Re: egg morphology and diagnosis

[Tom Holtz <tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov>]

>A couple of comments have addressed the topic of theropod eggs, and have
>made the statement that, and I am paraphrasing wildly here, "theropod eggs
>like oviraptor and possibly T.rex in China are elongated rather than more
>oval."  Could this somewhat diagnostic of theropod eggs?  I am also
>curious if the shape of theropod eggs was predicted in the literature
>before theropod eggs were discoved (memories may have to be strained a
>little here).  Is there anything in the morphology of theropod pelvis's
>(pelvi?; pelves?), such as being rather narrow, that indicate that their
>eggs were also narrow and long?

Pelves is correct, and you conclusion certainly makes sense to me.

>
>I taped a 4 minute segment on Good Morning America about a year ago,
>(yes, I *do* have good reflexes when operating the "record" feature on
>my vcr), featuring those T.rex eggs from the Xin Xian (spelling) province
>of China.  They were spectacular and HUGE!  Some type of touring exibit
>to raise bucks for the Dinosaur Society.  The ubiquitous Don Lessem was
>interviewed, and he noted that a lot of eggs from China are adorning the
>mantles of private investors.  Sad...
>                              <pb>
>p.s.  Lessem referred to the eggs as Tarbosaurus, not T. rex.

I follow Ken Carpenter in referring to the Asian species "bataar" to the
genus Tyrannosaurus, as Maleev originally did in his first 1955 paper.

                                
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.                                   
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov
Vertebrate Paleontologist in Exile                  Phone:      703-648-5280
U.S. Geological Survey                                FAX:      703-648-5420
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy
MS 970 National Center
Reston, VA  22092
U.S.A.