Recent paleontological findings have clarified that the earliest dinosaur eggs were intact soft-shelled, differing from the previous understanding that all dinosaurs had hard, mineralised eggshells. An observation and examination of the fossilised embryos of dinosaurs, allowed the researchers to notice diffused egg-shaped halos around the skeletons concluding that the material was in fact organic. Such a discovery has not only allowed scientists to discover the evolution of dinosaur eggs themselves, but the fossilisation process and its capabilities thus forcing a re-evaluation of common paleontological practices leading them to discover that organic material can in fact fossilise.

But what does this mean for the evolution of dinosaurs themselves? And how would this have impacted the survival of the species? Professor Oliver Griffith joined us from the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University.