Anything about dinosaur eggs !!!

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Figured in this posting I would show a few of the eggs I have collected and love.
First is the Sauropod egg, from Xixia basin in China.

The next picture is an oviraptor egg, from Guamdong district China, amazing eg
The following shot is my Citipatti egg alongside the oviraptor egg for compare, make note of how massive the Citipatti egg is.
Today I was able to take some time and get a nice clear shot of the Hadrosaur egg , in direct sunlight. I posed a Carnegie alongside so you can gauge the actual size of the egg.This was the first dinosaur egg I purchased.


I keep wondering as a newcomer here why there is not a second contest for the paleontology aspect of the site, aside from the actual toys.  There is something compelling about examining well excuted photos of a dinosaur bone, or fossil, even a track. As the paleo area of the site seems to contain less postings, activity and photos, I think it would stir the pot a bit and get a few that are just viewing posts, stimulated to partipate.  Or perhaps it could be an open format type thing..share your collection of dinosaur books, or collection based entirely on one period, dinosaur or perhaps paleontologist. I think it would be a great encouragment to some to broaden their interests and for others to really shine.


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[Megalosaurus]

Hi.

Are you paleontologist?

I've seen rocks/stones that looks like your eggs. How can i diferentiate between an ovalated rock and a fossil egg?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Hi.

Are you paleontologist?

I've seen rocks/stones that looks like your eggs. How can i diferentiate between an ovalated rock and a fossil egg?

I am not a paleontologist in the accredited sense, more of a weekend self taught amateur . I do suggest there are some things you can do to narrown down the possibilities if you think you have found an egg. First,  consider the area or type of formation present where you located the egg. Is it a marine or ground type depositional environment? If it is limestone or water based depositional environment, it isnt likely to have dinosaur eggs.
If the area you are searching was once a dinosaur stomping ground and was not underwater, your odds are far better.
Second thing to consider is general shape and design. Being oval does not make it an egg, as proven by my first picture. Sauropod eggs were more round and ball shaped in fact. Eggs come in many sizes and shapes and must have for the dinosaurs. One thing about most  fossil eggs is they are seldom found as perfectly shaped egg looking items. Many eggs are crushed, or badly compressed from being buried under tons of sediment for millenia. Others were stomped on, or hatched and broken until flattened. So, often when you expect something to be an egg, it likely isnt, because most eggs do not resemble eggs themselves.
An egg will generally have shell, and it will not be perfect normally. It will have cracks, missing areas, and damage.
A dinosaur egg generally is covered with a thin shell layer that has an outer patterning that is quite easily noticeable.This patterning is called ornamentation, and protects the egg surface from becoming occluded with sediment until hatching.  If there is no shell layer around the object, it likely isnt an egg.
When purchasing eggs, acquire from established and reputable dealers, and demand a policy that allows return in case the item is found to be a fake or not as billed. Educate yourself by reading and studying what an egg looks like and does not. Also visit a local museum and if you have stones you are unsure about, ask if they have a resident Paleontologist on staff that can give you an opinion.
My eggs were all purchased from a dealer, and are authenticated eggs, that have been prepped by a professional laboratory to prevent damage and restore their original shell as much as possible. Thanks for your interest and I hope I answered your questions


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[Megalosaurus]

Thanks for clarification.

I'll examine further the egg-rocks next time going to the hills.

I remember that in my childhood i've collected three rocks that looks not like eggs, but like two vertebrae and a skull (smaller than a fist). But there's no local museums in my city (well, there are two small ones dedicated to antropology and art). May be they'ré just rocks and my imagination was so big. I believe the skull-rock is still in my old toy box.

Nice egg collection.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Thanks for clarification.

I'll examine further the egg-rocks next time going to the hills.

I remember that in my childhood i've collected three rocks that looks not like eggs, but like two vertebrae and a skull (smaller than a fist). But there's no local museums in my city (well, there are two small ones dedicated to antropology and art). May be they'ré just rocks and my imagination was so big. I believe the skull-rock is still in my old toy box.

Nice egg collection.

Thanks for your interest. I hope to get a few more pictures taken soon, in warm sunlight as I still dont have a picture posted here of the hadrosaur egg I also have.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

" Dude thats a huge egg...I mean..like for real. Are you sure we laid that thing? "

[ZoPteryx]

" Dude thats a huge egg...I mean..like for real. Are you sure we laid that thing? "

Haha!

[Takama]

Struthio Egg

[amargasaurus cazaui]

"Snowey" by Martin Garret eyes a few real oviraptor eggs. The size difference in the two is likely due to the larger being from a Citipati and the smaller from Oviraptor.This is the picture that makes the entire effort worth it for me, and complete my Oviraptor display area.

