Hongkongers stumble upon dinosaur egg fossil

Henry Siu

Two Hongkongers discovered six dinosaur egg fossils in Heyuan, Guangdong, making it the first such discovery by locals in the mainland.

One of the two, Erik Yip Hang-wing, is a docent at a geopark in Hong Kong and an amateur geologist.

The fossils were found at Qiaobei Park in Heyuan city, known as the "Home of Dinosaurs," where more than 20,000 fragments of fossilized dinosaur eggs have been uncovered.

"The egg fossils were found on November 23 by Mr Yip from Hong Kong when he was hiking at the park," said Huang Zhiqing, director of the Heyuan dinosaur research institute.

Yip and a friend found the rocks, which were believed to be fossils and reported their location to the dinosaur institute.

"I can't believe I found fossils in Heyuan city. This is out of my expectations," he said, adding that he had planned to visit the park to see the red beds - rock formations associated with reddish sedimentary rocks.

"When I was looking at the rocks, I found some signs of fossils in the rock formation."

Yip said it only takes an hour to Heyuan from Hong Kong with high-speed rail and that he will visit Heyuan often in the future.

"The place where the fossils were found was near city areas and is relatively close, which is a huge advantage," he added.

It is very rare to discover dinosaur egg fossils, but it is understood that it had been raining a few days before Yip set off.

The outermost layer of rock eroded away, exposing signs of the fossils.

Institute officers had confirmed on-site that the rocks are a clutch of six dinosaur egg fossils, measuring five to nine centimeters in length and four cm wide, and all oval-shaped.

Since the find, the fossils have been protected as paleontologists measured, sampled and sectioned them for research.

Huang said the office is analyzing the species of the egg, with a detailed investigation to be conducted in the relevant area.

Du Yanli, director of Heyuan city dinosaur museum, said the diversity of its fossil collection has already astonished the world - comprising over 20,000 fragments, with at least 14 types of fossilized dinosaur eggs identified so far.

Because of the rich concentration of dinosaur fossils in Heyuan, locals have joked: "We could not call ourselves Heyuan people if we haven't stepped on a dinosaur egg before."