Nipponoolithus
Nipponoolithus Temporal range:
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Egg fossil classification | |
Oofamily: | incertae sedis |
Oogenus: | †Nipponoolithus Tanaka et al. 2016 |
Oospecies | |
Nipponoolithus is an
Distribution
Nipponoolithus remains are known from the
History
Though fossil dinosaur skeletons are rare in Japan, they have been well-documented since 1978.[1] The first Japanese fossil eggs were discovered in 2003: Yoichi Azuma documented numerous eggs of the Ratite morphotype in the Kitadani Formation,[2] and Ren Hirayama et al. documented dinosaur and turtle eggshells in the Kuwijima Formation.[3] However, these eggs were never described in detail.[1] In 2006, the dinosaur-rich Kamitaki locality in the Sasayam Group was discovered. In 2016, a team of paleontologists from Japan and Canada collected numerous fossilized eggs at Kamitaki, including the specimens which they would refer to a new oogenus and oospecies: Nipponoolithus rumosus.[1]
Description
Nipponoolithus rumosus is known only from a handful of isolated eggshell fragments ranging from 0.36 to 0.53 mm in thickness, just barely larger than a chicken egg.[1][4] It is estimated, based on the eggshell thickness, that Nipponoolithus eggs weighed about 100 grams (3.5 oz), making it among the smallest fossil dinosaur eggs ever discovered.[1]
Like most non-
Paleobiology
N. rumosus was most likely laid by some kind of non-
Parataxonomy
Nipponoolithus has not been place into any described oofamily. It contains a single oospecies: N. rumosus.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tanaka, K., Zelenitsky, D. K., Saegusa, H., Ikeda, T., DeBuhr, C. L., & Therrien, F. (2016). Dinosaur eggshell assemblage from Japan reveals unknown diversity of small theropods. Cretaceous Research, 57, 350–363.
- ^ Azuma, Y. (2003). "Early Cretaceous vertebrate remains from Katsuyama city, Fukui Prefecture, Japan." Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, 2: 17–21
- ^ Hirayama, R., Manabe, M., Isaji, S., Barrett, P.M., Evans, S.E., Yabumoto, Y., Matsuoka, H., Yamaguchi, I., Yamaguchi, M., (2003) "Vertebrate fauna from the Early Cretaceous Kuwajima Formation of Shiramine Village, Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan." Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, 2: 15–16
- ^ Miller, KK (2015). "World’s smallest dinosaur egg just discovered in Hyogo Prefecture" Rocket News 24.
- ^ Laura E. Wilson, Karen Chin, Frankie D. Jackson, and Emily S. Bray. II. Eggshell morphology and structure. UCMP Online Exhibits: Fossil Eggshell