An accumulation of turtle eggs with embryos from the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Judith River Formation of Montana

A weathered accumulation of turtle eggs, interpreted as remnants of a single clutch composed of at least 16 turtle eggs (MOR 710) from the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Judith River Formation of north-central Montana, USA, represents a new oospecies Testudoolithus zelenitskyae. This ootaxon is diagnosed by the following unique combination of characters: spherical eggs 34–39 mm in diameter, 660–760 μm thick eggshell, shell unit height-to-width ratio of 3.15:1–5.5:1, and domed shell units. Estimated egg mass indicates that the egg-laying adult likely possessed a carapace 35.0–54.4 cm in length. Similarities between T. zelenitskyae oosp. nov. and Adocus sp. eggs, along with comparable body size, suggest that this taxon might have produced MOR 710. One egg exhibits abnormal multilayered eggshell, likely resulting from prolonged egg retention by the female turtle. At least five of these eggs, including the multilayered specimen, preserve embryonic remains that demonstrate a late stage of embryonic development. This suggests that death occurred just prior to hatching.     

山东青岛莱西地区首次发现恐龙蛋化石及其沉积环境分析

本文报道了首次在山东青岛莱西地区晚白垩世红土崖组发现的恐龙蛋化石,蛋化石呈圆形,其直径为11 cm,蛋壳的显微构造研究表明,它属于树枝蛋类,可能为镰刀龙类恐龙所产。沉积环境和岩石地球化学分析显示,该时期研究区主要为河道—河漫滩沉积环境,适宜的古气候条件是恐龙蛋孵化的理想地区;同时镰刀龙类蛋的发现,预示着将来在该地区很有可能发现镰刀类恐龙骨骼化石。     

Dinosaur eggshell assemblage from Japan reveals unknown diversity of small theropods

The Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Sasayama Group in the Hyogo Prefecture of southwestern Japan has yielded various vertebrate fossils, including skeletal remains of dinosaurs, anurans, lizards, and mammals, and recently eggshell fragments. Here we report on numerous fossil eggshells from the bone-bearing Kamitaki locality in Tamba City, which represents a diverse dinosaur eggshell assemblage. Of the more than 90 eggshell fragments recovered, five different types were identified, including eggshells that likely belong to a variety of theropods (Nipponoolithus ramosus oogen. et oosp. nov., Elongatoolithus sp., Prismatoolithus sp., and Prismatoolithidae indet.) and at least one ornithopod (Spheroolithus sp.). All eggshells are relatively thin, and a new derived estimation method correlating egg mass with eggshell thickness indicates that they are among the smallest (28–135 g) theropod eggs known, likely laid by small bodied forms. The eggshell assemblage from this locality suggests that a diverse small dinosaur fauna, consisting primarily of theropods, nested in the region, a diversity yet to be evidenced from skeletal remains in Japan.     

吉林省公主岭早白垩世泉头组网形蛋(Dictyoolithus)一新种

报道了吉林省公主岭早白垩世泉头组发现的一窝恐龙蛋化石。蛋化石近圆形,蛋壳厚度1.4~1.7 mm,蛋壳外表面均匀分布椭圆形或圆形大小不一的凹坑;蛋壳层由2、3个呈分树枝状的基本结构单元叠加而成,蛋壳基本单元之间气孔道阔大而不规则,靠近蛋壳外表面的基本结构单元相互连结、融合形成一层相对致密的薄层。据以上特征将其归为网形蛋科(Dictyoolithidae),网形蛋属(Dictyoolithus),定为一新种:公主岭网形蛋(Dictyoolithus gongzhulingensisoosp.nov.)。公主岭网形蛋是网形蛋类化石在中国东北地区的首次发现,同时也是早白垩世地层中网形蛋化石新的发现。     

吉林省公主岭早白垩世泉头缍网形蛋（Dictyoolithus）一新科

报道了吉林省公主岭早白垩世泉头组发现的一窝恐龙蛋化石。蛋化石近圆形，蛋壳厚度1．4～1．7mm，蛋壳外表面均匀分布椭圆形或圆形大小不一的凹坑；蛋壳层由2、3个呈分树枝状的基本结构单元叠加而成，蛋壳基本单元之间气孔道阔大而不规则，靠近蛋壳外表面的基本结构单元相互连姑、融合形成一层相对致密的薄层。据以上特征将其归为网形蛋科（Dictyoolithidae），网形蛋属（Dictyoolithus），定为一新种：公主岭网形蛋（Dictyoolithus gongzhulingensis oosp.nov）。公主岭网形蛋是网形蛋类化石在中国东北地区的首次发现，同时也是早白垩世地层中网形蛋化石新的发现。     

