Palaeontology

Dinosaurs laid brightly colored eggs

By T.K. Randall
May 29, 2015 ·  7 comments

Dinosaur eggs were originally thought to be white. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Xenophon While we know a great deal about what dinosaurs looked like, how they behaved and what the ate, palaeontologists have long struggled to determine exactly what color they were.

While some progress has been made in identifying skin and scale pigment, for the most part estimates of their appearance are based on the color of modern day reptiles and birds.

This is especially true for the color of dinosaur eggs which have long been assumed to be white.In a recent study however animal behaviorist Mark Hauber was able to determine that the colors found in several modern day bird eggs are produced by two specific pigments, biliverdin and protoporphyrin, in combination with the calcium carbonate contained within the shells.

By identifying these same pigments in the fossilized remains of prehistoric oviraptor eggs he was then able to calculate that their eggs weren't white at all but a vivid blue-green color.

This would have provided an advantage for the species over plain white eggs as colored eggs are more camouflaged from predators and don't require as much round-the-clock protection.

The eggs of many other dinosaur species were also likely to have been similarly pigmented.

Source: New Scientist | Comments (7)

Tags: Dinosaur, Eggs