Huevos de dinosaurios (Faveoloolithidae) del Cretácico Superior de la cuenca del Colorado, provincia de La Pampa, Argentina.

CASADÍO, S.; MANERA, T.; PARRAS, A.

AMEGHINIANA

ASOCIACION PALEONTOLOGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2002 vol. 39 p. 285 - 293

0002-7014

Study of dinosaur eggshells from the fluvial sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Formation exposed in southeastern La Pampa (Argentina) allowed to refer them to Sphaerovum erbeni Mones. This oospecies is included in the oofamily Faveoloolithidae, as it presents a filispherulitic structural morphotype and a multicanaliculate pore system. However, contrarily to other members of this oofamily, Sphaerovum erbeni shows a compactituberculate ornamentation. In Uruguay and Patagonia, Sphaerovum erbeni is known only from the Campanian-Maastrichtian interval, therefore becoming a good stratigraphic indicator for continental rocks of that age. Likewise, the high porosity of the eggshells suggests that the hatching environment was one of high humidity. Thus, when they are found in situ, they are important elements to be considered in an paleoenvironmental analysis.