A perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo estimated to be around 66 million years old has been discovered in China, scientists announced on Wednesday.
The embryo, which was just days away from hatching, was found in Ganzhou, in southern China, the BBC reports.
The fossilised remains – believed to be that of a toothless theropod dinosaur, or oviraptorosaur – has been dubbed Baby Yingliang.
Baby Yingliang can be seen curled up with its head tucked below its body - a behaviour similar to that of birds right before hatching.
"This indicates that such behaviour in modern birds first evolved and originated among their dinosaur ancestors," University of Birmingham researcher Dr Fion Waisum Ma told the AFP.
The egg had been discovered in 2000, but had been sitting in storage for 10 years before being analysed.
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