Chinese Dinosaur Eggshells

[Othniel C. Marsh]

Shown below are 3 different types of dinosaur eggshell, all said to be from the Gaugou Formation in China. The bottom left eggshell is labelled as coming from Dendroolithus, and I am confident in this identification. The other two types are supposed to come from Tarbosaurus bataar (top left) and Oviraptor philoceratops (right) however, and neither of these species are known from the Gaugou Formation, so the question is what they are actually from.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions
Othniel

[Othniel C. Marsh]

no suggestions whatsoever?

[Othniel C. Marsh]

anybody at all?

[Nanotyrannus35]

I'm not an "eggs"pert on dinosaur eggs, but I think it's really difficult to match an egg to a dinosaur, even if it's a complete egg. With just small pieces of eggshell, I think attributing them to a specific dinosaur would not really be possible.

[Othniel C. Marsh]

Thanks for the response, Nanotyrannus35!
I thought the surface texture of eggshells could be used to ID them, but I could be wrong.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Othniel C. Marsh

[Fossildude19]

19 minutes ago, Othniel C. Marsh said:

Thanks for the response, Nanotyrannus35!

Unfortunately, our main dino expert is no longer a member here.

You may not get many answers, but it helps to tag people who know about Dinosaur eggs. 

Check out past posts about dinoaur eggs, ... and see who commented for ideas on who to tag.

 

I don't think eggs can be ID'd via texture of the shells. But I could be way off base.  I don't really care about dinosaur stuff, so am not read up on these things.

 

  LINK

 

Best that can be said without further input is that they may be indeterminate dinosaur egg shells.

[Maniraptora]

I'm far from an expert on the topic, but here's what info I can offer. Hope it's helpful! 🙂

 

A family-level correlation can sometimes be established between the surface texture of eggshell (which is actually the pores in the shell that allowed the developing baby dino to breathe) and the eggs confidently attributed to that general "kind" of dinosaur. Rather than being from Oviraptor, the genus, the eggshell fragments labeled this way can be said to be from an oviraptorid, a member of the same family, or in some cases an oviraptorosaur, a member of a broader group of relatives.

 

Along those lines, in the absence of an ability to assign isolated eggs and shell fragments to a particular species, there are sort of "nickname" genera established for the eggs themselves. Each is referred to as an "oogenus." You mentioned Dendroolithus, which is one such oogenus.

 

I'm not sure what the typical texture of tyrannosaurine eggs, such as those from Tarbosaurus, is. The oviraptorid ID seems pretty good for the one eggshell, in my uneducated opinion, which is based mostly on research I did related to a shell fragment in my own collection. From the same uneducated standpoint, I wonder if the eggshells attributed to Tarbosaurus might instead be another oogenus of oviraptorid eggs? It seems like something interesting to research.

 

The seller(s) of the shell fragments probably picked some famous names of members of those dinosaur groups that sounded exciting to them, rather than labeling them as the most likely candidates based on age and location, which might not be as well-known and were seen as potentially less interesting to customers. A lot of the fun in fossil collecting comes from gaining a knowledge base that lets you draw your own conclusions on specimens you see for sale. It can often save you from getting scammed by unscrupulous sellers, it might sometimes alert you to a really good deal, and it will always make you feel awesome! That said, those are some nice eggshell fragments, which you can be proud to have in your collection regardless of their specific identity.

 

Here's a page on Elongantoolithidae, the oofamily established for oviraptorosaur eggs. Some of the links there may help you in researching your specimens. I think I'd also try looking into what dinosaur genera and oogenera are known from the Gaugou Formation, since that at least tells you your likeliest possibilities. There's at least a partial list here.

 

[Othniel C. Marsh]

Thanks for the responses, Fossildude19 and Maniraptora. Looks like I've got some research to do.

[Sagebrush Steve]

20 hours ago, Othniel C. Marsh said:

anybody at all?

@Othniel C. Marsh with a name like that we should be asking you to do the identifications for us!  My old friend Ed Cope says to tell you hi! 😃

[Ludwigia]

2 hours ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

@Othniel C. Marsh with a name like that we should be asking you to do the identifications for us!  My old friend Ed Cope says to tell you hi! 😃

 

Geez! The guy must be almost 200 years old by now!