Dinosaur egg found inside another egg after 68 million years
Mar 8th 2026
Researchers in Madhya Pradesh uncovered a titanosaur egg containing a fully formed inner egg, the first clear instance of ovum-in-ovo pathology in a non-avian dinosaur and a clue that some dinosaurs may have had more complex reproductive anatomy.
- A titanosaur egg from the Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation in central India preserves a complete inner egg enclosed by an outer shell.
- Microscopy and SEM evidence show a distinct internal gap and shell geometry consistent with a biological egg-in-egg structure rather than taphonomic distortion.
- The arrangement matches avian ovum-in-ovo pathology and suggests sauropods may have had more complex, regionally segmented oviducts than previously thought.
- This is the first confirmed ovum-in-ovo case in a non-avian dinosaur and the only documented egg-within-egg fossil so far.
- The specimen is curated at the University of Delhi and the finding was published in Scientific Reports, with further fieldwork planned through 2026.