**First Time At Auction**

East Asia, China, Cretaceous Period, ca. 65.5 to 145.5 million years ago. A clutch of fossilized dinosaur eggs within a stone matrix from a species of ornithopod, three toed species of dinosaurs! There are 3 eggs - 1 complete egg and 2 half eggs, split during excavation. The complete eggs sits atop one half, and the other half is separate and perhaps from a different clutch entirely. The 3 eggs are spherical with pebbly surfaces, characteristic of hadrosaurids, a type of duck billed dinosaur. The shells are surrounded by a red matrix of stone, the telltale sign of the Shandong Province rock beds where these types of eggs are most often found. Because eggs are often discovered with little evidence of the dinosaur that laid them, they are often named by the eggshell structures! Size 2 eggs in matrix: 6" L x 6" W x 7" H (15.2 cm x 15.2 cm x 17.8 cm)

In the past few decades, paleontological research in China has rewritten our knowledge of dinosaurs, especially the later Cretaceous period, which was previously known mainly from western North America. Incredible finds of fossilized skeletal remains, eggs, nests, footprints, and related non-dinosaur animals and plants have given us a new understanding of how dinosaurs lived - and how they parented. Scholars posit that these animals were devoted parents, nurturing their children from eggs through childhood and living in family units.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003

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#177547

Excavated with 2 eggs cut in half. Missing exterior egg shells and areas of repair with shell fragments reattached. Remains of stone matrix surrounding and mineral deposits.