Dinosaur egg fossils dating from 70 million years ago found in China

Fossilised dinosaur eggs from 70 million years ago have been unearthed on a building site in China.

The shells, discovered near Foshan in the southeast of the country, were found at a depth of about 26ft (8m), preserved in red sandstone.

The round-shaped eggs belonged to plant-eating phytophagous dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous period.

Qiu Licheng, from Guangdong’s Archaeological Institute, said: “We found five eggs: three were destroyed, but they are still visible.

“The other two have their imprints on the stone. The eggs were round in shape, belonging to phytophagous dinosaurs,”

There have been similar finds in the Foshan region, which has gained a reputation in the scientific community for revealing valuable information from the Cretaceous period.

Liu Jianxiong, Foshan’s chief geologist, said: “There are two things special about the Sanshui Basin: one, it’s rich in minerals, two is that it’s rich in fossils, like dinosaur eggs.

“This discovery is very important to our research on paleoclimate and sedimentary environment.”

The fossils are now being studied at a local museum.