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Elongatoolithidae
Elongatoolithidae is an oofamily of fossil eggs, representing the eggs of oviraptorosaurs (with the exception of the avian '' Ornitholithus''). They are known for their highly elongated shape. Elongatoolithids have been found in Europe, Asia, and both North and South America.Simon, D. J. (2014).Giant Dinosaur (theropod) Eggs of the Oogenus Macroelongatoolithus (Elongatoolithidae) from Southeastern Idaho: Taxonomic, Paleobiogeographic, and Reproductive Implications. (Doctoral dissertation, Montana State University, Bozeman). Distribution Elongatoolithids have a very broad distribution. They have been found across Asia and the US, as well as in Spain, France, and Argentina, with ages ranging from lower Cretaceous to the Paleocene. Description Elongatoolithids are, as their name suggests, highly elongated eggs; they are at least twice as long as they are wide. They vary widely in size, ranging from the 7 cm long ''Elongatoolithus chichengshanensis'' to the gigantic 60 cm ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macroelongatoolithus
''Macroelongatoolithus'' is an oogenus of large theropod dinosaur eggs, representing the eggs of giant caenagnathid oviraptorosaurs. They are known from Asia and from North America. Historically, several oospecies have been assigned to ''Macroelongatoolithus'', however they are all now considered to be a single oospecies: ''M. carlylensis''. History of discovery ''"Oolithes" carlylensis'' was described in 1970 by James Jensen.Jensen J. 1970. Fossil eggs in the lower cretaceous of Utah. ''Brigham Young University research studies. Geology Series. Geology Studies'' 17: 51-65. In 1998, ''O. carlylensis'' was moved to a new oogenus, ''Boletuoolithus'', which was then classified as a Spheroolithid.Bray, E. S. 1998. Dinosaur eggshell ''Boletuoolithus carlylensis'', oogen. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah; pp. 221–223 in S. G. Lucas, J. I. Kirkland, and J. W. Estep (eds.), Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems. New Mexico Museum of Natural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elongatoolithus
''Elongatoolithus'' is an oogenus of dinosaur eggs found in the Late Cretaceous formations of China and Mongolia. Like other elongatoolithids, they were laid by small theropods (probably oviraptorosaurs), and were cared for and incubated by their parents until hatching. They are often found in nests arranged in multiple layers of concentric rings. As its name suggests, ''Elongatoolithus'' was a highly elongated form of egg. It is historically significant for being among the first fossil eggs given a parataxonomic name. Description ''Elongatoolithus'' eggs are small to midsized eggs, with a maximum size of about . The eggs are highly elongated, typically being 2 to 2.2 times longer than they are wide, and slightly asymmetric (with one end pointier than the other). The outer surface of their shells is ornamented with a fine pattern of nodes and ridges, either aligned parallel to the egg's long axis (lineartuberculate ornamentation) or in irregular chains (ramotuberculare ornamentat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Undulatoolithus
''Undulatoolithus'' is an oogenus of Chinese fossil dinosaur egg belonging to Elongatoolithidae. It is very similar to ''Macroolithus'', but has different ornamentation. Like other elongatoolithids, it was probably laid by oviraptorosaurs.Q. Wang, Z. Zhao, X. Wang, N. Li, and S. Zou. (2013A new form of Elongatoolithidae, Undulatoolithus pengi oogen. et oosp. nov. from Pingxiang, Jiangxi, China.''Zootaxa'' 3746(1):194-200 Distribution ''Undulatoolithus'' is found in the Zhoutian Formation, in the Pingxiang Basin of Jiangxi. It is dated to the Upper Cretaceous. History The Pingxiang Basin, in Jiangxi, was first excavated for fossils in 2002. Several fossil eggs, egg clutches, and dinosaur bones were discovered, including those later described as ''Undulatoolithus'' in 2013 by Chinese paleontologists Wang Qiang, Zhao Zikui, Wang Xiaolin, Li Ning, and Zou Songlin. The type and only known specimen of ''Undulatoolithus'' was the first elongatoolithid egg clutch discovered in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macroolithus
