GUIDE
Dinosaur Egg Explorer Guide
Learn together · approximately ages 4–8
Investigate how fossil eggs, nests and embryos can preserve remarkable clues about growth, nesting and dinosaur behaviour.
Six facts to share
Dinosaurs laid eggs
Like modern birds and other reptiles, dinosaurs reproduced by laying eggs with protective shells.
Eggs came in many shapes
Known dinosaur eggs include round and elongated forms, but shape alone is not enough to identify the species that laid one.
Shells have tiny structures
Eggshell fragments can preserve pores and microscopic patterns that scientists compare and measure.
Nests record arrangement
The number and position of eggs in a nest can help scientists study egg-laying and nesting strategies.
Embryos are rare evidence
When tiny bones are preserved inside an egg, scans can reveal details about development before hatching.
Fossilisation needs special conditions
Quick burial can protect a nest from disturbance while minerals slowly preserve or replace hard parts.
Explorer word bank
- Clutch
- A group of eggs laid together.
- Embryo
- A developing animal before it hatches or is born.
- Eggshell
- The protective outer covering of an egg.
- Pore
- A tiny opening in eggshell through which gases can pass.
- Fossilisation
- Processes that preserve evidence of ancient life in rock or sediment.
Design a careful nest study
Use ten paper ovals, a tray, sand or dry rice, a ruler and a pencil. This is a model, not a real fossil dig.
- Arrange the paper eggs in a circle, line or cluster and partly cover them.
- Draw a map of the tray before moving anything.
- Measure two eggs and record their shape, size and position.
- Ask another explorer what your arrangement might suggest—and what it cannot prove.
Ask your explorer
- What can an eggshell tell a scientist?
- Why is the arrangement of a nest useful evidence?
- Why might an embryo fossil be rare?
- Can you find the Egg Hatchery on Dr. Rexington’s map?
Grown-up safety note
Fossil eggs are rare and fragile. Never collect, clean or move a suspected fossil. Photograph it, record the location and tell a museum, park ranger or land manager.