Genus
Formal taxon Extinct

Continuoolithus

Zelenitsky et al. 1996

Continuoolithus is an oogenus of dinosaur egg found in the late Cretaceous of North America. It is most commonly known from the late Campanian of Alberta and Montana, but specimens have also been found dating to the older Santonian and the younger Maastrichtian. It was laid by an unknown type of theropod. These small eggs are similar to the eggs of oviraptorid dinosaurs, but have a distinctive type of ornamentation.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
28
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Continuoolithus
click to enlarge
Depiction of dietary niche partitioning among megaherbivorous dinosaurs from the DPF (MAZ-2). Left to right: Chasmosaurus belli, Lambeosaurus lambei, Styracosaurus albertensis, Scolosaurus cutleri (formerly sunk in Euoplocephalus tutus), Prosaurolophus maximus, Panoplosaurus mirus. A herd of S. albertensis looms in the background. © J.T. Csotonyi · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Theropoda Unranked clade
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Elongatoolithidae Family
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Continuoolithus Genus
Fossil sites 28 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
16
🇨🇦 Canada
10
🇲🇽 Mexico
2
Geological formations
Oldman
6
North Horn
6
Dinosaur Park
4
Two Medicine
4
Cedar Mountain
3
Aguja
2
El Gallo
2
Fruitland
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
6
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
19
Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)
3
Species (2)
Continuoolithus canadensis 101 Ma
Spongioolithus hirschi subjective synonym of Continuoolithus canadensis 101 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
D. K. Zelenitsky, L. V. Hills, and P. J. Currie. 1996. Parataxonomic classification of ornithoid eggshell fragments from the Oldman Formation (Judith River Group; Upper Cretaceous), southern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 33:1655-1667 DOI ↗
Bibliography (10)
J. Hedge, R. T. Tucker, and P. J. Makovicky, L. E. Zanno. 2025. Fossil eggshell diversity of the Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah. PLOS ONE 20(2):e0314689:1-33 DOI ↗
J. S. Cabrera-Hernández, M. Montellano-Ballesteros, and P. D. Roy, D. E. Fastovsky. 2022. Eggshells assemblages and stable isotope composition in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) El Gallo Formation of Baja California, Mexico: Paleoenvironmental inferences. Cretaceous Research 138(78):105265 DOI ↗
H. Montgomery and S. Clark. 2016. Paleoecology of the Gaddis Site in the Upper Cretaceous Aguja Formation, Terlingua, Texas. Palaios 31:341-357 DOI ↗
A. J. Martin and D. J. Varricchio. 2011. Paleoecological utility of insect trace fossils in dinosaur nesting sites of the Two Medicine Formation (Campanian), Choteau, Montana. Historical Biology 23(1):15-25 DOI ↗
K. Tanaka, D. K. Zelenitsky, and T. E. Willamson, A. Weil, F. Therrien. 2011. Fossil eggshells from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Fruitland Formation, New Mexico. Historical Biology 23(1):41-55 DOI ↗
F. D. Jackson and D. J. Varricchio. 2010. Fossil eggs and eggshell from the lowermost Two Medicine Formation of western Montana, Sevenmile Hill locality. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(4):1142-1156 DOI ↗
J. T. Sankey. 2010. Faunal composition and significance of high-diversity, mixed bonebeds containing Agujaceratops mariscalensis and other dinosaurs, Aguja Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Big Bend, Texas. New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington
D. K. Zelenitsky and W. J. Sloboda. 2005. Eggshells. Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington
E. S. Bray. 1999. Eggs and eggshell from the Upper Cretaceous North Horn Formation, central Utah. Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah, Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1
D. K. Zelenitsky, L. V. Hills, and P. J. Currie. 1996. Parataxonomic classification of ornithoid eggshell fragments from the Oldman Formation (Judith River Group; Upper Cretaceous), southern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 33:1655-1667 DOI ↗