In a surprising twist of archaeology, a family from Madhya Pradesh, India, discovered that their beloved ancestral totem, known as ‘Kuldevta’, is actually a fossilized dinosaur egg and not a conventional deity.
The discovery has sparked curiosity and sparked research into the origins and ideologies of this sacred treasure.
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- Who is this family?
- What has happened?
- When was titanosaur last seen?
- How did the discovery become so unique?
Who is this family?
The Mandaloi family has been worshiping palm-sized “stone balls” for generations in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.
What has happened?
Egg inside an egg? 🦕🥚 #Indian Researchers have discovered a unique #dinosaur egg in #MadhyaPradesh That suggests that dinosaur reproduction was more like modern birds than reptiles. #Paleontology Read: https://t.co/yix2r9CnYb By @ashmitagupta_21 📸: Getty Images/Via Canva pic.twitter.com/3kaoUPRxuZ
– The Weather Channel of India (@weatherindia) June 24, 2022
Vesta Mandaloi, 41, originally from Padlya Village, loves these dances as “Kakar Bhairav”, or the king of the earth, according to the tradition of her ancestors.
Vesta and her family, according to a Times of India article, thought the stone balls were a “Kuldevta”, or a totem, that would protect their livestock and farmland from trouble and bad luck.
Like the Mandaloi family, other families in and around Dhar also worshiped totems for protection. But as a group of scientists discovered, these balls were something else.
During a field visit, experts from Lucknow’s Sahni Institute of Paleosciences discovered that these stone ball totems were ancient dinosaur eggs. Upon examination, they deduced that these balls were fossilized dinosaur eggs of the titanosaur species.
Credit: Harsha Dhiman/Scientific Representative
In MP’s Dhar district, more than 250 eggs belonging to the giant lizard that once inhabited the Narmada Valley were found earlier this year.
The peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One published a report in January that described field research conducted by a group of researchers from the University of Delhi (DU) and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal.
They had discovered 92 titanosaur nesting sites with 256 fossilized eggs.
When was titanosaur last seen?
Credit: Canva
It is the first Indian dinosaur to have a name and complete description.
The species name, which translates as “titanic lizard”, was first observed in 1877.
One of the largest dinosaurs that ever existed on Earth is the titanosaur.
According to estimates, the species lived in the area during the Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago.
How did the discovery become so unique?
Because no similar sightings have been discovered in reptiles to date, the discovery is considered a “rare and important find.”
Typically, the egg-in-egg scenario occurs in birds.
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, states that this could shed light on whether the reproductive biology of dinosaurs was comparable to that of crocodiles, birds or other reptiles and turtles.
Credit: Twitter
Dinosaur fossils have been found in the Lameta Formation of the Upper Cretaceous in central India. According to studies and authors, numerous titanosaur nests have been found near the village of Padly.
They discovered ten such nests here, and P7 stood out for its distinctive egg. The fact that no similar egg has yet been discovered in other reptiles, such as turtles, lizards, etc., has surprised experts.
It has been suggested that the reproductive biology of early dinosaurs was comparable to that of turtles.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn