwards from the DARDANELLES and also funny is that that is EXACTLY the area and time frame (about 7000 years ago) that the mythical Noah's flood happened and a waterfall of that volume would have lasted 40 days (and nights) and produced massive mists which then fell like RAIN.... Funny how a significant LOCAL event would become "world wide' to a stone/ bronze age person who generally didn't know what EXISTED 15 miles away from their cave. Kind of shoots BIG holes in the "Young Earthers" bulls hit, eh?
Put a fork in it.....while I agree with your comment, it seems to me off the subject of dinosaur eggs. But all the talk of omelets is making me hungry!
Time to incubate them and let's get some dinosour's back into our habitat.
The DNR could release them in the Red States and give the NRA another argument for assault weapons. Just don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.
hey Rocky - watch me pull a dinosaur out of a hat...presto! Hard as a rock - well it IS a rock...
so why did they not hatch? Ignorant me.
Many or most things don't hatch or survive in the wild. Could have been any sort of natural effect.
Steak & Eggs anyone:
I think it might be pretty crunchy at this point.
How about Jurassic Pork!!! LOL!!!!!!
Mmmm - crunchy - just like eating Pebbles...ROCKS are pretty hard on the teeth
Millions of years ago? Well, I am sure it was a long, long, long time ago. But they should not state without a doubt it was millions of years ago when that is just a speculation. Yes, they probably used carbon dating and such, but those who understand those dating techniques know that they are based on huge assumptions that cannot be proven true or false. So testing based on unproven assumptions does not make it a fact - just another hypothesis.
In fact, they are really really old.
They're older than God, cuz God wasn't invented yet.
The self-deceived are so mentally deficient they actually believe mythology.
Chuck, are you just trying to get some chuckles? It is obvious you do not understand dating techniques. Carbon dating relies on the radioactive decay of carbon 14. It is limited to only about 60,000 years. (Wiki) The dating of rock layers which are millions of years old utilizes a number of techniques. (Link to Utah Geological Survey) The rocks really are millions of years old. As with any measurement, there is always a certain degree of uncertainty. In this case it is estimated as 4 million years (67 to 71 million years ago).
It is apparent that the universe operates in an orderly and uniform manner. There was a time before the scientific method was discovered; it was called the dark ages.
Those who understanding carbon 14 dating techniques know that it is pretty accurate but is only good for dating organic material to around 60 thousand years. Radiometric dating, similar to carbon dating but using isotope series to determine the age of fossils quite accurately. Additionally, scientists attempt to use several methods of dating wherever possible. In this case stratigraphy and the fossils relation to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary as well as the use of other fossils of known age, likely allow scientists to date these fossils to within a few thousand years of their actual age.
As for any of these methods being simply "unproven assumptions," the figures are checked and rechecked regularly, with new tables being produced every year. Sometimes dates are changed a thousand years one way or the other but, these are much older dates with the newer ones remaining consistent. Radiometric dating has proven to be accurate within 1% or less on its own. When used in conjunction with other methods dating may be accurate down to a few hundred years.
Chuck, I know you made your statement based on religious beliefs. I am not attacking your religion. I consider myself to be a Christian but, I also consider myself to be a scientist. The two are not incompatible. As a matter of fact, the more I learn about the universe and the Earth, the stronger my belief has become.
"those who understand those dating techniques"
And that ain't you. Chuck, radioisotope dating is extremely well supported and the dates are accurate. If you don't understand this, at least quit pretending that you do.
So Chuck,,, I'm guessing you think they're only 5 or 6000 years old?
Your stupid religious superstitions are certainly not facts, but I'm sure you believe them. At least the scientists have evidence. You don't.
Hey, guys, don't try to explain anything sensible or scientific to this creatard. Insult and ridicule are the only things he deserves.
Evolution isn't a theory,it was a discovery.
Why only an artist's rendering of what this dinosaur looked like? Since the eggs were found, shouldn't there be a picture of the eggs, instead?
All of those ovals and circles would look like the doodles on a napkin or a child's scribble. Artist has to look like he/she did something.
Oh I'm sure we will eventually be seeing pictures of the eggs. I have noticed the public really doesnt hear about cool finds until way after the fact anyways.
Amazing...
let me know when the pictures are available, maybe some cat scans, this is some seriously cool subject.
I would get excited,,,, but this is very BORING. The only value of this find, oh wait a minute, there is NO VALUE TO THIS
Says someone obviously not interested in history.
Another creatard ...
Boring, but yet you took time to read it and post about it. How amusing.
Value; this proves that the earth is a lot older than 3000 years.
That was proven long, long ago.
You're in the "Matrix" Mike Straub. You will soon meet Trinity and discover that the world you live in is less than a parsec old. Your escape from bioelectic slavery and dystopian cybernetic implantation to a neo-reality is planned by Morpheus and his subspace cyberpunk emissaries.
lets make some big guys now
Jurassick park all over again.
