Dendroolithus Explained

Dendroolithus is an oogenus of Dendroolithid dinosaur egg found in the late Cenomanian Chichengshan Formation (Tiantai Group), in the Gong-An-Zhai and Santonian Majiacun Formations of China and the Maastrichtian Nemegt and Campanian Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia.^{[1] [2]} They can be up to 162 mm long and 130 mm wide.^[3] These eggs may have been laid by a Therizinosaur, Sauropod, or Ornithopod.^[4] The oospecies "D." shangtangensis was originally classified as Dendroolithus, however, it has since been moved to its own distinct oogenus, Similifaveoloolithus.^[5] This oogenus is related with embryos of the theropod Torvosaurus^[6]

Notes and References

1. http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=67270&is_real_user=1 Paleobiology Database
2. Carpenter, K. 1999. Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: A Look at Dinosaur Reproduction (Life of the Past). Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
3. Z. Zhao and Z. Li. 1988. A new structural type of the dinosaur eggs from Anlu County, Hubei Province. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 26(2):107-115
4. Konstantin E. Mikhailov, Emily S. Bray & Karl E. Hirsch . 1996 . Parataxonomy of fossil egg remains (Veterovata): basic principles and applications . . 16 . 4 . 763–769 . 10.1080/02724634.1996.10011364 . 4523773.
5. Wang Qiang, Zhao Zi-kui, Wang Xiao-lin, and Jiang Yan-gen. (2011) "New ootypes of dinosaur eggs from the Late Cretaceous in Tiantai Basin, Zhejiang Province, China." Vertebrata PalAsiatica 49(4):446-449.
6. Alves . L. C. . Schell . N. . Beckmann . F. . Mateus . Octávio . Martins . Rui M. S. . Castanhinha . Rui . Araújo . Ricardo . Filling the gaps of dinosaur eggshell phylogeny: Late Jurassic Theropod clutch with embryos from Portugal . Scientific Reports . 3 . 1924 . en . 10.1038/srep01924 . 23722524 . 3667465 . 30 May 2013.