Shixingoolithusis anoogenusofdinosaur eggfrom theCretaceousofNanxiong,China.[2][3]
| Shixingoolithus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Egg fossil classification
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| Basic shell type: | †Dinosauroid-spherulitic |
| Oofamily: | †Stalicoolithidae |
| Oogenus: | †Shixingoolithus Zhao et al., 1991 |
| Oospecies | |
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Description
editShixingoolithuseggs are nearly spherical, and about 12 cm in diameter, with a shell thickness of 2.3–2.6 mm. The shell is made up of tall, prismatic units, and has narrow, irregular pore canals. Its cone layer (mammillae) is approximately a fourth of the shell thickness.[3][4]
Paleobiology
editShixingoolithusprobably represents eggs of anornithopoddinosaur.[5][6] They are known from thePingling FormationandChishan Formation(from the UpperMaastrichtian), but are absent from theYuanpu Formation,indicating that they disappeared in the last 200,000 to 300,000 years of the Cretaceous.[7][8]
Parataxonomy
editShixingoolithuswas initially described as a member of theSpheroolithidaeon the basis of its spherical shape, and similarities to other spheroolithid eggs.[7][3]In 2012, Wang et al. classifiedShixingoolithusin a new oofamily,Stalicoolithidae,alongsideStalicoolithusandCoralloidoolithus,because of the secondary eggshell units found in its pore canals.[9]However, these secondary shell units may in fact simply betaphonomicartifacts. It has also been speculated to in fact be adendroolithid,but a more complete description must be made before its classification can be resolved.[6]
See also
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References
edit- ^He, Qing; Chen, Zhong-Liang; Zhang, Shu-Kang; Gui, Ze-Wen; Chen, Ya-Ting (2022-08-25)."A new oospecies ofShixingoolithus(Shixingoolithus qianshanensisoosp. nov.) from the Qianshan Basin, Anhui Province, East China ".Journal of Palaeogeography.11(4): 629–639.doi:10.1016/j.jop.2022.08.001.ISSN2095-3836.
- ^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. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 29(1):1-20
- ^abcCarpenter, K. 1999. Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: A Look at Dinosaur Reproduction (Life of the Past). Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
- ^Zhao, Z.K. (1994). "Dinosaur eggs in China: On the structure and evolution of eggshells." In K. Carpenter, K. F. Hirsch, and J. R. Horner (eds.), Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. In K. Carpenter, K. F. Hirsch, and J. R. Horner (eds.), Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 184–203
- ^Konstantin E. Mikhailov, Emily S. Bray & Karl E. Hirsch (1996). "Parataxonomy of fossil egg remains (Veterovata): basic principles and applications".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.16(4): 763–769.doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011364.JSTOR4523773.
- ^abMoreno-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 Research51:75-87.
- ^abZ. 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."Vertebrata PalAsiatica29(1):1-20
- ^Zhao, Z.-k., X. Mao, Z. Chai, G. Yang, P. Kong, M. Ebihara, and Z.-h. Zhao. (2002). "A possible causal relationship between extinction of dinosaurs and K/T iridium enrichment in the Nanxiong Basin, South China: evidence from dinosaur eggshells.Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 178:1-17.
- ^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.57: 3740-3747. doi: 10.1007/s11434-012-5353-2