DINOSAUR 2 LAST

"We found clusters and clusters of spherical eggs of
dinosaurs. And each cluster contained eight eggs," Ramkumar
said.

The eggs were believed to be from both, an aggressive,
predatory dinosaur Carnosaur, and Sauropods, long-necked
herbivores that became extremely large. Fossils of these
reptiles were found on earlier expeditions but this is the
first time so many nests and so many clusters of eggs were
found, he added.

On September 12 this year, Ramkumar and his research
students went to Ariyalur to scour the rocks and sediments as
part of a study funded by Indian and German scientific
institutions. As they paused by a stream on a grazing land at
Sendurai, they found spherical-shaped fossils peeping out of
the sand beds. "We got really excited. As I have seen a
dinosaur egg, I was sure these were dinosaur eggs," said
Ramkumar.

This is probably the first nesting site in South India
that has been traced near Ariyalur, he said, adding the
dinosaurs used to come here to lay eggs every year.

Ramkumar said the photographs of these eggs were sent to
a research centre at Pudiyarturiyal and to Dr. Kelmer of the
International Dinosaur Research Centre. Details received from
all the research centres confirmed these as dinosaur eggs, he
said.

Some eggs were found in linear pattern, as the dinosaurs
could have laid them while walking. Six km away, bones have
also been unearthed. The team found many clusters of
fossilised eggs, casts of eggs, dung and bones of dinosaurs.

Geologists deduce that occurrences of flash floods
immediately after the nesting season might have buried the
eggs. PTI