World's oldest known crocodile eggs discovered in Portugal
World's oldest known crocodile eggs laid some 15.2 crore years ago have been discovered in Portugal. The crocodile ancestor from the late Jurassic era is believed to be two metres long based on the size of the eggs. The eggs found during excavations of a dinosaur nest near Lisbon extends knowledge of eggs by four crore years, said a palaeontologist.
London, Mar 10 (PTI) The worlds oldest known crocodile eggs laid some 152 million years ago have been discovered in the cliffs of Portugal. The remarkably well preserved eggs give an insight into the "mother croc" that laid them, researchers said. They are similar to the eggs of modern crocodiles, suggesting crocodile eggs have changed little in shape in the last 150 million years. Palaeontologists say the prehistoric crocodile ancestor would have spanned two metres, based on the size of the larger eggs. "The fact that they are from the Late Jurassic makes these eggs the oldest crocodilian eggs known so far," said Joao Russo of Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. "This new discovery from Portugal extends the knowledge of this type of egg by approximately 40 million years," said Russo. Crocodilians arose some 200 million years ago, when they prowled the land with early dinosaurs. 