中国南方晚白垩世一具有胚胎的完整的兽脚类恐龙蛋化石(英文)

Intact theropod dinosaur eggs with embryonic remains from the Late Cretaceous of southern China

尽管在世界各地发现大量的恐龙蛋及成窝的蛋化石,但是胚胎化石相对稀少。就目前所知,恐龙胚胎与蛋壳化石相连在一起的约有20例,它们中的大多数来自于破的或者被压碎的蛋化石。报道产自中国江西南部赣州晚白垩世南雄组的具有胚胎的一窝不完整的恐龙蛋化石。根据恐龙蛋和蛋壳的宏观及微观特征,这些蛋化石被鉴定为长形蛋未定种。CT扫描结果显示,所有蛋均具有胚胎骨骼聚集,包括可能的股骨和胫骨。研究结果表明,因为完好无损的蛋可能具有胚胎残骸,所以恐龙胚胎的保存可能超过所能辨别出的。

In spite of tremendous discoveries of dinosaur eggs and nests over the world, dinosaur embryonic remains are rare. Until today, dinosaur embryos associated with eggshells are only known in about 20 cases, most of which were recovered from broken or crushed eggs. Here we report intact dinosaur eggs in a partial clutch with preserved embryonic remains in eggs from the Upper Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation of Ganzhou in the southern Jiangxi Province of China. Based on macro- and microscopic features of eggs and eggshells, these eggs were identified as Elongatoolithus sp., and possibly belong to oviraptorosaurs. A CT scanning topography revealed that all the eggs contain accumulations of embryonic bones, including possible femur and tibia. Our discovery suggests that dinosaur embryos might be preserved more than we have recognized, because intact eggs potentially confine embryonic remains.