Dinosaur Egg Mistakenly Identified as Rock Crystal for 200 Years in London Museum

A dinosaur egg on display at the London Museum has been mistakenly classified as a rock crystal for the past 200 years.

What was thought to be a decorative crystal gemstone was recorded and added to the Natural History Museum in London's mineralogy collection in 1883.

The agate, as it was known, was discovered in central India, measuring about six inches across, had a light pink color, and was almost perfectly round.

Misidentified Dinosaur Egg

Until one of the mineralogy collection curators, Robin Hansen attended a mineral show, the specimen was initially only considered to be a lovely stone.

After that, Hansen was shown an agatized dinosaur egg that he thought closely resembled the one in the museum.

It was round, had a thin rind, and had dark agate in the center.

Paleontologists were consulted by Hansen, and they concurred that the agate specimen was the correct proportions and form to possibly be an egg.

The stone also revealed signs that it had once been compressed against other spherical rocks, like a nest of eggs.

The scientists discovered after closer inspection that the agate was lined by a thin, white layer, most likely an eggshell.

Hansen claimed that the specimen was correctly classified as an agate in 1883 according to the scientific knowledge that was available at the time.

With the advancement of technology, specialists have been able to determine that the agate has infilled the perfectly spherical structure, which was recently revealed as a dinosaur egg.

Titanosaur Egg

However, the experts are now fairly confident that it is a dinosaur egg based on their knowledge of the location where the specimen was found, its age, which is estimated to be around 60 million years old, and its general features.

The eggshell's dimensions, form, and surface characteristics are in line with those of titanosaur eggs that were found in China and Argentina.

Furthermore, titanosaurs were the most prevalent dinosaurs in India 100 to 66 million years ago, according to The Weather Channel.

This indicated that the specimen is likely a titanosaur egg.

According to Hansen's research, Charles Fraser, who lived in India between 1817 and 1843, collected the specimen.

This indicated that it was gathered at least 80 years before the scientific recognition of dinosaur eggs and perhaps even before the term "dinosaur" was coined.

The Journey of the Dinosaur Egg Agate

According to the Natural History Museum, paleontologists believed that dinosaurs frequently returned to volcanic areas to lay their eggs because the place was warm.

In the press statement, paleontologist Paul Barrett explained that it's possible that a nearby volcano erupted not long after a titanosaur was able to dig and lay its eggs in the warm sands.

According to the museum, the volcanic rock covered the dinosaur nest before solidifying and preserving the egg inside the rock.

When the embryo rotted away, the space was filled with silica-rich water that eventually crystallized into the lovely pink stone agate that is seen today.

The specimen was discovered in India and transported to London 60 million years later.

The exhibit "Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur" includes the egg in addition to other specimens that are on exhibit at the Natural History Museum in London, Yahoo News reported.