An enormous fossil that had stumped scientists for nearly a decade has finally been identified as an egg from an extinct marine reptile. The curious specimen, which resembles a deflated football and measures approximately 11 by 7 inches, was reportedly found back in 2011 by Chilean researchers on an expedition in Antarctica. Stumped by the strange find, they brought it back to the country's National Museum of Natural History, where it came to be known as 'The Thing.'
Over the years, various experts were shown the oddity, but no one could quite figure out what it was. At long last, a paleontologist from the University of Texas named Julia Clarke suggested that the fossil was, in fact, a deflated egg. When intrigued researchers set about examining the object with that hypothesis in mind, they found that, indeed, it possessed remnants of membranes that appeared to confirm the theory.
More on this story at the Coast to Coast AM website.