''Pseudogeckoolithus'' is an
oogenus
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
dinosaur egg
Dinosaur eggs are the organic vessels in which a dinosaurs, dinosaur embryo develops. When the first scientifically documented remains of non-avian dinosaurs were being described in England during the 1820s, it was presumed that dinosaurs had la ...
. It is known from several fragments of
eggshell
An eggshell is the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg (biology), egg and of some forms of eggs with soft outer coats.
Worm eggs
Nematode eggs present a two layered structure: an external vitellin layer made of chitin that confers mechanical ...
s. The outer surface of these are covered with little knobs and nodes. Some of the pores in the eggshell open through these nodes, similar to modern
gecko
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from .
Geckos are unique among lizards ...
s, but unique among the
dinosauroid-prismatic group of eggs. However, the microstructure of ''Pseudogeckoolithus'' shows that it is not actually of the
geckoid type. It is possible that these eggs represent a new basic group of fossil eggs.
[M. Vianey-Liaud and N. López-Martínez. 1997. Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells from the Tremp basin, southern Pyrenees, Lleida, Spain. Journal of Paleontology 71(6):1157-1171]
References
Dinosaur reproduction
Fossil parataxa described in 1997
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