Cairanoolithus
Cairanoolithus Temporal range:
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Cairanoolithus dughii | |
Egg fossil classification | |
Basic shell type: | †Dinosauroid-spherulitic |
Oofamily: | †Cairanoolithidae Sellés and Galobart, 2015 |
Oogenus: | †Cairanoolithus Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994 |
Oospecies | |
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Synonyms | |
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Cairanoolithus is an
The parent of Cairanoolithus is probably some kind of non-
The eggs were first named in 1994, when the two oospecies were classified in distinct oogenera as Cairanoolithus dughii and Dughioolithus roussetensis. They are now considered to belong in a single oogenus, possibly even a single oospecies. Though it has been classified as a
Description
Cairanoolithus eggs are spherical and fairly large, measuring 15–19 cm (6–7+1⁄2 in) in diameter.[2][3] The outer surface is smooth or covered with a subdued netlike pattern of ridges, interspersed with pits and grooves (sagenotuberculate ornamentation).[1][2] The eggshells are made up of partially interlocking column-shaped shell units and range from 1.10 to 2.65 mm (3⁄64 to 13⁄128 in) thick.[2]
Several egg clutches of C. dughii are known, containing as many as 25 fossilized eggs.[2] Unfortunately, taphonomical alterations (changes during the fossilization process) make it difficult to determine the original structure of the nest. Cousin (2002) hypothesized that Cairanoolithus eggs were laid on the surface of the ground, possibly buried beneath a mound of plant matter.[4] Tanaka et al. (2015) noted that the shell had a high rate of water vapor conductance. Therefore, they concluded that Cairanoolithus nests were covered by organic or inorganic material, similar to modern eggs with high vapor conductance.[5]
Oospecies
Two oospecies of Cairanoolithus have been described:
- Cairanoolithus dughii is the type oospecies. At 1.57–2.41 mm (1⁄16–3⁄32 in), its eggshell is slightly thicker than that of C. roussetensis. It has slender, partially fused columnar eggshell units. Their outer surface is almost without ornamentation, and the inner surface is covered with hollows once filled by organic cores. C. dughii's eggshell exhibits an angusticanaliculate pore system, i.e. its pores are long, narrow, and straight.[1][2]
- Cairanoolithus roussetensis, which was formerly classified in its own oogenus, Dughioolithus, can be distinguished from C. dughii by its thinner eggshell (measuring 1.11–1.77 mm or 3⁄64–9⁄128 in thick), its broader eggshell units, and the relative prominence of its ornamentation.[2] Like C. dughii, C. roussetensis typically has an angusticanaliculate pore system, though some specimens have prolatocanaliculate pores, meaning they have variable diameter across their length.[1][2]
Some authors consider the two oospecies to be synonymous. Cousin (2002) argued that the differences between them were due to
Classification
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Simplified version of Selles and Galobart's cladogram, showing the position of Cairanoolithus relative to other non-theropod dinosaur eggs. |
While it was formerly considered a
The
Parentage
Since embryos are unknown in cairanoolithid eggs, the identity of their parent is uncertain. They have long been considered to be eggs of
The cladistic analysis by Sellés and Galobart in 2015 supported an ornithischian parentage. Late
Distribution
Cairanoolithus is native to Southwestern Europe, including southern
Paleoecology
The Late Cretaceous ecosystems of Europe (which was then an island archipelago) show complex mixing of taxa originating from Africa, Asia, and North America.
History
The Aix Basin was first excavated for fossils in 1869 by French paleontologist Philippe Matheron.[12] In the 1950s, Raymond Dughi and Francois Sirugue, a pair of French paleontologists working for the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Aix-en-Provence, extensively studied the basin's fossil eggshells.[13] They divided the eggs they had found into ten different types, but they did not describe them in detail. In the 1970s and 1980s, further work was done by the French paleontologist[14] P. Kerourio and the German paleontologist[15] H. K. Erben.[3]
In his 1983 doctoral thesis, M. M. Penner devised one of the early classification schemes for egg fossils.[2][16] He was the first to recognize the eggs now named Cairanoolithus as a distinct type; under his classification scheme, they were called "Group 2".[2] In 1994, French paleontologists M. Vianey-Liaud, P. Mallan, O. Buscail and C. Montgelard described them under the modern parataxonomic system as Cairanoolithus dughii and "Dughioolithus" roussetensis.[3] They did not assign either of them to any oofamily, but both oogenera were classified in the oofamily Megaloolithidae by the Russian paleontologist Konstantin Mikhailov in 1996.[6] Following further discoveries in 2001, Géraldine Garcia and Monique Vianey-Liaud synomized the two oogenera.[17] In 2002, French paleontologist R. Cousin took a step further and synonymized the two oospecies.[4]
In 2012, the first Cairanoolithus fossils discovered outside of France were first reported by
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0253334978.
- ^ S2CID 85205835.
- ^ a b c d e f g M. Vianey-Liaud, P. Mallan, O. Buscail and C. Montgelard. (1994) "Review of French dinosaur eggshells: morphology, structure, mineral, and organic composition." Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. pp 151-183
- ^ a b c Cousin, R. (2002). "Organisation des postes de dinosauriens de la paralamille des Megaloolithidae Zhao, 1979 [Organization of the dinosaur nest of the parafamily Megaloolithidae Zhao 1979]". Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société Géologique de Normadie et des Amis du Muséus du Havre (in French). 89: 1–177.
- PMID 26605799.
- ^ JSTOR 4523773.
- S2CID 86208659.
- ^ Sellés, A. G.; Vila, B. (2015). "Re-evaluation of the age of some dinosaur localities from the southern Pyrenees by means of megaloolithid oospecies". Journal of Iberian Geology. 41: 125–139.
- .
- ^ S2CID 82961064.
- .
- ^ Matheron, P. (1869). "Notice sur les reptiles fossiles des dépôts fluvio-lacustres crétacés du bassin à lignite de Fuveau". Mémoires de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences. Belles-Lettres et Arts de Marseille (in French): 345–379.
- ISBN 9780521779302.
- .
- ^ Wilford, John Noble (November 9, 1986). "New data extend era of dinosaurs". New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
- ^ Carpenter, K.; Hirsch, K.F.; Horner, J.R. (1994). "Introduction". Dinosaur Eggs and Babies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–11.
- .
- hdl:2445/35482.