Hidden in Portuguese Cliffs, Scientists Just Found a Perfectly Preserved Crocodile Egg from the Jurassic
The Daily Galaxy • • science
Key Points:
- Researchers discovered 152-million-year-old crocodilian eggs in western Portugal, the oldest ever found, extending the known fossil record of crocodilian eggs by about 40 million years.
- The eggs were found within a dinosaur nesting site near Lourinhã, indicating repeated nesting activity and providing early direct evidence of crocodile reproduction from the Late Jurassic period.
- The ancient eggs closely resemble those of modern crocodiles in shape and structure, suggesting remarkable evolutionary stability in crocodilian reproductive biology over 150 million years.
- The coexistence of crocodilian and dinosaur eggs at the same site raises questions about shared environmental preferences or ecological interactions between these species during that era.
- This discovery highlights the past diversity of crocodilian relatives, which exhibited varied diets, morphologies, and habitats compared to modern species.