Nope. No mosquito, no amber, no Jeff Goldblum, no crunchy lawyers.
cartoon critters, best they can do in an age of digital cameras. so reckn story lost its excitement with me after the drawn pic of animals that probably never even come close to looking like this except in 1800 archeology mindsets.
omlet
they found hundreds of eggs and couldn't take one picture?
The eggs were all square and scientists won't release the pictures until they figure out how the dinosaurs did that without internal damage.
400 eggs are hard to resist, huh? Poor Jock. He tried one of those eggs and now he's looking at a $2500 dental bill for bridge work. Yes, the yoke is on Jock!
And to think birds came from this or was it the other way around?
Hard to believe such a large creature could live with such small lungs? Impossible given current levels. Maybe that has something to do with them dying off? Or did we just eat them all?
Sauropods were in a completely different branch of dinosaurs from the one leading to birds; not closely related at all.
Jock
And the Apes had wings and flew 2 millions years ago before they became humans..? haha
No, but if you want to say stupid things to flaunt your own ignorance, go right ahead.
I think you're confusing reality - if you have any idea what that is - with the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. Humans and apes have common ancestry - to put it in the very simplest terms although I believe I'm safe in thinking you still won't get it.
Oh wait, you're right. A magical Sky Daddy going *poof!* at Adam 6,000 years ago, and - abracadabra! - his rib turns into a woman (so he can fvck himself and make babies) makes SO much more sense! Hallelujah! I've seen delight!
The reason they could survive with such small lungs is because at that point in time plants had already been around way longer than anything that breathed oxygen.
For millions and millions of years plants had been breathing in co2 and expelling oxygen with nothing really breathing it.
Of course alot of the oxygen has slowly been turned to other elements through natural processes , as well as absorbed by the earth itself since then.
The earth was still catching up to all that free oxygen floating around in the sky and many of the creatures were quite large indeed.
K Martin, Where did you get the idea that sauropods had small lungs? Crocodilians and birds breath more efficiently than mammals. Sauropods had pneumatic bones and undoubtedly had very efficient lungs in the same manner as present day birds and crocodilians. Sauropods had enormous bodies which could be expected to contain enormous lungs.
The industrial revolution significantly decreased oxygen in the atmosphere.
SURE it did... sheesh - brainwashed to the MAX, eh?
The reason there are no pictures is so that rank amateurs like us won't scoop the great paleontologists with some really important revelation. You'll be told what to think and how to think it as soon as the eggheads are ready. Sooo....NO PICS FOR U! The omelet nazis
Maybe it's "Just Me" but doesn't this prove the existence of the galactic Sky Daddy band or is that P Diddy, Tommy Lee and the Star Makers??
Actually it's Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars.
Ziggy plays gui-taaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr! And so does Ziggy Marley, son of the great Bob "Tuff Gong" Marley.
Right, it's theropods that are the ancestors of birds....not the four-legged, long-necked dinosaurs.
The eggs are 5000 years old.
and pigs have wings too... and FROGS so they won't bump their ASSES when the JUMP...
If they want fossils why not just check both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate.
Oh, I'm sorry. That calculation of "67 to 71 million years ago" for the age of the eggs is incorrect. According to the Born Agains, the earth is only 8,000 years old...according to their interpretation of their Bible.
Let's not rattle their cages, OK? Otherwise, they'll start whining and witnessing to us. In tongues!
I periodically read the Bible to restore my faith. Deuteronomy, Numbers and Judges, properly read demonstrate that the god depicted in the Bible is a crazed, egocentric, mass murderer. As Issac Asimov said, "Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived."
well i dont mean to scare you humans, but some dinosaurs eggs lay in a state of animated suspension, in other words they will hatch, and some in montana have hatched,but the govt is afraid to tell you,most are pretty harmless like the t -rex an velocipraptors, but there is a secert research lab up in northern montana that has some huge pens and highly electrified, and if go up ther elate at night? you hear some strange animal screams,i left right away, ya never know what the govt is doing,, if htey breed enough of them? they can help with the population problem,
I'm so excited that I can't put it into words. There are more Goose bumps running up and down my legs than Chris Matthews had when Obama was elected. This discovery is a red letter day for us liberals and Progressives. This is the source of our DNA and the pathway of our a priori evolution from egg to Obama. Maybe we can clone these eggs and hatch them. Think of the wisdom these eggs are concealing. Locked inside these "pearls of evolution" we may discover the cure for cancer, the remedy for global warming, the answer to our economy and the secret of interstellar space travel. Don't let the retrogressive right wing Neanderthals cover up this seminal scientific quantum leap up the evolutionary ladder.
The "eggs" have turned to rocks, dumb Johnny.
It's hard to tell which side you are trying to mock, Johnny. You succeed at neither.