Eight fossilized dinosaur eggs, which were discovered in Yunxian County of central China's Hubei Province, have been confirmed by archaeologists to belong to the late Cretaceous period, dating back more than 60 million years.

The eggs were all found at the same place in January and March this year by farmer Li Shangwei, who lives in Baimagou Village, Yunxian County.

Two of the eight eggs are oval and intact, 18 cm long, 10 cm high and seven cm thick. The eggshells are 0.2 cm thick.

Li Tianyuan and Li Taoyuan, both research fellows with the Hubei Provincial Archaeological Research Institute, believed the eight eggs belong to the late Cretaceous period.

Archaeologists discovered dinosaur egg fossils on Mount Qinglong in Liubei Town of Yunxian County in March 1995, and fossilized dinosaur skeletons at Lijiagou Village of Meipu Town in the same county in July 1997.

Baimagou Village, where the eight dinosaur eggs were discovered, is less than 100 kilometers away from Mount Qinglong and some 20 kilometers from Lijiagou Village.

Archaeologists have discovered dinosaur fossils at 11 separate sites in Yunxian County, making it the only county in the world where both fossilized dinosaur eggs and skeletons have been found.

Experts say that the newly-discovered dinosaur eggs are differently shaped from those found on Mount Qinglong and belong to a different species.

They say the eight dinosaur eggs are important in the study of Yunxian as a "land of dinosaurs" and in the study of the ecology of the ancient environment.

( May 6, 2002)