Dinosaur eggs in the Upper Cretaceous of the Coll de Nargó area,Lleida Province,south-central Pyrenees,Spain: Oodiversity,biostratigraphy and their implications

The Coll de Nargó area (Lleida Province, south-central Pyrenees) has yielded thousands of dinosaur eggs distributed in more than 30 levels across 370 m of Upper Cretaceous Tremp Formation deposits. Two stratigraphic units yielding dinosaur eggshells, eggs and clutches, can be distinguished. Multiple eggshells were collected from up to 75 different in situ clutches, located in consecutive stratigraphical levels throughout the Mas de Pinyes section. Four different oospecies have been recognized: Megaloolithus aureliensis, Megaloolithus siruguei, Megaloolithus cf. baghensis and Cairanoolithus cf. roussetensis. In absence of typical biochronological markers, fossil eggshells may have potential as a tool for dating. Based on these ootaxa, three oozones can be established along the stratigraphic section. The lower assemblage is composed by M. aureliensis, M. siruguei and Cairanoolithus cf. roussetensis; the middle one consists only of M. siruguei, while the upper oozone is characterized by M. cf. baghensis. Results suggest that the age of Coll de Nargó rocks ranges from the latest Campanian to the beginning of the Late Maastrichtian. Also reported is the first evidence of the oogenus Cairanoolithus outside of France, where it was regarded as an endemic ootaxon. The Coll de Nargó area is considered to be one of the most important dinosaur nesting areas in Europe recurrently used by several dinosaurs during a long time span. Finally, the presence of fossilized eggshell membrane in several specimens from Coll de Nargó contributes to understanding the taphonomic process of megaloolithid eggs in this area.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000887

The increasing number of fossil pterosaur eggs sheds light on nesting environments and breeding be- haviors of these extinct flying reptiles. Here we report the first partial three-dimensional egg of the pterosaur, Pteroduustro guinazui, from central Argentina. The specimen was discovered from the same Albian deposits as the exceptional R guinazui embryo described in 2004. Microscopic characterizations indicate a pristine preservation of the 50 Bm thick calcium carbonate, which differs significantly from the soft shell of Chinese pterosaur eggs. Estimate of the eggshell conductance implies that the nest had a minimum moisture content of 75%. This moisture estimate, combined with geological and taphonomical data, suggests that P. guinazui may have adopted a nesting strategy similar to those of grebes and flamingos rather than being buried on land, as previously hypothesized. Moreover, our results demon- strate that the nesting paleoenvironment of this pterosaur species was closely linked to a mesohaline lacustrine ecosystem in a basin governed by regional tectonic subsidence, a setting characteristic for the feeding and reproduction of modern flamingos.     

Seasonal variations in body size and fecundity in a copepod of turbid estuaries

Variations in body length, egg number and egg diameter of the calanoid copepodEurytemora herdmani Thompson & Scott in the turbid Cornwallis Estuary were followed over a year. Maximum prosome lengths (<1.0 mm) occurred in the spring as a result of development at low temperatures, and during the year prosome length was negatively correlated with water temperature of the preceding month. Clutch size was highly variable all year, with maximum values (>100 eggs/female) in May and early June. Dry weight of eggs also varied considerably over a short period of time. Summer eggs were 27% smaller than winter eggs, and it is suggested that clutch and egg size variability may be responses to food shortages. SEM observations show thatE. herdmani eggs have a frill-like coat of unknown function. It may aid in respiration by increasing surface area, or possibly protect the egg from invertebrate predation. Eggs and their membranes appear to resist digestion by the Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia), which feed extensively onEurytemora.     

A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan,Henan Province,central China

An alvarezsaurid dinosaur skeleton was discovered from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan, Henan Province of central China. It represents a new alvarezsaurid dinosaur Qiupanykus zhangi gen. et sp. nov. A phylogenetic analysis recovers Qiupanykus nested within the unresolved clade, which includes Asian and north American taxa. The skeleton of the new specimen is preserved in association with eggshells. The eggshell morphologies show that these eggs belong to oviraptorid eggs, skeletal remains of which were discovered from the same area. The alvarezsaurid skeleton associated with eggshell fragments may indicate that these eggs were broken by the strong thumb-claws of the former and that alvarezsaurid dinosaurs may be egg-eaters.     

