How big is the largest dinosaur egg? More than 100 tons?

Dinosaurs are oviparous reptiles, and like birds, they reproduce by laying eggs. We know that some bird eggs are very large, such as goose eggs, which weigh about half a catty (250 grams), and ostrich eggs can reach about 1,500 grams. , so how big should a dinosaur egg be?

In fact, dinosaurs came in different sizes. Some dinosaurs were about the same size as today's birds, while many were huge, such as Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and Titanosaurs, which could reach over a hundred tons. Such huge behemoths would have given birth to The dinosaur eggs should also be very huge.

Judging from the comparison between the weight of birds and the weight of their own eggs, it is approximately between 15:1 and 50:1. This ratio may also be suitable for the dinosaur race. After all, birds themselves are also ornithomimids among dinosaurs. It has evolved, and the way that small dinosaurs come out of the eggshell is similar to that of birds. Some will use their mouths to peck the eggshell, and some will use their body strength to break it.

So far, no dinosaur eggs have been found that match the proportions of birds and bird eggs with the size of Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and Titanosaurs. The weight of these dinosaurs can exceed 100 tons. According to the above proportions, the eggs they laid should weigh as much as two tons. tons, but in fact no dinosaur eggs weighing more than 100 kilograms have ever been found.

"Reference News" reprinted foreign media reports on June 18 that a Chilean research team discovered the largest animal egg in the dinosaur era in Antarctica. The egg is about 30 centimeters long and weighs about 6.5 kilograms (13 pounds), more than four times that of an ostrich egg. Experts believe that this animal egg belongs to a marine reptile that dates back about 66 million years ago, and is probably a Cang Cang. Dragon eggs.

Mosasaurus is a reptile that lives in the ocean. It spans more than 6 million years. The size of mosasaurs at different times and types varies greatly. The smaller mosasaurus is only over one meter long, and one or two It weighed ten kilograms, but the larger mosasaur was unusually over 17 meters and weighed over 20 tons.

However, Mosasaurus is not a dinosaur. It has the same origin as dinosaurs and is a close relative of dinosaurs, but it returned to live in the ocean. So the largest dinosaur egg is definitely not a mosasaurus egg.

Data show that the dinosaur egg fossil discovered in Yixing Township, Guangling County, Shanxi Province, my country in April 2014 is likely to be the largest dinosaur egg in the world. Its long diameter exceeds 50 cm, the short diameter exceeds 20 cm, and its weight is more than 20 kilograms. Tentatively identified as Wang's giant dinosaur egg fossil.

This kind of dinosaur egg is larger than the Xixia dinosaur egg found in Tiantai, Zhejiang, which is known as the "world's largest dinosaur egg". The largest Xixia dinosaur egg has a long diameter of 43 cm, a short diameter of 14.5 cm, and a weight of more than 10 kilograms. . They are all larger than the animal eggs discovered by Chilean experts in Antarctica.

Dinosaur egg fossils usually appear in patches and nests, indicating that most dinosaurs have the habit of gathering to lay eggs. The "Wang's Giant Dinosaur Egg" in Yixing Township, Guangling County, Shanxi Province is buried in a nest-like single-layer arrangement, with a nest diameter of 2.5 meters. Experts estimate that there are 16-20 eggs in each clutch. Moreover, dinosaur egg nests are densely distributed, usually about 0.5 to 2 meters apart. There are at least thousands of dinosaur eggs buried, but what kind of dinosaur eggs are these? , there is no conclusion yet, experts believe it should be a large sauropod dinosaur.

References:

"Reference News" June 19 article "Foreign Media: The largest animal egg in the dinosaur era was found in Antarctica"

animal tags： dinosaur mosasaurus birds brachiosaurus diplodocus titanosaurus egg fossil