''Similifaveoloolithus'' is an oogenus of fossil dinosaur egg from the Tiantai basin in

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is the sole known oospecies of the oofamily Similifaveoloolithidae.Wang Qiang, Zhao Zikui, Wang Xiaolin, Zhang Shukang, and Jiang Yan'gen. (2013) "New forms of dictyoolithids from the Tiantai Basin, Zhejiang Province of China and a parataxonomic revision of the dictyoolithids." ''Vertebrate PalAsiatica'' 51:43-54.Wang Qiang, Zhao Zi-kui, Wang Xiao-lin, and Jiang Yan-gen. (2011) "New ootypes of dinosaur eggs from the Late Cretaceous in Tiantai Basin, Zhejiang Province, China." ''Vertebrata PalAsiatica'' 49(4):446-449.

Description

''Similifaveoloolithus gongzhulingensis'' is known from nine specimens, including five complete fossil eggs; ''S. shuangtangensis'' is known from two complete fossil eggs of the

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

Quantou Formation The Quantou Formation is a Cretaceous Period (Mesozoic Era) geologic formation in China. It is primarily Albian in age. It has been explored for its potential as a tight oil reservoir. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recove ...

. The eggs are spherical and the pores are very numerous and irregular, with a honeycomb-like appearance. They are 11–12 cm in diameter. The shell is composed of two or three superimposed layers of shell units. ''S. gongzhulingensis'' is distinguished from ''S. shuangtangensis'' by its thicker eggshell.

Parataxonomy

''Similifaveoloolithus'' is the only described oospecies of Similifaveoloolithidae. ''S. shuangtangensis'' was originally described as a species of ''

Dendroolithus ''Dendroolithus'' is an oogenus of Dendroolithid dinosaur egg found in the late Cenomanian Chichengshan Formation ( Tiantai Group), in the Gong-An-Zhai and Santonian Majiacun Formations of China and the Maastrichtian Nemegt and Campanian Bar ...

'' in 2003.Fang Xiaosi; Lu Liwu; Jiang Yangen; and Yang Liangfeng. (2003).
Cretaceous fossil eggs from the Tiantai basin of Zhejiang,with a discussion on the extinction of dinosaurs." ''Geological Bulletin of China
' 22(7):512-520. However, Wang et al. (2011) considered it different enough from other ootaxa to be placed into a new oofamily and oogenus. ''S. gongzhulingensis'' was originally described as a species of ''

Dictyoolithus ''Dictyoolithus'' is an oogenus of dinosaur egg from the Cretaceous of China. It is notable for having over five superimposed layers of eggshell units. Possibly, it was laid by megalosauroid dinosaurs. Distribution ''Dictyoolithus'' is known fr ...

'', but it was reclassified as a species of ''Similifaveoloolithus'' by Wang et al. (2013), because it shares much more in common with ''S. shuangtangensis'' than with the Dictyoolithids.Wang Q., Zan S Q., Jin L.Y. and Chen J. (2006). "A new oospecies, ''Dictyoolithus gongzhulingensis'', from the Early Cretaceous Quantou Formation in the central Jilin Province." Journal of

Jilin University Jilin University (JLU; ; often abbreviated JLU or ) is a leading national research university located in Changchun, China. It is under the direct jurisdiction of China's Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Class A Doub ...

, Earth Science Edition 36(2): 153-157(in Chinese with English abstract)

References

Dinosaur reproduction Egg fossils Aptian life Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia Cretaceous China Fossils of China Paleontology in Zhejiang Fossil parataxa described in 2003 Fossil parataxa described in 2006 Fossil parataxa described in 2011 {{eggshell-stub