Parvoolithus

Parvoolithus is an oogenus of Mongolian fossil eggs from the Campanian Barun Goyot Formation. They are known from a single small, smooth egg, which cannot be assigned to any known oofamily.[1] It is very similar to the eggs of modern birds in many aspects; in fact, a cladistic analysis by Zelenitsky and Therrien found it to be a sister taxon to the guinea fowl (genus Numida), indicating that they represent the eggs of birds, rather than a non-avialan theropod.[2]

Parvoolithus
Temporal range: Campanian
~
Egg fossil classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Oogenus: †Parvoolithus
Mikhailov, 1996
Oospecies

P. tortuosus

References
  1. Mikhailov, K.E. (1997). Fossil and recent eggshell in amniotic vertebrates: Fine structure, comparative morphology and classification. Special Papers in Palaeontology 56. The Palaeontological Association. London. (page 58).
  2. Zelenitsky, D.K. and Therrien, F. (2008). Phylogenetic analysis of reproductive traits of maniraptoran theropods and its implications for egg parataxonomy. Palaeontology, 51(4): 807–816

Bibliography
  • K. E. Mikhailov. 1996. New genera of fossil eggs from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Paleontological Journal 30(2):246-248


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