The first Similifaveoloolithidae (Wormoolithus luxiensis oogen. et oosp. nov.) from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, China

ABSTRACT

This study describes a new member of Similifaveoloolithidae from the Upper Cretaceous Zhoutian Formation of Jiangxi, China. The new ootaxon, Wormoolithus luxiensis oogen. et oosp. nov., is erected based on eggs collected from a partial clutch and represents the second oogenera of Similifaveoloolithidae. Wormoolithus shares some unique features with Similifaveoloolithus such as irregularly branched eggshell units, irregular cavities in the inner part of eggshell that are worm-like in tangential view and oblique pore canals in the outer part of the eggshell that show honeycomb-like structure in tangential view. And it is distinguished from the latter by longer polar axis and equatorial diameter and absence of compact layer. Although the clutch is not complete, the preserved parts show that the eggs are closely stacked in the nest. In addition, clay minerals that occur in pores and a high estimated water vapour conductance indicate a humid burial nest microenvironment.

KEYWORDS:

• Similifaveoloolithidae
• Wormoolithus
• Jiangxi Province
• Upper Cretaceous
• Zhoutian Formation

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Li Jinhua and Qiu Hao (Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China) for guidance on BSE-EDS. Jin Xun (Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China) helped with the SEM photography.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [41572020,41672012,41672019,41688103] andStrategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB26000000].