World's smallest dinosaur egg fossil discovered in Japan

[Owl_Roker]

Hello Fossil Friends,

 

Saw this in the news today so thought I’d share:

 

 

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World's smallest dinosaur egg fossil discovered in Japan

Source Link

 

A team of researchers said Tuesday it has discovered the world's smallest dinosaur egg fossil, measuring about 4.5 centimeters by 2 cm, in western Japan.

 

The fossil of the egg, estimated to have weighed only about 10 grams more than 100 million years ago, was found in a stratum dating back to the Early Cretaceous period in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, according to the team.

 

Supplied photo shows the world's smallest dinosaur egg fossil found in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. (Photo courtesy of the University of Tsukuba and the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo)(Kyodo)

 

The researchers at the University of Tsukuba and the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, among others, who have analyzed the fossil, said it likely belonged to a non-avian small theropod.

 

Skeletal remains of small dinosaurs are far less common than those of large dinosaurs, such as the Tyrannosaurus, which was also a theropod, and Kohei Tanaka of the University of Tsukuba, a member of the team, said he hopes the discovery will "help shed light on how small dinosaurs reproduced and nested."

 

The team surveyed the stratum, which dates back 110 million years, between 2015 and 2019 and found four fossil eggs and over 1,300 scattered eggshell fragments.

 

It has confirmed the findings, including the newly discovered one, which has been named Himeoolithus murakamii, can be categorized into four different types.

 

The team said the discovery suggests that various small dinosaurs were nesting together in the area, known as one of the world's richest Lower Cretaceous fossil egg sites.

 

Fossilized dinosaur eggs have been found elsewhere, including Spain and Mongolia, but many of them are 5 to 7 cm in length and weigh about 30 g.

 

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Thanks,

Robert

[Troodon]

Pay walled paper 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667120302056

 

[Owl_Roker]

8 hours ago, Troodon said:

Pay walled paper 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667120302056

 

Was mine "fake" news? 

[Randyw]

29 minutes ago, Owl_Roker said:

Was mine "fake" news? 

No, troodon was just adding more information to it. He wouldn’t have found your post informative if he considered it fake news. Thanks for posting it!

[Owl_Roker]

3 minutes ago, Randyw said:

No, troodon was just adding more information to it. He wouldn’t have found your post informative if he considered it fake news. Thanks for posting it!

Thanks @Randyw, sometimes as a newbie, it's hard to keep up!

[Owl_Roker]

8 hours ago, Troodon said:

Pay walled paper 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667120302056

 

This is going to take me ages to digest! Thanks so much @Troodon!