Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Like us on Facebook
Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Curiosmos
No Result
View All Result

Scientists Find 66-Million-Year-Old Football-Sized Egg Buried in Antarctica

Ivan PetricevicbyIvan Petricevic
June 19, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
in Editor's Picks
An aerial view of Antarctica. Jumpstory.

Jumpstory.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Some 66 million years ago, Antarctica was a different place. Instead of Ice, lush forests covered most of its surface, and the icy desert we see today was inhabited by countless ancient species, most of which are entirely gone now.

During a period known as the Cretaceous, a massive ancient reptile laid a football-sized egg.

Although the egg contents are long gone, its fossilized soft shell survived to tell the story. According to experts, the enigmatic egg was likely laid by a giant marine reptile known as a mosasaur.

A Football-sized Egg

“It is most similar to the eggs of lizards and snakes, but it is from a truly giant relative of these animals.”

Related Posts

The surface of Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/KEVIN M. GILL.

Leading Astronomer Says “Higher Forms” of Alien Life on Jupiter’s Moon Europa

February 9, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Before Machu Picchu, there was this: Chan Chan. Wikimedia Commons.

Before Machu Picchu, there was this — and almost no one remembers it

May 9, 2025

“It is from an animal the size of a large dinosaur, but it is completely unlike a dinosaur egg,” explained lead author Lucas Legendre, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences,” in a statement.

The existence of the fossilized eggs helps us better understand Antarctica and the animals called it home during the Cretaceous. Previously, scientists believed that gigantic marine reptiles were not capable of laying eggs.

However, the recently found fossilized softshell in Antarctica redefines our understanding of Antarctica’s ancient inhabitants since “nothing like this has ever been discovered.”

Although the discovery has made headlines recently, the fossilized shell was discovered nearly ten years ago. It remained unlabeled and forgotten in the Chilean National Museum of Natural History, and experts referred to the almost 30-centimeters stone-like fossil as “the thing.”

An illustration showing the fossilized egg, its parts, and the relative size compared to a human. Image Credit: Legendre et al. (2020).

Eventually, the fossilized “thing” reignited the interest of scientists who decided to study it closer. They pierced through the egg’s ancient membranes with state-of-the-art microscopes and determined it was, in fact, an egg. The scientists only then understood that the visibly collapsed and folded fossilized “thing” was part of one of the largest eggs that have even been described in Antarctica.

It is only second to the elephant bird’s egg, laid by elephant birds, large flightless birds that once lived on Madagascar. It is believed that these creatures became extinct sometime around 1000–1200 CE, probably due to human activity.

An egg resembling those of reptiles

The Antarctic egg resembles the eggs laid by reptiles such as lizards and snakes, which suggests that the egg develops inside the mother, hatching immediately after being laid.

“Such a large egg with a relatively thin eggshell may reflect derived constraints associated with body shape, reproductive investment linked with gigantism, and lepidosaurian viviparity, in which a ‘vestigial’ egg is laid and hatches immediately,” write the authors in a study published in Nature.

The egg analyzed by experts is believed to have hatched tens of millions of years ago, so whatever hatched from it is long gone by now. Knowing what laid the egg with certainty is difficult, but researchers compared some 259 living reptiles to understand it better to see what the fossilized egg bears a resemblance to.

By comparing the egg and different body types of reptiles, the researchers concluded that the animal that laid the egg measured 6 meters from one end to the other, not including the creature’s tail.

Scientists believe that it is very likely that the egg was laid by an ancient marine reptile known as a mosasaur. Nonetheless, there’s a chance that the egg was laid by a yet-unidentified dinosaur.

The location where the eggshell was found can also help scientists discover what creature laid the egg. The eggshell was found in an area where widespread skeletons of both baby and adult mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.


Join the discussion and participate in awesome giveaways in our mobile Telegram group. Join Curiosmos on Telegram Today. t.me/Curiosmos

Share157Tweet98Share27ShareSend
Ivan Petricevic

Ivan Petricevic

I've been writing passionately about ancient civilizations, history, alien life, and various other subjects for more than eight years. You may have seen me appear on Discovery Channel's What On Earth series, History Channel's Ancient Aliens, and Gaia's Ancient Civilizations among others.

Related Posts

Tunnels beneath Chavin de Huantar a pyramid temple in Peru. Antamina.
Editor's Picks

Researchers Find Secret Tunnels Beneath 3,000-Year-Old “Pyramid Temple” in Peru

June 1, 2022 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Here is how the massive Monolith of Tlaloc looked when it was excavated. Credit: Mexicolour.co.uk
Editor's Picks

The Monolith of Tlaloc Is The Largest Ancient Monolith in America

November 13, 2020 - Updated on February 15, 2025
Photograph of Nikola Tesla and King Peter II taken in 1942.
Editor's Picks

Nikola Tesla Patents: Download Tesla’s Patents Collected in a 499-page PDF

May 27, 2020 - Updated on January 8, 2025
Think We Are Alone in the Universe? Here Are 25 Images That Will Change Your Mind
Editor's Picks

Think We Are Alone in the Universe? Here Are 25 Images That Will Change Your Mind

April 4, 2019 - Updated on January 22, 2024
An illustration of a UFO flying saucer. Depositphotos.
Editor's Picks

How Ufology Went from Fringe to Mainstream Science

September 21, 2024
Scientists mapped a forgotten continent
Editor's Picks

Scientists mapped a forgotten continent — and it’s hiding under Europe

May 10, 2025
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Fair Use Notice
  • DMCA / Removal
  • Impressum
  • Contact
  • Fact-Checking Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Ownership and Funding Information
  • Impressum
CURIOSMOS.COM

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists