Multiple dinosaur egg-shell occurrence in an Upper Cretaceous nesting site from Patagonia

CORIA, R.A., SALGADO, L., CHIAPPE, L.M.

AMEGHINIANA

ASOCIACION PALEONTOLOGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2010 vol. 47 p. 107 - 110

0002-7014

The discovery of hundreds of megaloolithid-type egg-clutches (some including embryos of an indeterminate species of titanosaur sauropods) in several stratigraphical levels of the Late Cretaceous nesting site of Auca Mahuevo (Chiappe et al., 2005) unveiled important aspects of the reproductive behavior of sauropod dinosaurs and stimulated further work at other Patagonian dinosaur egg sites. In november of 2003, a join expedition of the National University of Comahue (Neuquén), the Museo Carmen Funes (Plaza Huincul) and the Museo de Lamarque (Lamarque) conducted fieldwork in several Late Cretaceous localities of Bajo Santa Rosa (center-north Río Negro Province, Argentina) bearing the remains of dinosaur eggs and other terrestrial vertebrates. The main focus of this expedition was to assess the diversity of dinosaur eggs, to fine-tune the stratigraphy of the egg-bearing layers, and to document the spatial distribution of the egg-clutches. The overall results of this research were reported elsewhere. In this contribution, we make focus in one of the fossil localities worked, Berthe IV, where the association of egg clutches likely belonging to different dinosaur species was detected.et al., 2005) unveiled important aspects of the reproductive behavior of sauropod dinosaurs and stimulated further work at other Patagonian dinosaur egg sites. In november of 2003, a join expedition of the National University of Comahue (Neuquén), the Museo Carmen Funes (Plaza Huincul) and the Museo de Lamarque (Lamarque) conducted fieldwork in several Late Cretaceous localities of Bajo Santa Rosa (center-north Río Negro Province, Argentina) bearing the remains of dinosaur eggs and other terrestrial vertebrates. The main focus of this expedition was to assess the diversity of dinosaur eggs, to fine-tune the stratigraphy of the egg-bearing layers, and to document the spatial distribution of the egg-clutches. The overall results of this research were reported elsewhere. In this contribution, we make focus in one of the fossil localities worked, Berthe IV, where the association of egg clutches likely belonging to different dinosaur species was detected.