News Paleontology Fossil discoveries suggest the earliest dinosaurs laid soft-shelled eggs Finds force scientists to rethink the evolution of dinosaur eggs The eggs of Mussaurus, a dinosaur that lived more than 200 million years ago, had soft shells. Traces of a soft shell are visible here as the black egg-shaped halo surrounding the dinosaur embryo. © Diego Pol Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterestPocketRedditPrint By Jack J. Lee June 24, 2020 at 4:05 pm Eggs from the earliest dinosaurs were more like leathery turtle eggs than rigid bird eggs.