100 dinosaur eggs found in Narmada Valley

Nearly 100 dinosaur eggs were found in a span of just 18-19 hours from Narmada Valley's Bagh-kukshi area in tribal Dhar district in the month of December.

This is considered to be a major finding.

Three persons -- Vishal Verma, Rajesh Chouhan and Govind Verma -- engaged in collecting fossils as a hobby found the eggs, the Geological Survey of India, Nagpur, director, Palaentology, Dr Dhananjay Mohabe, confirmed.

He said the Narmada belt right from Dahod to Jabalpur has witnessed the dinosaur activities millions of years ago and it traces are still available in the form of fossilised eggs in the region.

The eggs belong to upper cretaceous period, which means they are over 70 million years old and were laid by sauropod dinosaurs which are herbivorous in character, Vishal Verma, a physics teacher, told PTI over phone from the historic Mandu town where the eggs are displayed in the Government 56 Mahal museum.

The trio has played a crucial role in establishing a fossil park near Mandu.

Though earlier also dinosaur eggs were found in the region, it is for the first time so many eggs were found.

The first egg was found on December 23.

Microscopic examination by experts including Mohabe and Verma established their identity.