Unusual theropod eggshells from the Early Cretaceous Blesa Formation of the Iberian Range, Spain
Miguel Moreno-Azanza, José I. Canudo, and José M. Gasca
Trigonoolithus amoae oogen. et oosp. nov. is described on the basis of abundant eggshell fragments from the La Cantalera 1 site in the Early Cretaceous (early Barremian) Blesa Formation, Teruel Province, northern Spain. The surface ornamentation, the most diagnostic feature of the new oogenus, consists of closely spaced sub-triangular or rounded protuberances that have not previously been reported in any other ootaxon. The eggshells present three distinct layers, with a gradual transition between prismatic and mammillary layers, and a poorly developed external layer with progressive prismatic to external layer transition, a combination of characters that allows them to be assigned to Prismatoolithidae. Phylogenetic analyses based on oological characters place Trigonoolithus at the base of Prismatoolithidae.
Key words: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Prismatoolithidae, parataxonomy, dinosaur eggshells, Barremian, Cretaceous, Blesa Formation, Teruel Province, Spain.
Miguel Moreno-Azanza, [mmazanza@unizar.es], José I. Canudo [jicanudo@unizar.es], and José M. Gasca [gascajm@unizar.es], Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA. Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza. Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
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