Anybody fancy a copy of the below paper?

Measuring egg size using digital photography: testing
Hoyt's method using Florida Scrub-Jay eggs

Received 14 August 2006; accepted 22 November 2006

ABSTRACT. Egg volumes are most often estimated using a mathematical model that
incorporates length and
width measurements and a species-specific shape variable. Although adequate in
many respects, this technique
does not account for intraspecific variation in egg shape. We developed a
computer-automated technique that
uses calibrated digital photographs to render precise measurements of several
egg-size parameters including length,
width, volume, and surface area. The system extracts egg outlines from
photographs, and divides each egg into
latitudinal slices that are subsequently regarded as simple geometric shapes
(cylinders or cone frustra) with volumes
and surface areas that can be summed to generate size parameters for the entire
egg. We tested this technique
using 491 eggs from Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) nests and
compared the resulting egg volumes with
volumes calculated using the preeminent method of estimating volume from linear
measurements. Our method
was highly accurate, and differences between the volumes from our method and the
alternative method were
strongly associated with variation in egg shape. Advantages of our technique
include decreased handling of eggs
and increased accuracy. Software resources and additional information regarding
the technique are available at
http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/data/birddata/Bridge-JFO-eggsize.htm.

Charles Deeming a member of our group has published an excellent paper
(see below).

Anybody fancy a PDF copy?

Xavier



Why were extinct gigantic birds so small?
D. Charles Deeminga* and Geoffrey F. Birchardb
aDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme
Park, Lincoln LN2 2LG, UK
bDepartment of Environmental Science and Policy, MSN 5F2, George Mason
University, Fairfax,
Virginia 22030, USA
*E-mail: cdeeming@...
ABSTRACT
This review details the six lineages of large flightless birds that
evolved in the Late Cretaceous,
Tertiary and Quaternary periods of geological time. Estimates of mass
for each type of bird suggest
that maximal mass is no greater than 500 kg with most species
attaining only 250–300 kg or less. By
contrast, non-avian Archosaurs of the Mesozoic, and many mammal
species of the Tertiary, attained
great size with many species reaching several tonnes. Size has been
limited in flightless birds because
of the strength of the eggshell and in the largest species
reproduction was only possible if the smaller
males incubated. That reproductive characteristics limit mass in
flightless birds suggests that truly
gigantic non-avian theropods could not contact incubate their eggs and
had to rely on environmental
sources of heat energy to drive embryonic development. If fossil
evidence ever arises to support
proper contact incubation in a non-avian theropod then it is predicted
that it will only be from a
small (5250 kg) species.

I have PDF copies of the below papers.

Anybody fancy a copy?

Respectfully,

Xavier


PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE
TRAITS OF MANIRAPTORAN THEROPODS AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS FOR EGG PARATAXONOMY
by DARLA K. ZELENITSKY* and FRANC¸ OIS THERRIEN
[Palaeontology, Vol. 51, Part 4, 2008, pp. 807–816]

UNIQUE MANIRAPTORAN EGG CLUTCH FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS TWO MEDICINE
FORMATION OF MONTANA REVEALS THEROPOD NESTING BEHAVIOUR
Palaeontology
Volume 51, Issue 6, Date: November 2008, Pages: 1253-1259

I hope everybody has had a good Christmas.

Anybody interested in the paper below?


Fractal-like Features of Dinosaur Eggshells
M.V.Rusu1), S. Gheorghiu2),

S.Gheorghiu@...
Summary. We carried out measurements on seriated sections through
dinosaur eggshells found in the
Hateg basin of Romania. The pore structure of these eggshells exhibits
peculiar hierarchical selfsimilarity,
from millimeter scale to nanoscale. At optical scale, the eggshell is
built up by packing bundles
of calcite carrots, well aligned with their axis perpendicular to the
eggshell surface, with "gaps" (macro
pores) in between. Each calcite carrot is about 0.5 mm in diameter and
has the length equal to the eggshell
thickness. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals that these
carrots are in turn micro porous spongy
calcite structure, with 1μm average pore diameter. The structure on an
even smaller scale is studied by
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on thin sections prepared by
ion milling, using methods from
material science, revealing yet another layer of complexity.
The observed features lead us to the conclusion that calcite
crystallization leading to the carrot
morphology is controlled from the nano- to micro-scale by the
structure of the collagen net developed in
the eggshell cells.