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[amargasaurus cazaui]

I have finally been able to confirm the small holes in this egg surface represent bug bores, where small insects tunneled through the egg shell to get to the immature dinosaur inside. Make note the bores end in a white calcium mass, which implies a calcium and pre bone fused mass from the unborn dinosaur. There are not likely any actual bones within the egg, although it is unhatched. It is more likely the egg was  unable to hatch for whatever reason, and died for before coming to full development Still a fascinating fossil, and quite captivating.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

During the great picture purge, most of my images that accompanied this thread were eliminated. I had always meant to restore them, so for those who are already familiar with them, nothing new here to excite you, but for newcomers to the thread, this might be of interest.

The first shot is the Hadrosaur egg from Xixia basin In China. The egg is suspected to belong to the saurolophus family. Make note of the Carnegie piece provided for scale. Plans are currently in place for this egg to be prepped, meaning sediments removed from the shell, a general narrowing of the base, and using air jacks to clean the shell pores of the remaining sediments. This egg is likely hatched, with the hatching window obscured by the underlying pedestal. Most eggs of this type are excavated from the underside, leaving the upper area still attached to its matrix , which when flipped forms a pedestal base, as well as obscuring the hatching window. I intend to have most this pedestal removed, retaining only what is required to actually base the egg, with a watchful eye to visual factors as well. At present the pedestal still displays the rough scratching marks left removing the fossil with primitive tools, like screwdrivers and long nails.


Second image is the second egg from Xixia Basin, from a far deeper formation. This egg is suspect to belong to the Sauropod family due to comparisons on other sauropod eggs, however some suggest this is a more primitive version of a Hadrosaur egg. The egg is unhatched. Note the amount of compression of the egg...when this egg was young it likely was roughly the size and shape of a soccer ball. Conventional wisdom suggests sauropod due to similarity with French, Spanish and south American sauropod eggs in both size, and shape. I admit I am rather reluctant to place it in the same family as the previous egg myself. However at this point there are no known specimens of this egg, known to contain definitive embryonics to establsh proper relationship to species.

Another angle of the sauropod egg, more distinctive showing of the shell versus matrix inside .



This picture always somewhat amazes me. In the shot you have an egg from a Citipatti and an Oviraptor. For size visualization the Citipatti egg is over seven inches long..and the Oviraptor egg over six inches in length. You can notice the pattern on the upper area of the Citipatti egg, where another egg in the nest was overlying it and left its fossil shadow along the top













Super detailed shots of the Oviraptor egg. This egg features 97.5 percent intact and original shell, and virtually no compression . Rare for a dinosaur egg. This egg would grade premium or museum grade easily. Make note of the bug bores through the shell ending in a white mass within the egg. The white area is an unhatched embryonic dinosaur. It is unlikely there are bones present, mostly just calcium and other materials.

Martin Garrat's contribution to this particular display, meet Snowey.


Further scale reference
All four eggs are Chinese dinosaur eggs, the first two from the Xixia basin and the second two, both from Oviraptorids, from the Guamdong district of China. I recently purchased a small partial squashed egg from the Wyoming area, and will be adding it soon. I also will try and add shots of some of my eggshell collection as I can.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

This is a partial egg I purchased on ebay. It is of Noth American origin, specifically "eggshell from the North Horn Formation (upper Cretaceous) located in the wasatch plateau...just south of Provo. The eggshell from this location was found in a fine-grained, white sandstone."Species identity is not known, but comparisons to various hadrosaur eggshell suggests the possibility it is from some member of this family.
A singluar note about this particular fossil, it makes a very fascinating subject for study as you are offered a view of both the outside, the edges and the inner surface of the shell all in one single specimen. Note the upper area of the piece, where there is a clear section of shell which is flipped so you can see the inside texture.




The following picture is one that was published in a semi national publication , from a pictorial I had published about dinosaur fossils. What you are viewing is an ordinary piece of sandstone or layered sediment in the back, which is often mistaken for dinosaur egg shell. However in front, the three pieces you can see are Hypeseleosaurus from France, oviraptor from China, and finally Saltosaurus from South America. It is especially fascinating to study the ornamentational pattern of grooves and bumps on the various types of shell.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

My final thought for now until I have time to add more pictures and materials....when I acquired the first egg it was entirely un-prepped. The second or sauropod egg arrived, and it had been cleaned from a mudstone nest of extremely hard sediment which required hours and hours of work. Neither egg had been sealed. When I acquired the third egg, I made note it was entirely prepped and had been sealed with B-72. The final egg also arrived in this condition. When I inquired of the seller, he stated he was going out of the egg business due to the treaty the US had just forged with Japan. He felt he could no longer acquire stock to work with. I asked about the prep and sealing and how it is done. He explained the process for me, and as a free gift also sent me a bag of the B-72 to work on the eggs with. I was then able to revist the first two eggs and seal them entirely using the B-72 . If you have never used this material it stinks, and is also messy to a great degree, on your hands especially. While you can wear gloves, they tend to get in the way often and are cumbersome. Still it was a great thing to learn and I was glad to add that to my skills set. The small piece of crushed egg from Utah was treated as well once I recieved it, and I was grateful for the experience I had doing the previous two eggs.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I had wanted to also post an image of my display of dinosaur egg-shells. In the case you can see I have five seperate types of shell. Notice in the Oviraptor material the number of different colors present from dark brown to greys to tans.

