Name: Oofamily: Elogatolithidae Oogenus: Macroolithus
Age: Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian Stage)
Size (25.4mm=1 inch): Egg is 212 mm long 52 mm across 30 mm high on a 40 mm thick pedestal base.
Location: Shaanxi Province, China
Code: RE01
Price: $825.00 - sold
 Description:
This is a fine example of a dinosaur egg of the Oofamily Elongatolihidae.
It is larger than an egg of the Oogenus Elongatolithus, which typically
are no longer than 180 mm. Because dinosaur eggs are most often found
independent of the animal that laid them, they are typically given
names associated with their eggshell structure. A few notable exceptions
are the Hadrosaur Maiasaura and the enigmatic dinosaur Oviraptor.
The latter is a classic example of scientists jumping to conclusions.
During the Central Asiatic Expeditions led by Roy Champan Andrews
in the 1920's, the first dinosaur eggs were discovered. Due to the
fact that the most prevalent dinosaur in the region was Protoceratops,
the scientists thought the eggs were from this taxon. They found a
small unusual dinosaur in association with a nest, and assumed that
this dinosaur was overcome in the act of stealing the eggs. They gave
this dinosaur the name Oviraptor philoceratops (Ceratops-loving egg
thief). During the 1990's, several expeditions to Mongolia discovered
more examples of this association, and the scientists came to the
conclusion that the Oviraptor was BROODING the eggs - not a thief,
but a devoted parent. It is this type of dinosaur, a member of the
Oviraptoridae, that laid this egg. China has extensive Mesozoic continental
deposits called "red beds" because of their color. It is
in these beds that the eggs occur, from Shandong Province in the east
to Xinyang Ugur in the west. The eggs are found with greatest frequency
in Shandong, Henan, and Guangdong Provinces. The mineral component
of eggshell is Calcite, which can be seen here in several areas of
these well-preserved eggs. It is believed that these eggshells were
laid down through sequential formation of the membrane and calcareous
layers much as in birds. This is a fine well-inflated 3-D example
of an egg that would have comprised a nest of some 20 eggs laid in
a circular pattern, two or three eggs deep, perched upon a pedestal
of the redbeds from which it was collected. |
