The Academy of Sciences discovered an egg fossil in the Late Cretaceous strata of the Tiantai Basin, Zhejiang. The egg fossil is only 4.5cm long, with obvious sharp and blunt ends. The shape is very similar to a bird egg, but it shows the shell microstructure of a dinosaur egg.
The Tiantai Basin in Zhejiang produces a group of early Late Cretaceous dinosaur egg fossils represented by honeycomb eggs, reticulated eggs, stalagmite eggs and mosaic eggs. The eggshell of the newly reported fossil egg has a barrel-shaped cone, irregular stomata, and developed growth lines, which is very similar to the eggshell structure of stalagmite eggs, mosaic eggs, and paraorchids. However, these egg fossils are much larger than the new specimens and are nearly round. Therefore, the new specimen represents a new egg genus and egg species that is closely related to these egg fossils, and is named Parvoblongoolithus jinguoensis. The discovery of this new specimen enriches the composition of the dinosaur egg fossil group in the Tiantai Basin. More importantly, it proves that some bird egg characteristics, such as smaller size and oval shape, are in harmony with stalagmite eggs, mosaic eggs and Paracircular eggs are also found in the eggs of closely related dinosaurs.
The researchers also pointed out that since the egg fossils that are closely related to the new specimen are larger in size, it cannot be ruled out that the small size of this egg fossil is caused by temporary physiological disorders during dinosaur laying. Similar phenomena occur in modern times. It has also been reported in birds. Because there are no other egg fossils from the same clutch for comparison, it is initially designated as a new egg genus and egg species, and a new egg family is not established.
Figure 1 Homotype specimen of Parvoblongoolithus jinguoensis oogen. et oosp. nov., scale bar = 10 mm.
Figure 2 Microstructure of eggshell of Parvoblongoolithus jinguoensis oogen. et oosp. nov., A, B, E, F, scale bar = 0.2 mm; C, D, scale bar = 0.4 mm.
animal tags：
you may also like
If you go to the botanical garden to play, you will definitely be attracted by the various colorful flowers there; every spring, accompanied by the warm spring breeze, flowers of all sizes bloom in the fields, hillsides, courtyards and roadside. It makes people feel the breath of spring the m...
Our current human beings are members of the genus Homo. They evolved from Homo habilis through Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens. Why did only early members of the genus Homo develop into modern humans while the various Australopithecus species living at that time failed to continue develop...
We already know that based on the development of the temporal part of the skull, that is, the relationship between the development and changes of the temporal foramen, scientists divide reptiles (classes) into four subclasses, namely Anosus, Monossus, and Platysus. and Dicypodia. On this basi...
Archaeocybeans appeared in the early Cambrian period and were extinct by the Jurassic. There is no modern creature that can be directly compared with them. In addition, their bones have various shapes, so scientists still do not understand them all. As for their soft body tissues during life,...
The new specimen is named Pterygornis dapingfangensis, which is a relatively advanced enantiornithine. An external sternal manubrium develops on the front edge of the sternum. In living birds, the external sternal manubrium is mainly used to attach the clavicular membrane of the pectoralis, b...
The origin of amphibians probably occurred in the late Devonian period. At that time, a certain species of lobe-finned fish landed on land, creating a new direction of adaptation and evolution. This was an adventure for early vertebrates, a bold step into a new environmen...
Traces of the activities of ancient organisms and their relics preserved in rock formations are called trace fossils. Among them, the relics of ancient organisms can become relic fossils. dinosaur footprints Trace fossils are rarely preserved at the same time as...
In the early Eocene, a small animal called Paleoartiodactyl differentiated from the anklets. In addition to having a proximal pulley similar to that of perissodactyls, its talus also had a pulley-like distal end. It's a plane. It is this double-trochlear talus that laid the foundation for a p...
Email: jsset#163.com (change # to @) Please indicate your purpose of visit! Guangdong ICP No. 2022053326 XML| map| Chinese
