New Delhi, India - A stone honored as sacred in one Indian family has turned out to be a dinosaur egg.

It came from a herbivorous titanosaur that lived millions of years ago in central India, said Mahesh Thakkar from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) in Lucknow.

He and other scientists came across the farmer Vesta Mandloi and his egg because a geological park is to be opened in the region in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Vesta Mandloi and his family reportedly worshipped the stone balls as a symbol of the Hindu god Shiva as well as to protect their land and livestock.

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The researchers also found dinosaur eggs in the surrounding settlements.

A large number of dinosaur bones, teeth, and eggs have already been found in the fossil-rich area. In January, for example, researchers reported the discovery of 92 titanosaur clutches with a total of 256 eggs in the journal PLOS ONE.

Some of the nests are located in and around Padlya.