Pseudogeckoolithus

Pseudogeckoolithus
Temporal range: Maastrichtian
Egg fossil classification Edit this classification
Basic shell type: Dinosauroid-prismatic
Oogenus: Pseudogeckoolithus
Vianey-Liaud and López-Martínez, 1997
Oospecies
  • P. nodosus
  • ?P. tirbouliensis[1]

Pseudogeckoolithus is an oogenus of dinosaur egg.[2] It is known from several fragments of eggshells. The outer surface of these are covered with little knobs and nodes. Some of the pores in the eggshell open through these nodes, similar to modern geckos, but unique among the dinosauroid-prismatic group of eggs. However, the microstructure of Pseudogeckoolithus shows that it is not actually of the geckoid type. It is possible that these eggs represent a new basic group of fossil eggs.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Vianey-Liaud, M., and G. Garcia. (2003). "Diversity among North African Dinosaur Eggshells." Palaeovertebrata, Montpellier, 32 (2-4): 171-188.
  2. ^ Carpenter, K. 1999. Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: A Look at Dinosaur Reproduction (Life of the Past). Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
  3. ^ M. Vianey-Liaud and N. López-Martínez. 1997. Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells from the Tremp basin, southern Pyrenees, Lleida, Spain. Journal of Paleontology 71(6):1157-1171