Seven fossilized dinosaur eggs connected together were recently found in Shangnan County in west China's Shaanxi Province.

It's the first time many dinosaur eggs were found connected together. Before that only four linked dinosaur eggs had been found in the world, said a researcher.

But he couldn't explain why the eggs could be connected.

The eggs were discovered at a construction site of a railway station in the county. Together with the linked eggs, over 100 separated dinosaur egg fossils have been unearthed.

The eggs, either green in color or brown with stripes, were laid in sequence.

Previously, Chinese scientists with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted research on the positions of dinosaur eggs to study the regular pattern of the dinosaurs' egg-laying method.

According to reliable sources, of over 60 kinds of dinosaur eggs unearthed across the world, more than 50 have already been found in China.

(Xinhua 05/24/2001)