In an archaeological first, researchers have uncovered the fossil of a bird that lived 110 million years ago — with an egg still inside it.
The fossil, discovered in China, is “incredibly well preserved,” researchers say. So well preserved, in fact, that scientists have determined the egg was responsible for the prehistoric bird’s death, according to Dr. Alida Bailleul. “The egg shell consists of two layers instead of one, as in normal healthy bird eggs, indicating the egg was retained too long inside the abdomen,” Bailleul says.
The bird is part of a newly-discovered species called Avimaia schweitzerae, which scientists believe lived alongside dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period.
Source: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/unlaid-egg-discovered-ancient-bird-fossil