''Macroolithus'' is an oogenus (fossil-egg genus) of dinosaur egg belonging to the oofamily Elongatoolithidae. The type oospecies, ''M. rugustus'', was originally described under the now-defunct oogenus name ''Oolithes''. Three other oospecies are known: ''M. yaotunensis'', ''M. mutabilis'', and ''M. lashuyuanensis''. They are relatively large, elongated eggs with a two-layered eggshell. Their nests consist of large, concentric rings of paired eggs. There is evidence of blue-green pigmentation in its shell, which may have helped camouflage the nests. ''Macroolithus'' eggs have been found containing oviraptorid dinosaur embryos resembling ''Heyuannia''. Multiple other associations between oviraptorid and elongatoolithids (including other eggs containing embryos, parents brooding on nests, and a pair of shelled ''Macroolithus''-like eggs preserved within an oviraptorid's pelvis) confirm that the parent of ''Macroolithus'' was an oviraptorid. It is found in Upper Cretaceous format ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oofamily
Egg fossils are the fossilized remains of eggs laid by ancient animals. As evidence of the physiological processes of an animal, egg fossils are considered a type of trace fossil. Under rare circumstances a fossil egg may preserve the remains of the once- developing embryo inside, in which case it also contains body fossils. A wide variety of different animal groups laid eggs that are now preserved in the fossil record beginning in the Paleozoic. Examples include invertebrates like ammonoids as well as vertebrates like fishes, possible amphibians, and reptiles. The latter group includes the many dinosaur eggs that have been recovered from Mesozoic strata. Since the organism responsible for laying any given egg fossil is frequently unknown, scientists classify eggs using a parallel system of taxonomy separate from but modeled after the Linnaean system. This " parataxonomy" is called ''veterovata''. History The first named oospecies was '' Oolithes bathonicae'', a name given p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraelongatoolithus
''Paraelongatoolithus'' is a late Cretaceous oogenus of Chinese fossil egg, classified in the oofamily Elongatoolithidae, which represents the eggs of oviraptorosaurs. Distribution ''Paraelongatoolithus'' is known solely from Chengguan, Tiantai. The fossil is from the Chichengshan Formation, which is dated to 91–94 million years ago, during the Turonian.He, H., Wang, X., Wang, Q., Jiang, S., Cheng, X., Zhang, J., ... & Deng, C. (2013).SIMS zircon U–Pb dating of the Late Cretaceous dinosaur egg-bearing red deposits in the Tiantai Basin, southeastern China. ''Journal of Asian Earth Sciences,'' 62, 654-661. Discovery Fossil eggs are very common in the Tiantai basin, and were first discovered there in the 1950s. Due to better infrastructure, in the 2000s numerous new types of fossil eggs have been discovered in Tiantai. ''Paraelongatoolithus'' was first discovered and named in 2010 by the Chinese paleontologists Wang Qiang, Wang Xiaolin, Zhao Zikui, and Jiang Yan'gen. Descript ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heishanoolithus
''Heishanoolithus'' is an oogenus of Elongatoolithid fossil egg from the Shahai Formation in Liaoning. It is known only from seven eggshell fragments. It is most notable for having a very thin eggshell (1.2-1.3 mm thick), the dense covering of nodes on the eggshell surface, and for its relatively thin mammilary layer (making up only one eighth of the eggshell thickness).Zhao H. and Zhao Z. (1999)A New Form of Elongatoolithid Dinosaur Eggs from the Lower Cretaceous Shahai Formation of Heishan, Liaoning Province" ''Vertebrata PalAsiatica'', 37(4): 278-284. While no remains of ''Heishanoolithus'' have been associated with skeletal remains, strong evidence links Elongatoolithid eggs to Oviraptorosaur Oviraptorosaurs ("egg thief lizards") are a group of feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot-like skulls, with or w ...s.Simon, D. J. (2014).Giant Dinosau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanhsiungoolithus
