The pterosaur record is generally poor, and pterosaur eggs are even rarer. Only a handful of isolated occurrences of eggs and embryos have been reported so far. Three-dimensionally preserved eggs include one from Argentina and five reported from the Turpan-Hami Basin, Xinjiang, northwestern China in 2014. Our understanding of several biological questions, including their ontogenetic development and reproductive strategy for pterosaurs is very limited.
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Hundreds of pterosaur bones lying on the surface, demonstrating the richness of these sites
[Credit: Alexander Kellner (Museu Nacional/UFRJ)] |
After many extensive fieldwork in the past years, Dr. WANG Xiaolin, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and his team reported on hundreds of three-dimensional (3D) pterosaur eggs of the species Hamipterus tianshanensis from a Lower Cretaceous site in the Turpan-Hami Basin, 16 of which contain embryonic remains, allowing for an unexpected look at the embryology and reproductive strategy of these flying reptiles. Their study was
published in Science.
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Pterosaur lower jaw eroding on the surface. Note the large teeth, one of the characteristics of
Hamipterus tianshanensis [Credit: Alexander Kellner (Museu Nacional/UFRJ)] |
"The specimens can be attributed to Hamipterus tianshanensis, the sole species in this bonebed. The most important section is a sandstone block (3.28 m2) that yielded 215 eggs, but up to 300 may be present, because several more appear to be buried under the exposed ones", said Dr. WANG Xiaolin, lead author of the study and project designer of the IVPP.