A Late Cretaceous madtsoiid snake from Romania associated with a megaloolithid egg nest – Paleoecological inferences

Here we report on the taphonomy and paleoecological implications of the first record of a small madtsoiid snake (Nidophis insularis) closely associated with a megaloolithid dinosaur egg nest. Taphonomic and sedimentologic evidence suggest that the snake was buried autochthonously within or nearby the egg nest, with at least partially articulated skeleton. Count of growth rings on the vertebral zygapophyses indicates that the holotype of Nidophis belonged to an adult individual approaching the limit of its maximum body size of about 1 m length. The presence of layers of arrested growth on the zygapophyses, together with other independent data (e.g., paleomagnetic data, sedimentology, paleosol development stage, stable isotope geochemistry) indicates that Nidophis lived under a semi-arid, seasonally variable subtropical climate, having alternative periods of active feeding. The trunk vertebrae with relatively low neural spines and without prezygapophyseal accessory processes indicate a relatively heavy-bodied, slowly-moving animal, one that probably had a semifossorial habit and was an active forager, but definitively not a dinosaur nest raider as suggested for certain large madtsoiid snakes (the Indian Sanajeh). Potential prey items, available around the dinosaur nesting area, probably ranged from small squamate eggs to various small vertebrates. Finally, one anterior trunk vertebra of the holotype displays distinct bite marks left by a small-sized and pointed-toothed predator, most probably a crocodyliform or a theropod, thus documenting that madtsoiids were also preyed upon.     

Recognition of vertebrate egg abnormalities in the Upper Cretaceous fossil record

In fossil vertebrate eggs, the most commonly reported abnormality consists of an unusually thick shell with one or more superimposed eggshell layers. Although rare, taxonomically referable abnormal specimens provide a more reliable basis for inferences regarding reproductive biology of extinct taxa. Eggshell abnormalities recognized in a Cretaceous turtle and three dinosaurs (hadrosaur, sauropod, theropod) are assigned to these taxa base on: 1) normal eggs containing embryos within the same clutch, 2) identical eggshell microstructure as eggs containing embryonic remains from the same stratum; and 3) inclusion of normal eggs of the same oospecies in a cladistic analysis of egg characters. Distinguishing multiple eggshell layers of biological origin from those produced by taphonomic processes is a critical component in the study of fossil specimens. Features useful for distinguishing a pathological condition in fossil eggs include: 1) multiple eggshell layers separated by permineralized membrane, 2) close conformation of the base of the outer eggshell to the unweathered surface of the underlying egg, and 3) structural relationships of eggshell features (e.g. pore truncation, intercalated membrane and shell fragments, optical continuity of superimposed fragments). Documentation of microstructural features of abnormal eggshell provides important information on the timing and magnitude of stress and facilitates recognition of phylogenetically significant patterns of egg abnormality in the fossil record.     

Patterns of Surf Smelt, Hypomesus pretiosus, Intertidal Spawning Habitat Use in Puget Sound, Washington State

Surf smelt Hypomesus pretiosus are an important part of the Salish Sea food web and obligate beach spawners, yet little is known about the spatiotemporal distribution of spawning and beach characteristics related to spawning success. We counted smelt eggs at 51 sites around Camano Island, Puget Sound, Washington every 2?weeks for 1?year and at 13 of those 51 sites each month in the following year. At each site, we measured beach characteristics hypothesized to affect spawning habitat suitability as measured by egg abundance and mortality. Eggs were collected at 45 sites and pooled by month for analyses. Few sites (N?=?10, 19.6?%) contributed 87?% of total eggs and 89?% of all live eggs collected. Mean total egg counts at sites were higher (p?<?0.019) in Jul?CSep (1,790.7, SE?=?829.5) than in Jan?CMar (26.1, SE?=?10.2). Principal component and regression analyses suggested that aspect, fetch, solar radiation, and beach temperature predicted egg abundance but not mortality. Because a small proportion of sites appear to support most spawning activity, a conclusion consistent with year?2 egg counts, impacts to relatively few beaches could greatly affect surf smelt production.     

Spheroolithid eggshells in the Lower Cretaceous of Europe. Implications for eggshell evolution in ornithischian dinosaurs

Early Cretaceous spheroolithid eggshells have always been extremely scarce, unlike their putative egg layers, ornithopod dinosaurs, which are ubiquitous in Early Cretaceous ecosystems. In this paper, we re-evaluate eggshells previously assigned to the oofamily Elongatoolithidae, an oofamily related to derived theropod dinosaurs (including maniraptorans and oviraptorids), and reassign them to the oofamily Spheroolithidae, on the basis of the lack of a squamatic ultrastructure, and the presence of a prolatocanaliculate pore system and undulating extinction, typical of spheroolithid eggshells. We erect a new oogenus, Guegoolithus to include material previously reported as Macroolithus turolensis Amo-Sanjuan, Canudo and Cuenca-Bescós 2000, and new material from several lower Barremian localities of the Maestrazgo Basin in Spain. Guegoolithus eggshells exhibit an acicular radial ultrastructure in the lower part of the shell units, which develops into a tabular radial ultrastructure in the upper part, giving an appearance of a two-layered eggshell in thin sections that is not seen in SEM pictures. These features fill the gap between the two-layered prismatic eggshell of ceratopsians and the prolatospherulitic ornithopod eggshell of derived hadrosaurs.     

