University of Calgary paleontologist Darla Zelenitsky had seen well-preserved dinosaur egg fossils before, but nothing like this.

B次元官网网址淎t one point, IB次元官网网址檓 pretty sure it winked at me,B次元官网网址� she laughs.

The fossil, the subject of a new paper published Wednesday, is so detailed itB次元官网网址檚 revealing even more about the deep relationships between dinosaurs and birds, their modern-day descendants.

The fossil is from a 65-million-year-old type of theropod dinosaur called an oviraptorid, a species already on an avian evolutionary path.

This beauty, first discovered in China about 20 years ago, is so completely preserved it reveals the posture of the soon-to-be theropod inside its shell. With its back curled up against the broad end of the shell and its head tucked in between its arms and legs, it looks much like an unhatched chicken.

B次元官网网址淭he skeleton is curled up in a birdlike embryonic pose,B次元官网网址� Zelenitsky said.

B次元官网网址淏irds were thought to have a unique posture within the egg before hatching. ItB次元官网网址檚 evident from this fossil that some of these postures seem to have first evolved in their dinosaur ancestors.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 the first time scientists have been able to see how dinosaur embryos were positioned inside their eggs. Previous egg fossils have been too fragmented.

B次元官网网址淭his reinforces the link between those theropod dinosaurs and birds.B次元官网网址�

That link is growing stronger as more evidence comes in.

Dinosaurs have long been known to have sported feathers. Their asymmetrical eggs, with one broad and one pointed end, is another development birds kept. So are eggshells.

B次元官网网址淵ou almost canB次元官网网址檛 tell the difference between the eggshell of a bird and an oviraptorid,B次元官网网址� Zelenitsky said.

Dinosaurs are now thought to have even sat on their nests before the nestlings hatched.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 been a number of skeletons of oviraptorid adults sitting directly on their eggs,B次元官网网址� said Zelenitsky. B次元官网网址淏rooding behaviour is another one that preceded birds.B次元官网网址�

Dinosaur eggs arenB次元官网网址檛 uncommon fossils. In 1997, 10 of them were found in southern Alberta at the DevilB次元官网网址檚 Coulee site.

But Zelenitsky remains in awe of how well this particular fossil is preserved. The egg, she said, must have been buried quickly, completely and permanently under fine silts B次元官网网址� perhaps from a riverbank mudslide or a flood.

ItB次元官网网址檚 had to avoid eons of earthquakes and other geological disturbances before making its debut in the scientific press.

B次元官网网址淭he skeleton of an embryonic dinosaur is so fragile,B次元官网网址� Zelenitsky said. B次元官网网址淭hey tend to easily break down and fall apart.

B次元官网网址淭he chances of finding a dinosaur embryo like this, curled in a life position B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 complete from the tip of the snout all the way to the end of the tail.

B次元官网网址淚 couldnB次元官网网址檛 believe my eyes,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 never seen anything like it. ItB次元官网网址檚 truly spectacular.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擝ob Weber, The Canadian Press