Fascinating - thatnks too, Lala.  So perhaps that's why the croc hard shell
layer seems (as far as I can tell - may be wrong) to fall off more readily than
birds'.  So "dinosaurs" did... it the bird way I suppose.

In view of what we have just heard from Lala and Charles, there doesn't seem to
be a reason for crocs to hae a hard shell.  I wonder what hapens if the hard
outer layer is removed very early from croc eggs.  And if they suffer due to
trans-shell transport of some kind, what then happens if such advers transport
is artificially corrected?

Still not to sure how crocs drain their lungs for breathing after hatching.

Cordially,

John J.


--- On Wed, 10/29/08, Lala A.K. Singh <laksingh2005@...> wrote:

> From: Lala A.K. Singh <laksingh2005@...>
> Subject: Re: [Palaeoology] Air chambers
> To: Palaeoology@...
> Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 1:12 PM
> Only if the croc egg desiccates, towards the end of
> incubation (before hatching time) we may notice the leathery
> membrane of the egg depress-in (like vacum). otherwise, 
> it will always swell up and even (when shells have flakedn
> and fallen off) become roundish. When desiccation occurs
> there are congenital defects like curved neck, twisted
> tail...etc. (more in LAKSingh and H.R.Bustard 1982: British
> Journal of Herpetol). 
> Thank you.
>
> Dr. Lala A. K. Singh, Prakruti Bhavan, Neelakantha Nagar
> Bhubaneswar, Orissa, PIN: 751012, INDIA
>
> --- On Tue, 28/10/08, Charles Deeming
> <charlie@...> wrote:
>
> From: Charles Deeming
> <charlie@...>
> Subject: Re: [Palaeoology] Air chambers
> To: Palaeoology@...
> Date: Tuesday, 28 October, 2008, 2:33 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> No soft-shelled eggs collapse if they lose weight.
>  
> Under normal incubation conditions no reptile egg forms an
> air space - pliable-shelled turtle eggs swell (as do
> parchment-shelled lizard and snake eggs) and hard-shelled
> turtle and croc eggs don't lose water.
>  
> Charles
>  
>  
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: strangetruther@ yahoo.com
> To: Palaeoology@ yahoogroups. co.uk
> Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 5:35 PM
> Subject: [Palaeoology] Air chambers
>
>
>
> Can anyone confirm that soft-shelled eggs don’t develop
> air-chambers? Hard to see how they could.
>
> Presumably crocs develop air-chambers. Do all hard-shelled
> eggs?
>
> Thanks for any views.
>
> Cordially,
>
> John V. Jackson
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       Connect with friends all over the world. Get Yahoo!
> India Messenger at http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/?wm=n/

Thanks Charles.  That's interesting.  So crocs don't need to poke their noses
into an airspace while still in the egg.  Does this mean they remove the fluid
from their lungs and start to breath when they hatch in the same way mammals do
at birth?

Cheers,

JJ


--- On Tue, 10/28/08, Charles Deeming <charlie@...> wrote:

> From: Charles Deeming <charlie@...>
> Subject: Re: [Palaeoology] Air chambers
> To: Palaeoology@...
> Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 10:03 AM
> No soft-shelled eggs collapse if they lose weight.
>
> Under normal incubation conditions no reptile egg forms an
> air space - pliable-shelled turtle eggs swell (as do
> parchment-shelled lizard and snake eggs) and hard-shelled
> turtle and croc eggs don't lose water.
>
> Charles
>
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: strangetruther@...
>   To: Palaeoology@...
>   Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 5:35 PM
>   Subject: [Palaeoology] Air chambers
>
>
>   Can anyone confirm that soft-shelled eggs don’t develop
> air-chambers? Hard to see how they could.
>
>   Presumably crocs develop air-chambers. Do all
> hard-shelled eggs?
>
>   Thanks for any views.
>
>   Cordially,
>
>   John V. Jackson

----- Original Message -----

From: strangetruther@...

To: Palaeoology@...

Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 5:35 PM

Subject: [Palaeoology] Air chambers

Can anyone confirm that soft-shelled eggs don’t develop air-chambers? Hard to see how they could.

Presumably crocs develop air-chambers. Do all hard-shelled eggs?

Thanks for any views.

Cordially,

John V. Jackson

Can anyone confirm that soft-shelled eggs don’t develop air-chambers?  Hard to
see how they could.

