''Rodolphoolithus'' 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 t ...
of
elongatoolithid
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 b ...
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 ...
s.
[Vianey-Liaud, M., & Garcia, G. (2003).]
Diversity among North African dinosaur eggshells.
''Palaeovertebrata'', 32(2-4), 171-188.
References
Dinosaur reproduction
Fossil parataxa described in 1997
Fossils of Morocco
Elongatoolithids
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