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Eggshell experts out there, came across this fragment said to be Pyroraptor South of France. This is the only picture provided...is it rare and is it Pyroraptor?

David Evans and crew from the ROM have been collecting in the Hell Creek of Montana instead of their usual Judith River localities. They have not reported finding much but today's Twitter feed David posted these pictures and commented "We found dinosaur eggshell today! It’s a rarity for the Hell Creek Formation. Thanks to Wendy Sloboda for her expert help finding it.". Have never been lucky enough to find any and like David indicated they are pretty rare in the HC. @-Andy- @HamptonsDoc @CBchiefski hazard a guess what type they are?

I have a large group of dinosaur eggshell fragments from the Nanxiong Formation of China. As they're isolated fragments I know its difficult to narrow them down to any particular oogenus, but I was wondering if it is possible to say anything about them just by surface texture alone? From what I can gather, eggshells with nodes and ridges from this formation would indicate a theropod eggshell, where as the smoother eggshells are more likely herbivour (probably hadrosaur). I've added pictures of each type. I've struggled to find a lot of detail on Nanxiong eggs which isn't behind a paywall, but what I have found is that there are three types of eggs described: Oölithes spheroides Oölithes rugustus Oölithes elongatus From what I can tell, spheroides is the only egg with a smooth shell and is believed to belong to a hadrosaur. The other two have more heavily textured shells and belong to theropods. I'm planning to sell some of these, so just wanted to double check my assumptions are correct. I also thought it'd be good to clarify, as it's hard to find out a great deal about these eggs online.

Hey guys! I'm curious about this egg fossil I've got here – it's been preserved with its hollow shell intact and sort of crystalized. I know there are loads of these eggs out there, but I've never seen one like this before so I'm wondering how unusual it really is. The other egg seems to be solid when held under a bright light. Here's what I know about it: – Ophidienovum sp – From a snake, I think – Tertiary/Miocene – From Mainz, Germany – Eggs are 2cm long Would love to hear your input!

Hi all, I have come across numerous theropod eggshells sold as "Oviraptor from Mongolia" through the years. Mostly, I pay them no heed. As I am aware, whole Oviraptor eggs from Mongolia are in fact Elongatoolithus sp. eggs from Guangdong or other parts of China. True Mongolian eggs are very rare. What about these eggshells though? My guess is that thousands of them come out of China, the same way as the eggs and egg nests. But then again, eggshells are more common, and is it that implausible for some of them to be Mongolian in origin? I label mine as being from China, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

I traded some fossils for a bunch of European dinosaur eggshells a few years back, a mix from France and Spain. However, I stupidly misplaced the labels for these two sets of eggshells and now have no idea which site they came from (they appear to be from two different sites, judging by the colouration). I know it's a long shot, but if anyone with an interest in European dinosaur eggshells could shed some light on where these eggshells came from, it would be much appreciated. All are around 2mm tick.

I recently bought this fossil which is a dinosaur eggshell that came from China. It is late cretaceous in age. You can even see red coloration which is the remaining sediment from where it was collected from. I want to know which dinosaur layed it. I think the fossil is Elongatoolithudae which is the type of egg that Oviraptorids layed. Front The back which is very smooth

Hello! I bought Gastornis eggshell with certificate. I am novice so I would like to ask you if I can be certain that it is authentic Gastornis eggshell? I am asking because maybe everyone can create similar certificate and selling fake fossils. I do no know. Can you help me?

