[Assam] Scientist claims discovery of dinosaur egg at Manas (Assam)

[Pradip Kumar Datta]

Scientist claims discovery of dinosaur egg at Manas
>From Our Correspondent
, who hails from Barpeta,  GOALPARA, July 9 — Diganta Narzary, a young scientist in the National Botanical Research Institute (under CSIR - Lucknow), has claimed to have discovered perhaps the world’s largest fossilized dinosaur egg. Narzary, now working as a senior research fellow at the institute, was at the Manas National Park in October 2006 for official collection of samples from the Indo-Bhutan boundary area. He claimed to have found the fossilised egg on the bank of Manas river amidst sandstones. The shell of the egg discovered by Narzary was partly broken.

Dinosaurs had roamed the earth from the middle of Triassic (250-210 million years before) to the end of Cretaceous (140-65 million years before) period. The minimum recorded size of dinosaur (compsognathus) was at 76 centimetres, while the maximum size was that of Argentinosaurus huinculensis, which had a length of 51 metres and weighed about 100 tonnes.

Dinosaur eggs of various species have been found at about 200 sites across the world; most of them in China.

Recorded history says that very rarely, such eggs have preserved parts of the embryo in them, which can help to match an egg with a species of dinosaur. Without an embryo, it is difficult to match an egg to a dinosaur species.

It may be mentioned here that earlier a team of South Korean palaeontologists in the year 2000 claimed to have discovered the world’s largest fossilized dinosaur egg that measured 41 centimetres (16 inches) from tip to tip in a giant nest (containing 20 eggs) thought to be 100 million years old. Back in 1997, villagers discovered about 300 fossilized dinosaur eggs in Pisdura, 440 miles northeast of Bombay that Indian scientists said were laid by four-legged long-necked vegetarian creatures. In 2003, bones of dinosaur (Rajasaurus narmadensis) were discovered in Narmada river region. There were some other discoveries too from our country.

The egg discovered by Narzary was collected in the area 837ft above sea and 1°31.761´N latitude and 97°29.797´E longitude. The egg, measuring lengthwise 30 inches from tip to tip and having a width diameter of 24 inches, weighs 16 kg.

Talking to this Correspondent, Narzary said that he and some palaeontologists of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany of Lucknow are now studying the egg to know more about the nature and type of dinosaur that it is and its period of prevalence. Further, uranium dating has been done and its age may be known in another month.

 
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