A schoolboy casually stumbled across a batch of fossilised dinosaur eggs while playing outdoors in China.

Strange rocks with circles on the surface

On July 23, 10-year-old Zhang Yangzhe was playing around on an embankment near a river in the city of Heyuan, Guangdong province, accompanied by his mother.

The bridge over the river had been damaged from a recent flood, exposing much of the soil below.

This had apparently helped Zhang discover the fossils.

The science-loving boy was apparently looking for tools to crack open walnuts, when he discovered a "special-looking" rock.

Zhang noticed that the rocks had peculiar circles on the surface too.

The young boy was apparently a huge fan of dinosaurs, having read numerous books about them.

He had also previously visited a local museum where fossilised dinosaur eggs were displayed.

The experience led him to suspect the rocks he found near the river were actually dinosaur eggs as well, and he immediately called his mother over.

Eggs believed to be 66 million years old

Zhang's mother subsequently contacted Heyuan Dinosaur Museum, who then sent down the police and a team of experts to inspect the findings, according to The Star.

Upon their arrival, experts confirmed Zhang's suspicions that the strange rocks really were dinosaur eggs.

After excavating the area, it was discovered that Zhang had not only unearthed one egg, but a whole nest.

A total of 11 dinosaur eggs were excavated from the soil, each measuring around 9cm in length.

The former director of the museum, Huang Dong, believed the dinosaur eggs dated all the way back to the late Cretaceous period, almost 66 million years ago.

The Cretaceous period was right before the huge mass extinction event that wiped out three-quarters of species on Earth, including well-known dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptors and Pteranodons.

The clutch of eggs are currently under the care of the Heyuan museum, where experts will clean and further examine them.

Heyuan: home of dinosaurs

Zhang's random discovery might have shocked many internationally, but might not actually be much news in his hometown.

According to China Daily, the city of Heyuan has been billed the "Hometown of Dinosaurs" due to the unexpectedly large number of dinosaur fossils found there.

Since 1996, 16,045 dinosaur fossils including bones, eggs and footprints, have been uncovered.

In 2015, construction workers in Heyuan unearthed during road repairs a huge batch of 43 fossilised dinosaur eggs that were 13cm-wide.

The city reportedly occupies a unique position in dinosaur research, for having all three of the above types of fossils located in one area.

Additionally, the Heyuan Dinosaur Museum claims to hold more than 10,000 dinosaur egg fossils, accounting for a third of all eggs discovered around the world.

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Top photo from Sina Weibo/ YouTube and Daily Mail/ YouTube