The global scientific community is buzzing with news of a unique discovery in Argentinian Patagonia. Palaeontologists from Argentina and Sweden discovered two fossilised eggs and a set of bones that belonged to a little-known bird-like dinosaur that lived in the region over 70 million years ago.
The remains, of a species in the Alvarezsauridae group of dinosaurs, was found during an expedition to Patagonia in 2010 by party member Dr. J Powell of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales but has been named Bonapartenykus ultimus in honour of Dr. Jose Bonaparte, who discovered the very first specimen of an alvarezsaurid in the same area of South America in 1991.
In recent years Patagonia has exploded in popularity with holidaymakers seeking an alternative to lounging by the pool, this is evident by the sheer number of results you get if you search for a travel adventure website that serves the area. With cruises to Antarctica on offer as well as walking routes such as the infamous Torres del Paine w trek, it is not hard to see why tourists from around the globe are discovering the amazing landscapes that have enthralled scientists and provided valuable data about the history of our planet for decades.
The newly identified species is said to have measured 2.6 metres (8.5 feet) in length, making it one of the largest members of the Alvarezsauridae family to be discovered. The palaeontologists who discovered it believe it could be one the last survivors of its kind to live on Gondwana, the southern landmass during the Mesozoic Era.
As the eggs were found so close to the hind quarters of the fossil specimen, the experts have ruled out the skeleton and the eggs mixing after the dinosaur died and have suggested that the eggs may have been inside the oviducts of the animal when it met its end.
Martin Kundrat of Uppsala University said: “So it looks like we have indirect evidence for keeping two eggs in two oviducts. They were close to being laid, but the female didn’t make it.”
The scientists also found that there was fossilised fungus on pieces of egg shell they found. Kundrat explained that various fungi affect bird eggs today: “It looks like at the very late stage the eggs could suffer from the same contamination as in common birds,”
“It doesn’t mean it must kill the embryo, because usually in the embryonic space or inner space it’s still protected by a very dense network of organic fibres called the shell membrane.”
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