Dinosaur eggshells from the Santonian Milk River Formation of Alberta,Canada

The North American fossil record of dinosaur eggshells for the Cretaceous is primarily restricted to formations of the middle (Albian–Cenomanian) and uppermost (Campanian–Maastrichtian) stages, with a large gap in the record for intermediate stages. Here we describe a dinosaur eggshell assemblage from a formation that represents an intermediate and poorly fossiliferous stage of the Upper Cretaceous, the Santonian Milk River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. The Milk River eggshell assemblage contains five eggshell taxa: Continuoolithus, Porituberoolithus, Prismatoolithus, Spheroolithus, and Triprismatoolithus. These ootaxa are most similar to those reported from younger Campanian–Maastrichtian formations of the northern Western Interior than they are to ootaxa reported from older middle Cretaceous formations (i.e., predominantly Macroelongatoolithus). Characteristics of the Milk River ootaxa indicate that they are ascribable to at least one ornithopod and four small theropod species. The taxonomic affinity of the eggshell assemblage is consistent with the dinosaur fauna known based on isolated teeth and fragmentary skeletal remains from the formation, although most ornithischians and large theropods are not represented by eggshell. Relative to the Milk River Formation eggshell, similar oospecies occurring in younger Cretaceous deposits tend to be somewhat thicker, which may reflect an increase in body size of various dinosaur lineages during the Late Cretaceous.     

Large hatchling size in Cretaceous nautiloids persists across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: New data of Hercoglossidae hatchlings

The hatchling sizes of the Cretaceous nautiloids (Hercoglossa forbesianus and Cimomia angustus; Hercoglossidae) are reported here for the first time as ranging between 20.4-22.2 mm in diameter. These new data for Hercoglossidae and the previously reported data for Nautilidae and Cymatoceratidae suggest that all Cretaceous nautiloids had large hatchlings irrespective of their taxonomy relative to those in ammonoids. Based on the relationship between hatching events and the nepionic constriction in modern nautili, the hatchling size of nautiloids can be recognized by the constriction on the shell surface of the innermost whorl. The range of hatchling diameter in all Cretaceous nautiloids (9-35 mm) is comparable to those of modern nautili (20-32 mm), although the Cretaceous nautiloids are characterized by a wider range with the smaller minimum diameter. The large hatchling size in Cretaceous nautiloids stands in marked contrast to those in ammonoids, which had much smaller hatchling size (mostly <2 mm in diameter) and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. Such distinct differences in reproductive strategy (i.e., hatchling and egg sizes) suggest that these differences may have played a significant role in the fate of ammonoids and nautiloids through the K/T mass extinction, as previously hypothesized by several paleontologists.     

湖北郧县青龙山一带晚白垩世地层及恐龙蛋化石初步研究

郧县青龙山一带的上白垩统是一套以冲积扇相为主体的红色陆源碎屑沉积，依据岩性变化，可分为上、中、下３个组合．下部组合含多个产恐龙蛋化石的层位．上部组合与毗邻的李官桥盆地胡岗组（Ｋ３２ｈｇ）可以对比．红寨子、青龙山一带的恐龙蛋化石分布集中，藏量丰富，类型较多，埋藏甚浅，保存好，实属举世罕见．据初步研究，蛋壳的显微结构有５种类型，分属于５个恐龙蛋科，即Ｄｅｎｄｒｏｏｌｉｔｈｉｄａｅ，Ｄｉｃｔｙｏｏｌｉｔｈｉｄａｅ，Ｆａｖｅｏｌｏｏｌｉｔｈｉｄａｅ，Ｐｒｉｓｍａｔｏｏｌｉｔｈｉｄａｅ和Ｓｐｈｅｒｏｏｌｉｔｈｉｄａｅ，其中以Ｄｅｎｄｒｏｏｌｉｔｈｉｄａｅ分布最广、数量最多．     