Presumably crocs develop air-chambers.  Do all hard-shelled eggs?

Thanks for any views.


Cordially,

John V. Jackson

----- Original Message -----

From: cogombra

To: Palaeoology@...

Sent: Tuesday, 14 October, 2008 14:42

Subject: [Palaeoology] New Papers

Anybody interested in the papers below?

Recognition of vertebrate egg abnormalities in the
Upper Cretaceous fossil record
Frankie D. Jackson*, James G. Schmitt

Upper Cretaceous dinosaur nesting sites of Rı´o Negro (Salitral
Ojo de Agua and Salinas de Trapalco´-Salitral de Santa Rosa),
northern Patagonia, Argentina
Leonardo Salgado a,1,*, Rodolfo A. Coria b,1, Claudia M. Magalhaes
Ribeiro c,
Alberto Garrido b, Raymond Rogers d, Marı´a E. Simo´n e, Andrea B.
Arcucci f,
Kristina Curry Rogers g, Ariana Paulina Carabajal b,1, Sebastia´n
Apesteguı´a h,
Mariela Ferna´ndez a, Rodolfo A. Garcı´a a,1, Marianella Talevi i,1

Anybody interested in the papers below?


Recognition of vertebrate egg abnormalities in the
Upper Cretaceous fossil record
Frankie D. Jackson*, James G. Schmitt

Upper Cretaceous dinosaur nesting sites of Rı´o Negro (Salitral
Ojo de Agua and Salinas de Trapalco´-Salitral de Santa Rosa),
northern Patagonia, Argentina
Leonardo Salgado a,1,*, Rodolfo A. Coria b,1, Claudia M. Magalhaes
Ribeiro c,
Alberto Garrido b, Raymond Rogers d, Marı´a E. Simo´n e, Andrea B.
Arcucci f,
Kristina Curry Rogers g, Ariana Paulina Carabajal b,1, Sebastia´n
Apesteguı´a h,
Mariela Ferna´ndez a, Rodolfo A. Garcı´a a,1, Marianella Talevi i,1

Hi all -

Paper no.13 on the following page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01956671

U.K. Shukla, Rahul Srivastava:
"Lizard eggs from Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Jabalpur, central India,
with interpretation of depositional environments of the nest-bearing horizon"

JJ

Hi Xavier,
yes, this is the only volume.

However, before to use, you should be see:
Mourer-Chauviré, C. 2004. Review of Jiri Mlikovsky (2002). Cenozoic
birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Auk 121(2):623-627.

The volume of the book, the cited article and some others of both
authors, you can download at SAPE pagei

http://www2.nrm.se/ve/birds/sape/litt001_3.html.en

I have a mail:
jiri.mlikovsky@...


Cheers



Eduardo Corona-M.
Centro INAH Morelos &
Seminario Relaciones Hombre-Fauna
(http://www.geocities.com/shofaun)
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia



-----Original Message-----
From: cogombra <cogombra@...>
To: Palaeoology@...
Sent: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 1:44 pm
Subject: [Palaeoology] Cenozoic Birds of the World






Hi Everybosy,

I am looking for the rest of the parts of the following book.

Has anybody any idead if they have ever been published?

J. Mlikovsky: Cenozoic birds of the world, part 1: Europe.

Cordially,

Xavier

----- Original Message -----

From: cogombra

To: Palaeoology@...

Sent: Monday, 18 August, 2008 20:44

Subject: [Palaeoology] Cenozoic Birds of the World

Hi Everybosy,

I am looking for the rest of the parts of the following book.

Has anybody any idead if they have ever been published?

J. Mlikovsky: Cenozoic birds of the world, part 1: Europe.

Cordially,

Xavier

Hi Everybosy,

I am looking for the rest of the parts of the following book.

Has anybody any idead if they have ever been published?

