Family
Formal taxon Extinct

Dendroolithidae

Zhao and Li 1988

Dendroolithus is an oogenus of Dendroolithid dinosaur egg found in the late Cenomanian Chichengshan Formation, in the Gong-An-Zhai and Santonian Majiacun Formations of China and the Maastrichtian Nemegt and Campanian Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia. They can be up to 162 mm long and 130 mm wide. These eggs may have been laid by a Therizinosaur, Sauropod, or Ornithopod. The oospecies "D." shangtangensis was originally classified as Dendroolithus, however, it has since been moved to its own distinct oogenus, Similifaveoloolithus. This oogenus is related with embryos of the theropod Torvosaurus.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
17
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Dendroolithidae
click to enlarge
Dinosaur eggs (Dendroolithus sp.) from Kaoguo Formation, Henan, China, on display at the San Diego County Fair, California, USA. © Stickpen · Public domain · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Theropoda Unranked clade
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Neotheropoda Unranked clade
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Averostra Unranked clade
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Tetanurae Unranked clade
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Coelurosauria Unranked clade
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Maniraptoriformes Unranked clade
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Therizinosauria Unranked clade
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Therizinosauroidea Superfamily
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Dendroolithidae Family
Fossil sites 17 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇳 Mongolia
12
🇨🇳 China
4
🇰🇷 South Korea
1
Geological formations
Nemegt
8
Gaogou
3
Baruungoyot
2
Majiacun
1
Javkhlant
1
Djadokhta
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
8
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
5
Coniacian (89.8–85.7 Ma)
4
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
Z. Zhao and Z. Li. 1988. A new structural type of the dinosaur eggs from Anlu County, Hubei Province. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 26(2):107-115
Bibliography (10)
H. Jo, M. Huh, and J. Jung, M. Kim. 2023. The diversity of dinosaur egg fossils from Korea and the preliminary study on the new dinosaur eggs from Shinan, Jeollanam-do province. 14th Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota. The Anatomical Record 306 (S1)
K. Tanaka, D. K. Zelenitsky, and F. Therrien, Y. Lee, K. Kubota, Y. Kobayashi, G. F. Funston, T. Khishigjav. 2023. Description and review of non-avian dinosaur eggs from Cretaceous deposits of the Mongolian Gobi Desert. Windows into Sauropsid and Synapsid Evolution: Essays in Honor of Louis L. Jacobs
K. Tanaka, Y. Kobayashi, and D. K. Zelenitsky, F. Therrien, Y.-N. Lee, R. Barsbold, K. Kubota, H.-J. Lee, T. Chinzorig, D. Idersaikhan. 2019. Exceptional preservation of a Late Cretaceous dinosaur nesting site from Mongolia reveals colonial nesting behavior in a non-avian theropod. Geology 47(9):843-847 DOI ↗
S. Zhang, T. Yang, and Z. Li, Y. Hu. 2018. New dinosaur egg material from Yunxian, Hubei Province, China resolves the classification of dendroolithid eggs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63(4):671-678 DOI ↗
M. Watabe, K. Tsogtbaatar, and S. Suzuki, M. Saneyoshi. 2010. Geology of dinosaur-fossil-bearing localities (Jurassic and Cretaceous: Mesozoic) in the Gobi Desert: Results of the HMNS-MPC Joint Paleontological Expedition. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 3:41-118
M. Watabe, S. Suzuki, and K. Tsogtbaatar, T. Tsubamoto, M. Saneyoshi. 2010. Report of the HMNS-MPC Joint Paleontological Expedition in 2006. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 3:11-18
M. Watabe and K. Tsogtbaatar. 2004. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 2000. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 2:45-67
S. Suzuki and M. Watabe. 2000. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 1998. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 1:83-98
H. Zhao and Z. Zhao. 1998. [Dinosaur eggs from Xichuan Basin, Henan province]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 36(4):282–296
K. Sabath. 1991. Upper Cretaceous amniotic eggs from the Gobi Desert. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 36(2):151-192