Chandigarh:
The discovery of hundreds of fossilised dinosaur eggs in Tamil Nadu at a nesting site by a Periyar University team has triggered excitement among Indian geologists who called it an "exciting find".
The find -- probably the first in South India -- underneath a stream in the Cauvery river basin region in a tiny village in Ariyalur district near Tiruchirapalli has taken geologists by surprise since the vicinity of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh is generally considered the area richest in dinosaur fossils in the country.
The samples of the fossilised eggs, which may be 65 million years old and found from what is believed to be the country's largest dinosaur nesting site, have been sent to Germany for further research and verification.
"We went to Ariyalur district based on the information we had. Upon investigation we found these dinosaur eggs in holes. Soon we found them in clusters and realised that these might have been nests," Ramkumar, head of the Geology Department, Periyar University, said.
Research scholars, archaeologists and geologists of the Salem-based University were involved in the hunt for India's largest Jurassic nest.
Each egg was about 13 to 20 cm in diametre and they were lying in sandy nests which were of the size of 1.25 metres, Ramkumar said, adding, the spherical eggs in clusters of seven to eight were strewn all over a two-sq km area.
"It is an exciting find and opens up several exciting possibilities," said Professor A D Ahluwalia of Punjab University, Chandigarh. He did not doubt the genuineness of the find since geologists from the area traced it. He, however, said it is for the scientists to confirm they were dinosaur eggs.
The researchers have requested the Ariyalur district.