Paleontologists have found a clutch of fossilized turtle eggs in the Lower Cretaceous Hasandong Formation in South Korea.
The newly-discovered turtle egg clutch dates back 110 million years (Early Cretaceous period).
It contains at least 20 spherical to ellipsoidal eggs, around 17-21 mm in diameter; shell thickness is 0.27-0.31 mm.
The eggs belong to the oospecies Testudoolithus aff. curiosa with the smallest recorded egg size within its genus.
The specimens were recovered from a rock fragment of the Uppermost Hasandong Formation in the northwest outskirts of Jinju City, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
“The Hasandong Formation is the lowest egg-fossil-bearing formation in the Korean Peninsula,” the paleontologists said.
“Thus, the find represents the oldest Korean fossil eggs along with theropod eggs.”