J. Mlikovsky: Cenozoic birds of the world, part 1: Europe.

Cordially,

Xavier

PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS OF MANIRAPTORAN THEROPODS AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS FOR EGG PARATAXONOMY
DARLA K. ZELENITSKY* and FRANÇOIS THERRIEN

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120120979/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0



Listers may find my taxonomy (not via eggs) more useful in the long run than
those they are familiar with:

http://www.geocities.com/strangetruther/parlogram01.gif

Cheers,

JJ

Hi Xavier -

Here are references to papers on turtle eggs (search on egg :-) ) and
also a Spanish language website of some interest:

http://dml.cmnh.org/2008Jul/msg00132.html


Cordially,

John V. Jackson

Dear All,

We have agreed with José Ignacio Canudo and Miguel Moreno-Azanza to a
collaboration between our list and their institution.
Basically, all the papers the list will be distributing will be
inserted in their extensive publication database
http://www.aragosaurus.com/index.php?seccion=publish

They also welcome any PDF papers are not on their website.
Thus, anybody interested could send them to "José Ignacio Canudo"
<jicanudo@...>

We will also be marketising our two groups as much as possible.

Aragosaurus recently announced in their website our collaboration.

http://www.aragosaurus.com/?seccion=news_full&id=550

Have a good summer,

Xavier Panades

Something interesting from the DML:

http://dml.cmnh.org/2008Jul/msg00039.html


JJ

Hi Charles,

I have been trying unsuccessfully to contact the two guys that were in
contact to see whether it was ever published.
I have never got a single answer.

You are more than welcome to try yourself.

  Louis Chiappe chiappe@...

Rafael Coria coriarod@...

----- Original Message -----

From: rocket potato

To: Palaeoology@...

Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 11:12 PM

Subject: [Palaeoology] Fourth International Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies

4th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON
DINOSAUR EGGS AND BABIES

Second Circular

August 8-14, 2009
Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana

Host Committee:

David Varricchio, Committee Chair, Department of Earth Sciences,
Montana State University
John R. Horner, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University
Frankie Jackson, Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University
Darla Zelenitsky, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta

The Fourth International Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies will convene in Bozeman, Montana August 8 – 10, 2009. Montana State University is located in south central Montana near the Bridger, Gallatin, and Madison mountain ranges and an hour and a half drive from Yellowstone National Park (see http://www.bozemanchamber.com/). Weather in Bozeman in August is warm, sunny and dry. Average high and low temperatures are 22 C and 6 C. The Museum of the Rockies, located on the MSU campus, has a large collection of Mesozoic specimens, including Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggs, nests and embryos, in addition to an outstanding collection of dinosaur remains.

Schedule

Saturday, August 8 (evening) - Opening reception at Museum of the Rockies.

Sunday, August 9 and Monday, August 10 - Symposium talks and poster sessions.

Monday, August 10 (evening) - Conference banquet, keynote lecture (Jack Horner).

Technical Program

Presentations at previous Dinosaur Eggs and Babies meetings have included dinosaur egg localities, specimen descriptions, field and laboratory methods, biostratigraphy of eggshell, preservation and experimental taphonomy, egg classification and ootaxonomy, eggshell microstructure and function, geochemical signatures of diet and diagenesis, embryos and growth, reproductive behavior, phylogenetics of eggshell and reproductive traits, and the origins of avian reproduction. The 4th Symposium welcomes papers on these or any other topic related to dinosaur reproduction, eggs and young. The technical program will accommodate both oral presentations and posters. Abstract submissions are due by May 1st, 2009 and are limited to 250 words. Details on abstract submission will be provided in the third circular. For those interested, we will publish a symposium volume in a special issue of Historical Biology. Because of the tight publication schedule, adherence
to the following time line for participation will be strictly enforced.

May 1, 2009 - abstract for symposium presentations and/or volume (250 word limit)
Oct. 1, 2009 - deadline of submission of full article
Mar. 1, 2010 - deadline for review and revisions
August, 2010 - publication

Field Trips

August 11 and 12 - Fieldtrip (option 1)

Two days, one night field trip to Egg Mountain locality in the Late Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of western Montana with overnight stay in Choteau. Day 1 includes tour of the Egg Mountain localities. Day 2 will be spent visiting additional Two Medicine localities and the East Front of the Rocky Mountains.

August 11 through 14 - Fieldtrip (option 2)

Four days, 3 nights. Day 1 of this field trip will begin with visiting Egg Mountain, with over night in Choteau. Day 2 will be spent at Devil's Coulee nesting locality in the Oldman Formation of Alberta. Day 3 will consist of a visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Canada, and day 4 will include a visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park. This trip will end in Calgary, Canada, with an option to return to Bozeman. Please note that participants should be aware of the necessary requirements needed to cross into and out of Canada.

