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Paleoecological implications of two closely associated egg types from the Upper Cretaceous St. Mary River Formation, Montana

2017; Elsevier BV; Volume: 79; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.cretres.2017.08.003

1095-998X

Frankie D. Jackson, David J. Varricchio,

Ichthyology and Marine Biology

Two closely associated egg types occur at the same locality in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) St. Mary River Formation in north central Montana.These specimens represent the first fossil eggs described from this formation.At least fifteen small ovoid eggs or egg portions are scattered through a 25 cm interval of rock.Five significantly larger, round eggs overlie these smaller eggs and are in close proximity to one another on a single bedding plane.The best preserved egg of the smaller size measures 36 mm  62 mm and exhibits the prismatic, two-layered eggshell structure of a theropod egg.The dispersed distribution and inconsistent angles of these small eggs likely resulted from disturbance by subsequent nesting activity and/or possibly nest predation.At least twelve additional small prismatic eggs also occur at this site.We assign the small eggs as a new oogenus and oospecies, Tetonoolithus nelsoni, within the Prismatoolithidae.The large round eggs measure 130 mm in diameter and the eggshell displays substantial diagenetic alteration.These eggs likely belonged to a hadrosaur due to their similarity in egg size, shape, and eggshell thickness to Maiasaura eggs from the stratigraphically lower Two Medicine Formation.Eggs at different stratigraphic levels at this site indicate that conditions favorable to both dinosaur species persisted for an extended period of time.However, determining whether these dinosaurs occupied the nesting site at the same or different years remains beyond the resolution of the rock record.Fig. 1.Geologic setting and nesting locality.A, Schematic cross section of Montana Group with restoration across the Sweetgrass arch.Modified from Rogers (1998: fig.2); T and R represent marine transgressions and regressions, respectively.B, geologic map of the fold and thrust belt of Montana with black star to indicate the fossil egg locality in the St. Mary River Formation (Ksm).