A 9-year-old primary school student from Heyuan, South China’s Guangdong province, accidentally found what he suspected to be a dinosaur egg fossil on Tuesday while playing at the river bank in the downtown area with his mother, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
A weird
Ladbible claims that “he was looking for something that could crack the walnuts.” This was a lifelong discovery for Zhang, who has a passion for science and has always been drawn to dinosaurs.
The child discovered a “strange stone” while digging in the earth, according to The Sun. He gently pulled out the stone from the earth where it had been pounded.
As per The Daily Mail, “He initially believed that the stone’s surface was covered in “circles.” He thought it may have been a bit of cement.
Further examination revealed that it was something odd, and based on its distinct form, he surmised that it was a dinosaur egg. He claimed to have received this information via books and the school’s cultural corridor, saying it to the local media “claims Ladbible”.
They both stood watch over the spot until professionals came and secured it. They promptly informed the neighborhood museum about their discovery.
Li Xiaofang, the boy’s mother, later contacted the local museum, whose staff members came and dug out even more dinosaur eggs around the place.
The unusual stone was a petrified egg, according to experts who confirmed this right away. They started excavating the location of Zhang’s finding in the days that followed.
Ten other eggs similar to the one the student noticed were uncovered throughout the excavation. Because they were all discovered in a compact location, they came to the conclusion that Zhang had discovered a nest of dinosaurs.
The eggs have been removed by the scientists for study at the nearby Héyuán Dinosaur Museum. They are estimated to be 66 million years old, which is astounding.
A model of a dinosaur nest.
According to the Daily Mail, Huang Ding, a former director of the neighborhood Heyuan Museum, claimed that “the fossils were from the late Cretaceous era.”
This occurred around 65 million years ago, right before the great extinction of the dinosaurs.
In the three million-person city of Héyuán, the finding of a rare dinosaur nest is not all that unusual. There have been several discoveries of dinosaur fossils, particularly eggs.
The Sun claims that as a result of the finds, Heyuán is now referred to as China’s “home of dinosaurs.”
The first significant discovery of dinosaur eggs was made in 1996, also close to the Dong River, where the youngster’s discovery was made. Workers installing sewage lines in 2015 came upon a batch of more than 40 eggs.
According to The Daily Mail, “almost 17,000 of them have been pulled out across the city.” At the nearby Héyuán Museum, almost 10,000 of them are either kept in storage or on exhibit.
One of the largest collections of fossilized ancient eggs found anywhere in the world is found there.
Huang Zhiqing said the museum will organize manpower to clean and repair these dinosaur egg fossils. They will also find an appropriate time to re-examine and further excavate the abutment.
“Maybe we will discover new things,” Huang Zhiqing said.
Li said the child’s recognition of the dinosaur egg is inseparable from his education.
“Maybe because of the city’s environment, he is full of curiosity about everything related to dinosaurs,” she said, adding that he goes to libraries and museums to search for information he is curious about.
