Fossils found as workman laid sewage pipe on major road
One man tried to steal two eggs but was stopped in his tracks
He fled as passers-by formed human chain to protect archaeological site
Experts are not working to determine what type of dinosaur laid them
A giant clutch of 43 fossilised dinosaur eggs were discovered by workmen doing roadworks in China.
The egg-straordinary find was made in the city centre of Heyuan, south-east China, by workman laying a sewage pipe.
The giant fossils, which included 19 eggs that are fully intact, were the first to be found in the city and are now being studied by experts from the Heyuan Dinosaur Museum, to determine the type, the People's Daily Online reports.
Each range from 10 to 12 centimetres in diameter and have been well preserved by the red sandstone beds in the area.
One worker even tried to flee the scene with two of the rare fossils but was stopped and eventually fled empty-handed.
Passers-by then formed a human chain to protect the site until police came and the artifacts were taken away for examination.
Head curator Du Yanli said: ‘There are fossilised dinosaur eggs everywhere in the red sandstone layer but they were never found because the city was built on top of the layers.
'With the recent road and sewage system upgrade, the red sandstone layer is being exposed and has led to the discovery of the fossils’.
The Heyuan Dinosaur Museum said that more than seventeen thousand fossilised dinosaur eggs have been found in China since the first discovery in 1996.
The museum prides itself for having the largest fossilised dinosaur eggs collection in the world.
Heyuan has now dubbed itself as China’s ‘home of dinosaurs’.
Work has temporarily halted as a 1.3 square kilometre dinosaur fossil and geological protected zone is set up in the area for further scientific research.
Source: dailymail
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