Surprising Discovery In Madhya Pradesh: Family's Sacred 'Kuldevta' Revealed To Be A Dinosaur Egg

In a startling twist of archaeology, a family in Madhya Pradesh, India, has found that their beloved ancestral totem, known as 'Kuldevta,' is really a fossilised dinosaur egg rather than a conventional deity.

The discovery has created curiosity and prompted inquiries concerning the origins and ideologies of this holy treasure.

Who Is This Family?

The Mandaloi family has been worshipping "stone balls" the size of palms for generations in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.

What Has Happened?

Egg within an egg? ??
#Indian researchers have uncovered a unique #dinosaur egg in #MadhyaPradesh that suggests dino reproduction was more like modern birds than reptiles.
#Palaeontology

Read: https://t.co/yix2r9CnYb

By @ashmitagupta_21

?: Getty Images/Via Canva pic.twitter.com/3kaoUPRxuZ

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Vesta Mandaloi, 41, a native of Padlya Village, worships these balls as "Kakar Bhairav," or the king of the land, in the tradition of his ancestors.

Vesta and his family, according to a Times of India story, thought the stone balls were a "Kuldevta," or a totem, that would shield their cattle and farmland from troubles and bad luck.

Similar to the Mandaloi family, other families in Dhar and the surrounding areas also worshipped totems for protection. But as a group of scientists discovered, these balls were something else.

During a field visit, experts from the Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in Lucknow discovered that these stone ball totems were ancient dinosaur eggs. Following examination, they deduced that these balls were fossilised dinosaur eggs from the Titanosaur species.

Credit: Harsha Dhiman/Sci Rep

In MP's Dhar district, more than 250 eggs belonging to the giant lizard that formerly inhabited the Narmada valley were found earlier this year.

The peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One released a report in January that described field research conducted by a group of researchers from Delhi University (DU) and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal.

They had discovered 92 titanosaur nesting sites with 256 fossilised eggs.

When Was The Titanosaur Last Seen?

Credit: Canva

It is the first dinosaur from India to have a name and a complete description.

The species name, which translates to "titanic lizard," was first noted in 1877.

One of the biggest dinosaurs to have ever lived on Earth is the Titanosaur.

According to estimations, the species lived in the area during the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago.

How Did The Discovery Become So Unique?

Because no similar sighting has been discovered in reptiles up until this point, the discovery is regarded as a "rare and important find."

Typically, the egg-in-egg scenario occurs in birds.

The study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports, claims that this could shed light on whether the reproductive biology of dinosaurs was comparable to that of crocodiles, birds, or other reptiles and turtles.

Credit: Twitter

Dinosaur fossils have been found in the Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation in central India. Numerous titanosaur nests have been found close to Padly village, according to studies and the authors.

They discovered ten of these nests here, and P7 stood out due to its distinctively featured egg. The fact that no similar egg has yet been discovered in other reptiles, such as turtles, lizards, etc., has shocked the experts.

It has been suggested that the reproductive biology of early dinosaurs was comparable to that of turtles.

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.

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