Stalicoolithidae is an

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 t ...

of fossil eggs.Wang Q, Wang X L, Zhao Z K, and Jiang Y G. (2012).
A new oofamily of dinosaur egg from the Upper Cretaceous of Tiantai Basin, Zhejiang Province, and its mechanism of eggshell formation

Chinese Science Bulletin ''Science Bulletin'' (shortened as ''Sci. Bull.'') is a semi-monthly peer-reviewed international journal sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Published by Elsevier on behalf of Science ...

. 57: 3740-3747. doi: 10.1007/s11434-012-5353-2

History

Stalicoolithid eggs were first discovered in 1971, but they were described initially as Dendroolithids,Zhang, S., X. Jin, J.K. O'Conner, M. Wang, and J. Xie. (2015). "A new egg with avian egg shape from the Upper Cretaceous of Zhejiang Province, China." ''Historical Biology'' 27(5):595-602. or as Spheroolithids, in the case of ''"Paraspheroolithus" shizuiwanensis'' and ''

Shixingoolithus ''Shixingoolithus'' is an oogenus of dinosaur egg from the Cretaceous of Nanxiong, China.Z. Zhao, J. Ye, H. Li, Z. Zhao, and Z. Yan. 1991. Extinction of the dinosaurs across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in Nanxiong Basin, Guangdong Province. ...

''.

Description

Stalicoolithids are distinguished from other oofamilies by several characteristics. Most significantly, they have secondary eggshell units in the outer zone, and three distinct subzones of the columnar layer. They have a unique mix of developmental characteristics, giving insight into the evolution of the amniotic eggshell.

Parataxonomy

Stalicoolithidae contains at least three oogenera: ''

Coralloidoolithus ''Coralloidoolithus'' is an oogenus of dinosaur egg from the Tiantai Basin in Zhejiang Province, containing a single known oospecies ''C. shizuiwanensis''. Formerly, it was classified in the oogenus ''Paraspheroolithus''; however, it was consider ...

'', ''

Stalicoolithus ''Stalicoolithus'' is an oogenus of dinosaur egg from the Sanshui and Chichengshan Formations of the Tiantai Basin in Zhejiang Province. It is known from a single, complete fossil egg, notable for its spherical shape.Wang Q, Wang X L, Zhao Z K, ...

'', and ''

''. ''Shixingoolithus'' contains two oospecies: ''S. erbeni'' and ''S. qianshanensis''.Moreno-Azanza, M., J.I. Canudo, and J.M. Gasca. (2014). "Spheroolithid eggshells in the Lower Cretaceous of Europe. Implications for eggshell evolution in ornithischian dinosaurs." ''Cretaceous Research'' 51:75-87. Also, the enigmatic ''

Parvoblongoolithus ''Parvoblongoolithus'' is an oogenus of fossil dinosaur egg whose small size and unusual shape suggest the possibility that it is a dwarf egg. Distribution The sole known ''Parvoblongoolithus jinguoensis'' specimen was found in the Upper Cretace ...

'' could potentially be a stalicoolithid.

References

Egg fossils Fossil parataxa described in 2012 Stalicoolithids {{eggshell-stub