[Gorgonzola]

Amargasaurus, this is slightly off topic, but where did you find that sort of display case?  I have some small fossils, like ammonites and such that I've been wanting to display, and I can't find that sort of case anywhere.

I wish I had taken photos of this, but there's a shop here in Central FL that used to have two fossilized dinosaur nests for sale, I believe for around 35k and 45k. They were both some sort of hadrosaur, though I can't remember the exact species (or if it was even listed specifically.) I think last I was there the owner said they were both sold to a museum in Japan. It was really awesome though to see them so close, especially in a store that was filled with other ancient history curios - african spear heads, egyptian textiles, roman tunic pins, copper oil pots, various fossils, geodes, etc. I also got to see a really lovely fossilized ichthyosaur - very strange since it was a top down view, but you could still make out a lot of it pretty easily.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Amargasaurus, this is slightly off topic, but where did you find that sort of display case?  I have some small fossils, like ammonites and such that I've been wanting to display, and I can't find that sort of case anywhere.

I wish I had taken photos of this, but there's a shop here in Central FL that used to have two fossilized dinosaur nests for sale, I believe for around 35k and 45k. They were both some sort of hadrosaur, though I can't remember the exact species (or if it was even listed specifically.)

If you have a "Michael"s" Hobby store close by that is where I purchase the shadow boxes, that you are referring to. They offer them all the way from massive that would hold a football jesey down to smaller sizes. I use riker mounts for some of my materials, and those I can get off Ebay in various sizes, and the main attraction with them is low cost, stackable, and quite easy to move about.
  Riker mounts will not hold thicker items that well, so for those, or things I just wish to lavish some love on, I get a shadow box to work with.Shadow boxes are more expensive, heavier to move about and due to the thick glass window they require a bit of care handling. Some smaller things can also be displayed using a golf cube, or baseball holder even. I am considering purchasing a few clear football holders for the actual eggs themselves now.
  If the place you were visiting was asking 35-45 thousand for a nest of Hadrosaur eggs, they were likely from China and Xixia basin as well, or from the same place as mine.This would place them in context with eggs belonging to the saurolophus family based on similar eggs found with embryonic remains.
Most people assume dinosaur eggs are common in every country and easy to purchase however it can be very misleading. The few "rookeries" known that contain vast nesting grounds with complete eggs are generally so heavily watched and regulated that few make it to market.The exception was the period during which Chinese eggs were commonly moved out of the country to Hong Kong, which was under British lease. Once the 99 year lease expired, China closed the port and entire country to the export of fossils, and executed a "letter of understanding " with the United states, forbidding importation, or Chinese fossils to be allowed into the country from that date forward. Since then the flow of eggs to market has become extinct, and acquiring these eggs has become all but impossible. Prices continue climbing and the few eggs you see come to market were either the few remaining low end eggs left, or pieces people are letting go to cash in as prices escalate back to levels more in keeping with the items being sold. It is highly likely these will be my only complete eggs, and I have to content myself now with collecting shells, and partials instead

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Recently I ran across some information that might lend itself to a more direct identification of the two eggs at the top of this page, marked as Hadrosaur and Sauropod. Some have suggested the older of the two eggs, tenatively identified as sauropod, due to its similarities to other sauropod eggs found in other locales, may actually belong to Probactrosaurus. The more recent egg, identified as Hadrosaur has then been proposed as possibly belonging to Bactrosaurus. What has peaked my interest in this aside from locating any form of model or replica of these two species, is the possibility that there might be a North American cousin to either of these dinosaurs. As probactrosaurus seems to be a close relative of Iguanodontids, or else a very primitive Lambeosaurine.....it would seem possible that the North American continent should also have followed a similar pattern of radiation, and might have a species quite similar to either animal. Thoughts? Anything would be of interest here....

