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
Regalerpeton weichangensis is a type of tailed amphibian from the Early Cretaceous in Weichang, Hebei Province. Recently, the research team of researcher Wang Yuan from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology conducted research on 8 newly discovered fossil materials, and revised and supplemented th...
We already know that the oldest groups of members of the family Hominidae known so far are basically found in the east of the African continent. But the story doesn't end there. Early human footprints In 1976, a research team led by Mary Leakey discov...
Researcher Deng Tao from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and others recently published in the international journal Zootaxa a new species of Eostylopsus discovered in the Late Miocene strata of the Linxia Basin in Gansu. , its...
Sharks have played the role of apex predators in marine ecosystems since ancient times, and their species has a long history, dating back 500 million years. Today, scientists have identified nearly 500 species of sharks, but many species have been lost in the long river of evolution. Have you ever w...
On May 2, a research team composed of paleontologists from various research institutions in mainland China, Hong Kong, Canada and other places reported in the journal Nature Communication a species that lived about 125 million years ago. Dinosaur of the year - Jianianhualongs tengi. This is a...
Sponges are the simplest structure and the most primitive form among multicellular animals. They have appeared before the Cambrian and have continued to thrive until modern times. Sponges evolved from single-celled animals. Their cells have differentiated but have not yet formed tissues and o...
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...
"Scientific Reports" published on May 24, 2016 reported a new genus and species of mammals discovered in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota - Luo's Late Teeth - jointly researched by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Linyi University. Beast (Anebodo...
Email: jsset#163.com (change # to @) Please indicate your purpose of visit! Guangdong ICP No. 2022053326 XML| map| Chinese
