In a rare discovery, paleontologists have found a never-before-seen fossil of a complete baby dinosaur curled up inside an egg in Ganzhou, China.
The palaeontologists named the 70-million-year-old fossilised embryo “Baby Yingliang” after the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum in China, where it was stored.
According to the study published in iScience, the egg was first uncovered in 2000, but it was put in storage for 10 years by museum staff, only to find it again during construction work last year.
The pictures of the embryo showcase the fossil of a curled-up baby dinosaur inside its six-inch eggshell.
Palaeontologist Professor Steve Brusatte, who was a part of the research team, tweeted that the embryo was on the brink of hatching.
Co-author of the study Darla Zelenitsky said that finding embryonic dinosaur fossils in a distinctive posture during hatching is extremely rare.
Zelenitsky shared that the stage at which embryonic dinosaur fossil was, looked like that of a modern bird, but it has small arms and claws rather than wings.
"It is an amazing specimen. I have been working on dinosaur eggs for 25 years and have yet to see anything like it", Zelenitsky told CNN.