Have you ever seen dinosaur eggs that are only millimeters in size?

The dinosaur egg fossil family welcomes a new member, the "Ganzhou Mini Egg." Reporters learned on a certain day from the Jiangxi Geological Survey and Exploration Institute that an egg fossil discovered in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, measuring only 10.6 mm in length, has been confirmed by the research team as a new genus and species within the Oviraptorosauridae family of dinosaur eggs, and has been named the "Ganzhou Mini Egg." The research findings were recently published online in the international professional academic journal "Historical Biology."

In the year, Lou Fasheng, the chief engineer of the Geological Survey and Exploration Institute of Jiangxi Province, led a research team consisting of the Geological Survey and Exploration Institute of Jiangxi Province and the Geological Museum of Jiangxi Province. The team discovered and collected a well-preserved nest of eggs, containing 10 nearly intact egg fossils in irregular arrangement, at a construction site in Meilin Town, Ganzian District, Ganzhou City. The geological strata where these eggs were found date back to the late Cretaceous period, approximately 70 million years ago. Subsequently, the research team collaborated with China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After a year of research, they confirmed that the fossils were dinosaur eggs.

How can these egg fossils be identified as dinosaur eggs? Lou Fasheng said that the research team used scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction technology, and other methods to analyze the microscopic structure of the eggshell. Based on the macroscopic shape, ornamentation type, and basic structure of the shell units of the specimen, it was classified into the oval egg family of dinosaur eggs. Due to the significant differences in size, shell thickness, pore system, and ultrastructure of the newly discovered egg fossils compared to previous ones, a new genus and species were established.

Lou Fasheng said that the research team also discovered that this is the smallest complete dinosaur egg fossil known globally. Previously, among the dinosaur egg fossils discovered in publicly available academic achievements, the smallest was the Jinguo micro-elliptical egg from Zhejiang, which measured approximately...; while the newly discovered Ganzhou mini egg has a maximum length of only millimeters, setting a new record for the smallest dinosaur egg fossil.

After systematic evolutionary analysis of known egg fossils, we believe these dinosaur eggs come from a small theropod dinosaur, said Han Fenglu, associate professor in the field of paleovertebrate research at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). The newly discovered smallest complete dinosaur egg fossil in the world increases the diversity of dinosaur eggs from the Late Cretaceous period and is of great significance for understanding the evolution and reproductive methods of theropod dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous.

Next, the research team will restore the overall burial state of the egg fossils through microscopic scanning, study their formation process, and further accurately determine which type of dinosaur laid the eggs and the reproductive methods of this dinosaur species.