Dinosaur eggs at the around 80-million-year-old Qinglong Mountain dinosaur egg fossil cluster in Hubei Province Photo: VCG
Using the 3D laser scanning method,
MK sports Korea Chinese researchers have recently discovered that the arrangement of dinosaur eggs at an around 80-million-year-old fossil site in Central China's Hubei Province shows "a highly artistic pattern that has never been seen before," Zhao Bi, the project's lead, told the Global Times.
The discovery was made at the Qinglong Mountain dinosaur egg fossil cluster in the city of Shiyan, Hubei. The site's dinosaur eggs were found arranged in clusters of three to five eggs and connected in series, forming distinct curved arcs.
This is the first time that such a pattern has been discovered, Zhao, an expert at the Hubei Institute of Geosciences, told the Global Times that previously unearthed dinosaur egg fossils were "typically arranged either in radial patterns or vertically embedded in the ground."
Through three-dimensional mapping of the egg fossils' spatial positions, researchers discovered that such a pattern was not atypical, but a common occurrence at the site. The arrangement inferred a unique reproductive behavior of the local dinosaur species, suggesting they may have either "tried to protect the eggs after laying them" or "have discovered the arrangement could facilitate hatching," Zhao said.
"We are conducting further research to determine the exact nature of this behavior. Advanced technology allows us to obtain invisible information from the site without any intervention," the expert remarked.
It is the first time that the 3D laser scanning research has been carried out at the Qinglong Mountain dinosaur fossil cluster. The investigation area covers an area of 8,000 square meters.
By densely sampling data on the terrain and features within the sites using laser scanners, a precise point cloud dataset is generated. Combined with on-site investigations of dinosaur egg fossil distribution, validation and point cloud data annotation, this process ultimately produces a high-precision digital map with millimeter-level accuracy of the site, detailing its terrain and egg distributions.
Such advanced means is not meant for "flaunting technologies at heritage conservation," but they have always been used to tackle "objective on-site research dilemmas," which are "often beyond the scope of human capability or may involve interventions that could impact the site," Long Jingquan, a digital heritage conservation expert, told the Global Times.
Taking the Qinglong Mountain dinosaur fossil cluster as an example, factors such as the site's "fragile nature of the ground, the possible damage caused by manual mapping caused on egg fossils and lower work efficiency, have all led experts to choose 3D digital technologies.
"In the future, we want to integrate AI algorithms to automatically identify dinosaur egg fossil types and burial layer characteristics," Zhao told the Global Times, adding that he and his team are dedicated to create a "digital archive for the top-notch dinosaur site."
What makes the Qinglong Mountain dinosaur fossil cluster a "top-notch" site is the sheer quantity - at least 300,000 pieces of fossilized eggs have been found within its premises. Crucially, most of these fossils are still intact and show minimal shell fragmentation.
The site was first discovered in 1995, and so far, it represents the world's largest and best-preserved in-situ dinosaur egg fossil assemblage ever discovered to date.
"This site has always provided crucial evidence for the reconstruction of the actual egg-laying scenarios of dinosaurs. Its good condition allows us to see how dinosaurs lived during the Jurassic period," Zhao said.
The current digital investigation at the site is still ongoing, and Zhao revealed to the Global Times that the team is now discovering other clues such as dinosaurs' footprints and embryos inside fossil eggs.