Ancient eggshell protein breaks through DNA time barrier Scientists have identified fossil proteins in a 3.8 million year-old ostrich eggshell, suggesting that proteins could provide valuable new insights into the evolutionary tree, much further back in time than was previously thought. The study, published in the journal eLife, suggests that survival of protein fragments in the ancient eggshell could provide genetic information almost 50 times older than any DNA record. The findings shed new light on how animals and humans lived and interacted in the past, how some species became extinct, and why some evolved and continue to thrive today. Crucially, the research provides archaeologists with the ability to be more targeted in which fossils they submit for deeper analysis. The team at the Universities of York, Sheffield and Copenhagen analysed and tracked egg fossils from well-dated sites in Tanzania and South Africa, where it is expected DNA and proteins would not survive the extreme environmental conditions. Professor Matthew Collins, from the University of York's Department of Archaeology, who led the team, said: "To date, DNA analysis from frozen sediments has been able to reach back to about 700,000 years ago, but human evolution left most of its traces in Africa and the higher temperature there takes its toll on DNA preservation. "We had known for many years that proteins could give more clues into the past, but when we looked at protein decay in eggshells, it gave us unusual results when compared to other fossil materials and, until now, we have not really known why." The researchers speculated that proteins might survive better if they were stuck onto solid surfaces, and so they tested the theory with the support of computational scientists at the University of Sheffield, who modeled the bindings of proteins in ostrich eggshells. Dr Beatrice Demarchi, from the University of York's Department of Archaeology, said "Evidence suggested that it was the more fluid, unstable, region of the protein that promoted and regulated mineral growth in the shell, but it was also less likely to survive over time and the intense heat of the African climate. "As we examined older and older eggshells, we could see that this assumption was surprisingly wrong, as it was in fact the unstable regions that survived the best. They were able to bind more strongly to the eggshell, allowing it be preserved in time." Fragments of ancient ostrich eggshells are abundant in Africa, and often found at archaeological and palaeontological sites. They were exploited by the earliest modern humans as raw materials to make art, and jewellery and, or for carrying water. The shell is very thick and hardwearing and therefore survives under many different environmental conditions. Dr Colin Freeman, from the University of Sheffield, said: "Remarkably, the oldest eggshell in the study -- from the famous 3.8 million year-old site of Laetoli in Tanzania -- a region of the protein was still there, giving us a unique insight into what to look for when analysing fossils of this kind. "Now that we know minerals can trap and preserve proteins in this way, we can be much more targeted in our study of ancient remains." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160927082904.htm Journal Reference: Beatrice Demarchi, Shaun Hall, Teresa Roncal-Herrero, Colin L Freeman, Jos Woolley, Molly K Crisp, Julie Wilson, Anna Fotakis, Roman Fischer, Benedikt M Kessler, Rosa Rakownikow Jersie-Christensen, Jesper V Olsen, James Haile, Jessica Thomas, Curtis W Marean, John Parkington, Samantha Presslee, Julia Lee-Thorp, Peter Ditchfield, Jacqueline F Hamilton, Martyn W Ward, Chunting Michelle Wang, Marvin D Shaw, Terry Harrison, Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Ross DE MacPhee, Amandus Kwekason, Michaela Ecker, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Michael Chazan, Roland Kröger, Jane Thomas-Oates, John H Harding, Enrico Cappellini, Kirsty Penkman, Matthew J Collins. Protein sequences bound to mineral surfaces persist into deep time. eLife, 2016; 5 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.17092

Heya! I´ve bought some new fossils the last few months, and thought that i would make a topic of some of them, so here they are: Here´s a shark tooth from Morocco: A quite large mosasaur tooth from Khourigba, belonging to Liodon anceps: Here´s a swedish trilobite, Asaphus expansus, it´s not in great condition but these are quite rare on the market anyway and there is something special about owning fossils depicting the prehistory of your own country: Here´s some Oviraptor eggshell fragments, its not an egg, but i like them anyway: Here´s my new favourite fossil, a beautiful piece of rock featuring two complete Elrathia kingii aswell as at least 4 damaged specimens: So yup, that´s my newest additions to the growing collection

Hi. I got a little eggshell, but i'm wondering what dinosaur it is from. The only information i have is: 1. It was found in the city General Roca in Argentina. 2. It is about 80 million years old. 3. It is from a Titanosaur. Hope someone can find the dinosaur.