Amateur Scientists Discover 100 Dinosaur Eggs in India

The discovery of more than 100 large dinosaur eggs from a Cretaceous era site in Madhya Pradesh, India, has attracted worldwide attention. Dinosaur footprints were also discovered. The discovery was the work of three amateur scientists, Vishal Verma, Rajesh Chouhan and Govind Verma, all of whom are members of the amateur exploration organization Mangal Panchayatan Parishad.

In a copyrighted story in the Hindustan Times datelined 5 February 2007, reporter Nivedita Khandekar interviewed Dr. Arun Sonakia, a former director of the Geological Survey of India (Palaeontology), while Sonakia was at the discovery site. The story quoted him as saying, "It's a good job done by amateurs. With this find, the scientists would be able to know more about the spread of the dinosaurs. It can also throw light on the reasons of extinction...Plus the nesting sites and large number of fossilised eggs would also throw light on the variety of dinosaurs that existed in the cretaceous era."

A photograph of the amateur scientists with some of the eggs they found is available here

Forrest M. Mims III