''Nanhsiungoolithus'' is an oogenus (fossil-egg genus) of dinosaur egg from the late Cretaceous of China. It belongs to the oofamily Elongatoolithidae, which means that it was probably laid by an oviraptorosaur, though so far no skeletal remains have been discovered in association with ''Nanhsiungoolithus''. The oogenus contains only a single described oospecies, ''N. chuetienensis''. It is fairly rare, only being know from two partially preserved nests and a few eggshell fragments. Description The type specimen of ''Nanhsiungoolithus'' is a partial nest containing three mostly complete eggs and impressions. Another partial nest preserves two whole eggs, two incomplete eggs, and two impressions. Like other elongatoolithids, the eggs are found arranged in a circular pattern. The eggs are long and narrow, with an average length of and width of . They are slightly asymmetrical, with one end slightly pointier than the other. ''Nanhsiungoolithus'' is distinctive for the smooth textu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protoceratops
''Protoceratops'' (; ) is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 75 to 71 million years ago. The genus ''Protoceratops'' includes two species: ''P. andrewsi'' and the larger ''P. hellenikorhinus''. The former was described in 1923 with fossils from the Mongolian Djadokhta Formation, and the latter in 2001 with fossils from the Chinese Bayan Mandahu Formation. ''Protoceratops'' was initially believed to be an ancestor of ankylosaurians and larger ceratopsians, such as ''Triceratops'' and relatives, until the discoveries of other protoceratopsids. Populations of ''P. andrewsi'' may have evolved into ''Bagaceratops'' through anagenesis. ''Protoceratops'' were small ceratopsians, about long and in body mass. While adults were largely quadrupedal, juveniles had the capacity to walk around Facultative bipedalism, bipedally if necessary. They were characterized by a proportionally large skull, short and stiff neck, and neck fri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodolphoolithus
''Rodolphoolithus'' is an oogenus of elongatoolithid egg native to Morocco. It is known only from a single partial egg and several eggshell fragments, but it probably had a highly elongated shape like other Elongatoolithids. They have an eggshell with two layers: a mamillary layer and a continuous layer. The mamillary layer is relatively thick (compared to other Elongatoolithids); it is a half to two thirds the thickness of the continuous layer. The ornamentation of its outer surface is ramotuberculate, i.e. covered with low, irregular ridges. Unfortunately, the pore system cannot be observed due to recrystallization of the fossilized eggshell. Like other Elongatoolithids, ''Rodolphoolithus'' was laid by small theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...s.Vianey-Liaud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses. Other polymorphs of calcium carbonate are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite over timescales of days or less at temperatures exceeding 300 °C, and vaterite is even less stable. Etymology Calcite is derived from the German ''Calcit'', a term from the 19th century that came from the Latin word for lime, ''calx'' (genitive calcis) with the suffix "-ite" used to name minerals. It is thus etymologically related to chalk. When applied by archaeologists and stone trade professionals, the term alabaster is used not just as in geology and mineralogy, where it is res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citipati Embryo
''Citipati'' (; meaning "funeral pyre lord") is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. It is mainly known from the Ukhaa Tolgod locality at the Djadokhta Formation, where the first remains were collected during the 1990s. The genus and type species ''Citipati osmolskae'' were named and described in 2001. A second species from the adjacent Zamyn Khondt locality may also exist. ''Citipati'' is one of the best-known oviraptorids thanks to a number of well-preserved specimens, including individuals found in brooding positions atop nests of eggs, though most of them were initially referred to the related '' Oviraptor''. These nesting specimens have helped to solidify the link between non-avian dinosaurs and birds. ''Citipati'' was among the largest oviraptorids; it is estimated to have been around in length and to have weighed . Its skull was highly pneumatized, short, and had a characteristi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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