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Hedge collaborated with researchers from North Carolina State University, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and the University of Minnesota on the research, which took the scientists to Utah's Cedar Mountain Formation, an area known for its riches of fossilized egg fragments.

“We found new dinosaur egg types here that have previously not been seen from this time or from this location,” Hedge said.

The article, “Fossil eggshell diversity of the Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah,” describes the diversity of dinosaur eggs found in these 100-million-year-old beds in central Utah.

Previous research described the fossilized eggshell fragments found in the area as belonging to one type of dinosaur. However, Hedge and his team uncovered an alternative narrative.

“When we collected our own research, we found five different types of eggshells in this area when previously research described one kind,” Hedge said. “We found three kinds of eggshell fragments belonging to feathered bipedal dinosaurs, two kinds of eggs from ornithopod duck-billed dinosaurs, and also a really funky find: some crocodylomorph eggshells.”

These discoveries challenge the traditional view of one of each kind of dinosaur living in an ecosystem. “We can see a pattern of coexisting dinosaurs,” Hedge said. “Just as animals like multiple big cats coexist on the African savannas now, we can see the co-occurrence of similar kinds of dinosaurs in one geographic area.”

The researchers also hope to uncover information that will lead to a better understanding of the ecosystem 100 million years ago. Hedge is currently researching ways to better understand these oviraptorosaur eggs. 

“We have found so many eggshells that we have a sample size large enough to interpret them at higher resolution, so we can hopefully distinguish not just between species, but individuals sharing a single nest, for example,” Hedge said.