A mixed vertebrate eggshell assemblage from the Transylvanian Late Cretaceous
A mixed vertebrate eggshell assemblage from the Transylvanian Late Cretaceous
A Late Cretaceous-aged multi-taxon nesting site from Romania preserved in three dimensions reveals the earliest example of nest site sharing yet known from the vertebrate fossil record. Eggshell and osteological evidence combined in this single accumulation demonstrate that at least four vertebrate taxa including enantiornithine birds and another avian of indeterminate affinities as well as crocodylomorphs and gekkotan squamates nested together in the same place. Colonial nesting in enantiornithines was previously described from this site; here, we present the first fossil evidence that other vertebrates also nested in the same place, perhaps exploiting the presence of the large bird colony. We describe four distinct eggshell morphotypes that have been collected from this site and draw palaeoecological inferences based on this unique multi-taxon nesting association.
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Fernández, Mariela Soledad
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Wang, Xia
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Vremir, Mátyás
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Laurent, Chris
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Naish, Darren
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Kaiser, Gary
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Dyke, Gareth
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Fernández, Mariela Soledad
8a76bc10-6e38-4273-91db-c48ad134a733
Wang, Xia
05442af1-b96d-4271-8b58-b8515946656a
Vremir, Mátyás
4b606297-070e-4359-98dd-5e80f4f383d0
Laurent, Chris
40771685-ca4a-49a4-b828-fc89c8eb7cc2
Naish, Darren
aa6bd7f8-86e4-4965-bd94-20b1573b194d
Kaiser, Gary
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Dyke, Gareth
600ca61e-b40b-4c86-b8ae-13be4e331e94
Fernández, Mariela Soledad, Wang, Xia, Vremir, Mátyás, Laurent, Chris, Naish, Darren, Kaiser, Gary and Dyke, Gareth
(2019)
A mixed vertebrate eggshell assemblage from the Transylvanian Late Cretaceous.
Scientific Reports, 9 (1), , [1944].
(doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36305-3).
Abstract
A Late Cretaceous-aged multi-taxon nesting site from Romania preserved in three dimensions reveals the earliest example of nest site sharing yet known from the vertebrate fossil record. Eggshell and osteological evidence combined in this single accumulation demonstrate that at least four vertebrate taxa including enantiornithine birds and another avian of indeterminate affinities as well as crocodylomorphs and gekkotan squamates nested together in the same place. Colonial nesting in enantiornithines was previously described from this site; here, we present the first fossil evidence that other vertebrates also nested in the same place, perhaps exploiting the presence of the large bird colony. We describe four distinct eggshell morphotypes that have been collected from this site and draw palaeoecological inferences based on this unique multi-taxon nesting association.
Text
s41598-018-36305-3
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Accepted/In Press date: 14 November 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 February 2019
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 428512
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428512
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: 5add146c-5623-4f81-8fdb-3d8ef95109b0
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Date deposited: 01 Mar 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 12:20
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Contributors
Author:
Mariela Soledad Fernández
Author:
Xia Wang
Author:
Mátyás Vremir
Author:
Chris Laurent
Author:
Darren Naish
Author:
Gary Kaiser
Author:
Gareth Dyke
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