A construction crew in Russia's Chechnya may have uncovered an unusual find - a stash of giant dinosaur eggs.
They were blasting through a hillside in a remote area of the Caucasus mountains, aiming to build a road near the volatile region's border with Georgia at the time.
A team of geologists looked at the smooth, oval rock-like forms and it was not long before they began to believe they were staring at huge fossils.
The eggs range from 25 centimetres to one metre in size.
"The discovery is sensational not only for our republic, but because of the size of the eggs," a spokesperson for the Chechen State University said.
"There have never been such large (eggs) in the world."
One of the geologists, Said-Emin Dzhabrailov, said: "We've found about 40 eggs so far.
"There could be many more laying under the ground."
He said palaeontologists were needed to determine which species of dinosaur had laid them.
Mr Dzhabrailov said the regional Chechen government, which is eager to shed the region's reputation for violence, is considering turning the area into a nature preserve and seeking to attract tourists.
But a palaeontologist in Moscow questioned the authenticity of the reported discovery.
"Unfortunately, it's not true. Dinosaurs laid small eggs," said Valentina Nazarova of the Moscow State University's paleontology department.
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