Scientists have uncovered multiple clutches of fossilized eggs at a dinosaur nesting site in South Africa that are 10 million years older than any found before.
The newly discovered nesting ground, described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is located in Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
The site contains at least 10 nests at different rock levels with clutches of up to 34 eggs measuring 6-7cm.
Paleontologists also found embryonic dinosaur skeletons as well as footprints of hatchlings showing that the young dinosaurs stayed in the nest long enough to at least double in size.
The nests belonged to Massospondylus, a relative of the long-necked sauropods such as Diplodocus that lived 190 million years ago.
The findings suggest that Massospondylus laid their eggs in groups in the earliest-known case of colonial nesting.
Scientists believe the new findings would help them have a detailed look at dinosaur reproduction early in their evolutionary history.
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