| Gekkoolithus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Egg fossil classification  | |
| Basic shell type: | Geckoid |
| Morphotype: | Geckonoid |
| Oofamily: | † Gekkoolithidae |
| Oogenus: | † Gekkoolithus Hirsch et al., 1996 |
| Oospecies | |
| |
Gekkoolithus is an oogenus of fossil gecko egg. Unfortunately, gecko eggs have not been well-studied, and their fossils are very rare, making classification of them difficult. Gekkolithus eggs are very similar to those of the modern Phelsuma delandis in size, shape, and structure. [1]
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 to 60 centimetres.
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia although some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon.
Gekkonidae is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 64 genera. The Gekkonidae contain many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos (Hemidactylus), the tokay gecko (Gekko), day geckos (Phelsuma), the mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus), and dtellas (Gehyra). Gekkonid geckos occur globally and are particularly diverse in tropical areas.
The crested gecko or eyelash gecko is a species of gecko native to southern New Caledonia (France). In 1866, the crested gecko was described by French zoologist Alphonse Guichenot. This species was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 during an expedition led by Robert Seipp. Along with several other New Caledonian gecko species, it is being considered for protected status by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
The cat gecko is a species of gecko found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand. It is the only species within the genus Aeluroscalabotes. It is commonly called the cat gecko because of its habit of curling up with its tail around itself when it sleeps, similar to a cat.
The Rodrigues night heron is an extinct species of heron formerly occurring on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues.
Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships. Form classification, generally restricted to palaeontology, reflects uncertainty; the goal of science is to move "form taxa" to biological taxa whose affinity is known.
Dinosaur eggs are the organic vessels in which a dinosaur embryo develops. When the first scientifically documented remains of non-avian dinosaurs were being described in England during the 1820s, it was presumed that dinosaurs had laid eggs because they were reptiles. In 1859, the first scientifically documented dinosaur egg fossils were discovered in France by Jean-Jacques Poech, although they were mistaken for giant bird eggs.
Subtiliolithus is an oogenus of fossil egg from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia and the Ohyamashimo Formation of Japan. The eggs are notable for a very thin eggshell. It contains three oospecies: S. hyogoensis, S. kachchhensis and S. microtuberculatus. They were originally classified as a distinct oofamily, Subtiliolithidae, but numerous similarities to Laevisoolithus have led to their reclassification as Laevisoolithid eggs. A complete skeleton of Nanantius valifanovi was found associated with Subtiliolithus eggshells, indicating that the oogenus represents eggs of enantiornithine birds.
The Carphodactylidae, informally known as the southern padless geckos, are a family of geckos, lizards in the infraorder Gekkota. The family consists of 32 described species in 7 genera, all of which are endemic to Australia. They belong to the superfamily Pygopodoidea, an ancient group of east Gondwanan geckos now only found in Australasia. Despite their well-developed limbs, molecular phylogenies have demonstrated that Carphodactylidae is the sister group to Pygopodidae, a highly specialized family of legless lizards.
The Diplodactylidae are a family in the suborder Gekkota (geckos), with over 150 species in 25 genera. These geckos occur in Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Diplodactylids are the most ecologically diverse and widespread family of geckos in both Australia and New Caledonia, and are the only family of geckos found in New Zealand. Three diplodactylid genera have recently been split into multiple new genera.
Egg fossils are the fossilized remains of eggs laid by ancient animals. As evidence of the physiological processes of an animal, egg fossils are considered a type of trace fossil. Under rare circumstances a fossil egg may preserve the remains of the once-developing embryo inside, in which case it also contains body fossils. A wide variety of different animal groups laid eggs that are now preserved in the fossil record beginning in the Paleozoic. Examples include invertebrates like ammonoids as well as vertebrates like fishes, possible amphibians, and reptiles. The latter group includes the many dinosaur eggs that have been recovered from Mesozoic strata. Since the organism responsible for laying any given egg fossil is frequently unknown, scientists classify eggs using a parallel system of taxonomy separate from but modeled after the Linnaean system. This "parataxonomy" is called veterovata.
Laevisoolithidae is an oofamily of fossil eggs belonging to the Ornithoid-ratite morphotype. Their eggshells are smooth and very thin, typically less than a millimeter thick. Laevisoolithids may be the eggs of Enantiornithid birds. Eggs of the family were found in the Grès à Reptiles Formation of France and the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.
This timeline of egg fossils research is a chronologically ordered list of important discoveries, controversies of interpretation, taxonomic revisions, and cultural portrayals of egg fossils. Humans have encountered egg fossils for thousands of years. In Stone Age Mongolia, local peoples fashioned fossil dinosaur eggshell into jewelry. In the Americas, fossil eggs may have inspired Navajo creation myths about the human theft of a primordial water monster's egg. Nevertheless, the scientific study of fossil eggs began much later. As reptiles, dinosaurs were presumed to have laid eggs from the 1820s on, when their first scientifically documented remains were being described in England. In 1859, the first scientifically documented dinosaur egg fossils were discovered in southern France by a Catholic priest and amateur naturalist named Father Jean-Jacques Poech, however he thought they were laid by giant birds.
Egg paleopathology is the study of evidence for illness, injury, and deformity in fossilized eggs. A variety of pathological conditions afflicting eggs have been documented in the fossil record. Examples include eggshell of abnormal thickness and fossil eggs with multiple layers of eggshell. The identification of egg paleopathologies is complicated by the fact that even healthy eggs can be modified during or after fossilization. Paleontologists can use techniques like cathodoluminescence or thin sectioning to identify true paleopathologies in fossil eggs. Despite the diversity of paleopathologies known from fossil eggs, the vast majority of conditions known to afflict modern eggs have not yet been seen among fossils.
Reptile egg fossils are the fossilized remains of eggs laid by reptiles. The fossil record of reptile eggs goes back at least as far as the Early Permian. However, since the earliest reptile eggs probably had soft shells with little preservation potential, reptilian eggs may go back significantly farther than their fossil record. Many ancient reptile groups are known from egg fossils including crocodilians, dinosaurs, and turtles. Some ancient reptiles are known to have given live birth and are therefore not anticipated to have left behind egg fossils.
Testudoflexoolithus is an oogenus of fossil turtle egg, containing two oospecies: T. bathonicae and T. agassizi.
Gobioolithus is an oogenus of fossil bird egg native to Mongolia. They are small, smooth-shelled, and elongated eggs that were first discovered in the 1960s and early 70s during a series of fossil-hunting expeditions in the Gobi desert. Two oospecies have been described: Gobioolithus minor and G. major. The eggs were probably laid in colonial nesting sites on the banks of rivers and lakes.
Nanhsiungoolithus is an oogenus of dinosaur egg from the late Cretaceous of China. It belongs to the oofamily Elongatoolithidae, which means that it was probably laid by an oviraptorosaur, though so far no skeletal remains have been discovered in association with Nanhsiungoolithus. The oogenus contains only a single described oospecies, N. chuetienensis. It is fairly rare, only being know from two partially preserved nests and a few eggshell fragments.
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