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I was sorting through some of the files I have saved regarding eggs and my efforts spent obtaining the four I have in my collection. During the heyday when eggs from China were being legally imported, there was one seller that somewhat emerged on ebay as the leader in egg sales in the US. Once he teamed with his sister, who operates a fossil prep business on the east coast, he became perhaps the largest known seller for China sourced dinosaur eggs.I was able to acquire my eggs all through this seller, who was well known and reputable. At a large fossil show he was able to have Terry Manning examine many of the eggs he had for sale, and determine which contained embryos and fossil remains. Once the US signed an agreement allowing no further import of fossils from China, this seller made the decision to exit the business and the final year of his sales he basically eliminated all of the best specimens he had been saving for his personnal collection. It was during this period I purchased both my Citipatti egg as well as the Museum level Oviraptor egg I own. I was able to observe and watch many of the final sales made for this sellers inventory and saved many of the related pictures. These are not my photographs, and also not my own eggs, but rather material that was sold on Ebay, through Eons Uncovered, owned by Lowell Carhart. I give full credit for these specimens and photographs to him , and offer them here with the years having past, as purely an educational and informational source for those who might enjoy them.
This first specimen was an eight inch Citipatti egg, that was offered. This particular egg is fascinating, as it did indeed contain a fossil chick, and there are visible remains in a few of the cracks in the outer shell. (White areas) The egg likely remained intact after the animal died until the gas and bloating from the decaying animal cause the outer shell to shift and lift in many places , as you can see from the pictures. There has often been confusion regarding Citipatti andOviraptor and wether they are seperate species, however judging just by the eggs attributed to each species, it is obvious these were two species, with one being much larger. In one of the pictures you can view a citipatti egg, alongside normal oviraptor eggs that would range from perhaps 6-7 inches in total length.












This second set of pictures are an Oviraptor egg that was identifed as having embryonic remains by Terry Manning. Subsequently Lowell was able to have the egg catscanned to obtain proof there was indeed an embryonic chick within the egg. These are stills or slices from the video image taken, showing the egg lengthwise in slices as well as from one end moving through the egg.
For those who have always wondered what these images would look like. You will make note the large pocket or area that you notice in the images is directly below the missing area of shell where you can see white bone mass visible.


































The next set of images are a partial Oviraptor nest that was offered, containing ten eggs. You can note from the pictures the obvious presence of at least two chicks within eggs, which is suggestive that other eggs within the nest also likely contained chicks. If two of the eggs matured to the point of having remains, it would suggest others may well have been laid at the same time and have also been the sage age when the eggs were either buried or flooded and became no longer living.












Final set of pictures, a massive Oviraptor complete nest, containing roughly 25 eggs. This piece was offered for around 35 thousand. THere are a number of really high grade eggs in the nest, as well as some very rough ones. The final two pictures or so show one of the eggs contained a set of remains as well. Nice nest, and huge. Most people do not realize that it was often nests just like that these brought into the US and then broken apart into seperate eggs that supplied much of the market, rather than seperate eggs.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

A rather striking thought has been prompted by a comment Gwangi has made in stating that Velociraptors are more closely related to birds than velociraptors are rated to oviraptors. In pondering my egg collection I own an egg attributed to a citipatti and one considered to be an oviraptor. My main idea was that I have always wondered how close oviraptors eggs would be to velociraptor. I would imagine they would be so similar as to be hard to tell apart .....However now I am second guessing that conclusion based on Gwangi's comment. Perhaps the two types would be quite different. I do know I have quite a bit of eggshell which can only be stated as ...likely oviraptor or some form of theropod from Mongolia. Without having actual remains within the egg to say for sure, I may never know until such time as they find an egg containing infant velociraptor remains.

[Gwangi]

A rather striking thought has been prompted by a comment Gwangi has made in stating that Velociraptors are more closely related to birds than velociraptors are rated to oviraptors. In pondering my egg collection I own an egg attributed to a citipatti and one considered to be an oviraptor. My main idea was that I have always wondered how close oviraptors eggs would be to velociraptor. I would imagine they would be so similar as to be hard to tell apart .....However now I am second guessing that conclusion based on Gwangi's comment. Perhaps the two types would be quite different. I do know I have quite a bit of eggshell which can only be stated as ...likely oviraptor or some form of theropod from Mongolia. Without having actual remains within the egg to say for sure, I may never know until such time as they find an egg containing infant velociraptor remains.

Was not able to find anything about Velociraptor but I did find this concerning Deinonychus. No picture however the abstract did state this...

"Physiological parameters of D. antirrhopus, such as estimated mass and pelvic canal diameter, as well as eggshell thickness, are very similar to the similar sized and closely related oviraptorid Citipati osmolskae"

SOURCE: A possible egg of the dromaeosaur Deinonychus antirrhopus: phylogenetic and biological implications
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/e06-033#.U-OyJWN0zpc

This is all new to me, I'm just doing the research now.