Scientists say an amazingly well-preserved fossil egg adds more evidence to the close links between dinosaurs and modern birds.
Darla Zelenitsky, from the University of Calgary, was one of the authors of a just-published┬аpaper on the egg, originally discovered in China about 20 years ago.
She said┬аthe embryo of the theropod dinosaur is curled up inside the egg just like a chicken, with its back against the broad end of the egg.
That means the posture predates the appearance of birds, said┬аZelenitsky,┬аand it’s one more birdlike characteristic developed by dinosaurs.
Others include feathers and how eggs are shaped and built. Even sitting on nests to hatch eggs was done first by dinosaurs.
In 25 years of studying dinosaur eggs,┬аZelenitsky said she’s never seen one so preserved.
The first time she saw it, she said, she could have sworn it winked at her.