广东南雄白垩系及恐龙蛋到鸟蛋演化研究

首次实测了南雄盆地一条完整的白垩系剖面;沿剖面在66个层位中采集到蛋化石, 新建了1个恐龙蛋科, 2个属及6个种;在厘定南雄盆地和丹霞盆地的岩石地层后, 统一提出了一套白垩纪地层单位名称。另外通过对羽状蛋化石的研究, 揭示出恐龙蛋到鸟蛋的进化, 是由于蛋壳棱柱层产生了变异, 出现了从‘层状结构’到‘羽状结构’的转变;与现代鸟禽类对比后确认, 恐龙蛋的棱柱层相当于鸟禽类的鳞片层(带);具有羽状结构的蛋化石是恐龙蛋演化到鸟蛋的一种中间类型。     

A new parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil: The first Mesozoic Pteromalidae

A new genus and species of small (3.5 mm excluding ovipositor) parisitoid wasp is described from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation Lagerstätte of Brazil. Parviformosus wohlrabeae gen. et sp. nov. is known from a single female imago and is assigned to Pteromalidae. It is diagnosed by the robustness of the scutellum, the structure, size and positioning of the mesopleuron, the complexity of the propodeum–petiole junction and a posteriorly curved dorsal ‘lip’ on metasomal segment 4. At only 3.5 mm in length, P. wohlrabeae is the smallest fossil wasp from the Cretaceous of South America and the first Mesozoic representative of Pteromalidae.     

A study on the uplift mechanism of Tongjiezi dam using a coupled hydro-mechanical model

During filling in 1992 of the Tongjiezi reservoir, in Southwest China, it was noticed that the dam body and the rock masses on the right side of the valley were uplifted up to 22.2 mm and 24.3 mm respectively. After reservoir filling in 1993, the uplift continued, but the rate decreased, and the measured maximum uplift increased from 22.2 mm to 27.5 mm in the dam body and from 24.3 mm to 28.9 mm in the rock masses from 1993 to 2004. Based on the geological features of the dam site and observed geomechanics data, a numerical method is used to evaluate the representative elementary volume (REV) and to identify the parameters related to the mechanical and hydraulic properties of the rock mass. Furthermore, a coupled hydro-mechanical model is presented to describe the uplift process. The simulated results agree well with those measured. In addition, the time-dependent deformation is studied in the laboratory and numerically. It is concluded that, with the specific hydrogeological conditions at the Tongjiezi dam site, hydro-mechanical coupling during and after the reservoir impoundment is the main factor contributing to the uplift, and the time-dependent deformation is due to the rheological behavior of rock masses under seepage pressure.     

Paleoenvironments, organic petrology and Rock-Eval studies on source rock facies of the Lower Maastrichtian Patti Formation, southern Bida Basin, Nigeria

The southern Bida Basin in central Nigeria forms a part of the larger Bida or Middle Niger Basin, which is contiguous with the south east trending (petroliferous) Anambra Basin. These basins were major depocenters for Campanian–Maastrichtian sediments in southern and central Nigeria prior to the build up of the Tertiary Niger delta. The successions in the southern Bida Basin consist of the basal Lokoja Formation, overlain by the Patti Formation and capped by the Agbaja Formation. The Lokoja Formation is a sequence of matrix supported conglomerates and sandstones overlying the Pre-Cambrian to Lower Paleozoic basement. Depositional environments are predominantly within fluvial systems of a continental setting. The Patti Formation consists of dark grey carbonaceous shales; mudstone and siltstones representing flood plains to shallow marine deposits with likely organic rich intervals. The overlying Agbaja Formation is made up of ferruginised oolitic and kaolinitic mudstone of a marginal marine environment. Twenty samples of shales of the Patti Formation were studied by incident light microscopy and geochemical analysis to determine the maceral components, geochemical type and potential yield of the pyrolysate. Maceral analysis indicate a large abundance of vitrinite (50–85%; mean = 66%); moderate abundance of liptinites (10–33%; mean = 18%) and lesser amounts of inertinite (9–40%; mean = 16%). Total organic carbon (TOC) values vary from 0.17 to 3.8 wt.% (mean = 2.1 wt.%) with most samples having greater than 2 wt.% TOC. Three of the samples yield greater than 2 kg_(HC)/ton of rock suggesting a fair source rock potential. Most of the samples are thermally immature to marginally mature with vitrinite reflectance ranging from 0.4 to 0.6% R_om and T_max values of 407–426 °C. Given the prevalence of the humic Type III kerogen, maturity and hydrocarbon potential yields, we conclude that the Patti Formation source rock facies have moderate to fair potential for gaseous hydrocarbons which have not yet been generated at the present day outcrop levels but could be important gas source where buried down-dip.