Accommodations

Dormitory rooms are available on campus during the conference from Aug 7 – 10, with checkout on Aug. 11. Alternatively, several motels (in addition to restaurants, bars and shopping) are located in the downtown area, approximately 30 minutes walking distance from campus and the museum. If renting a car, other motels are located near the freeway, approximately 4 miles or 15 minutes driving distance. Due to closure of the dorms Aug. 11, participants in the post-meeting field trips will need to arrange alternative accommodations for their return to Bozeman. Excess luggage, however, may be stored during the field trips. Bozeman offers very limited taxi service (i.e. 3 vehicles); therefore, a list of hotels with and without airport shuttles is included. We recommend that if you are not staying in the dormitory during the conference you may want to rent a car or enjoy walking.

Motels

The following motels offer airport shuttle but are not within walking distance of the museum or campus. In addition, public bus transportation to campus is not available on weekends.

Wingate – 1 866-910-4995 222 (www.wingatebozeman.com)
Hampton Inn – 1-800 HAMPTON (www.hampton.inn.com)
Hilton Garden Inn – 1-406 582-9900 (www.bozeman.stayhgi.com)
Best Western Grandtree Inn – 1-800-624-5865 (www.bestwesterngrandtree.com)

Please Note: The Best Western Grandtree Inn offers a significant discount ($149 vs. $84/room) if 10 rooms are booked for field trip participants in advance for the evening of August 14, 2009. Let us know if you are interested.

Other Motels/ Bed & Breakfast within 30 min walking distance of the museum and campus but without airport shuttle service.

City Center Motor Inn – 1 (406) 587-3158.
Lewis & Clark Motel of Bozeman – 1 (406) 586--3341
Imperial Inn – 1 (800) 880-2383; 1 (406) 586-3354
Voss Inn Bed and Breakfast – 1 (406) 587-0982

The host committee welcomes your comments and suggestions and we are looking forward to the 4th International Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies in Bozeman!

Mimo kanceláø budu od  30.06.2008 a nevrátím se do 07.07.2008.

Bohu¾el jsem mimo kanceláø. Jakmile se vrátím, Va¹e vzkazy ráda vyøídím.
Dìkuji za pochopení a pøeji hezký den.

4th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON
DINOSAUR EGGS AND BABIES

Second Circular

August 8-14, 2009
Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana

Host Committee:

David Varricchio, Committee Chair, Department of Earth Sciences,
Montana State University
John R. Horner, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University
Frankie Jackson, Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University
Darla Zelenitsky, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary,
Alberta


The Fourth International Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies will convene in
Bozeman, Montana August 8 – 10, 2009.  Montana State University is located in
south central Montana near the Bridger, Gallatin, and Madison mountain ranges
and an hour and a half drive from Yellowstone National Park (see
http://www.bozemanchamber.com/).  Weather in Bozeman in August is warm, sunny
and dry.  Average high and low temperatures are 22 C and 6 C.  The Museum of the
Rockies, located on the MSU campus, has a large collection of Mesozoic
specimens, including Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggs, nests and embryos, in
addition to an outstanding collection of dinosaur remains.


Schedule

Saturday, August 8 (evening) - Opening reception at Museum of the Rockies.

Sunday, August 9 and Monday, August 10 - Symposium talks and poster sessions.

Monday, August 10 (evening) - Conference banquet, keynote lecture (Jack Horner).



Technical Program

Presentations at previous Dinosaur Eggs and Babies meetings have included
dinosaur egg localities, specimen descriptions, field and laboratory methods,
biostratigraphy of eggshell, preservation and experimental taphonomy, egg
classification and ootaxonomy, eggshell microstructure and function, geochemical
signatures of diet and diagenesis, embryos and growth, reproductive behavior,
phylogenetics of eggshell and reproductive traits, and the origins of avian
reproduction. The 4th Symposium welcomes papers on these or any other topic
related to dinosaur reproduction, eggs and young.  The technical program will
accommodate both oral presentations and posters.  Abstract submissions are due
by May 1st, 2009 and are limited to 250 words.  Details on abstract submission
will be provided in the third circular.  For those interested, we will publish a
symposium volume in a special issue of Historical Biology.  Because of the tight
publication schedule, adherence
  to the following time line for participation will be strictly enforced.

May 1,  2009 - abstract for symposium presentations and/or volume (250 word
limit)
Oct. 1,  2009 - deadline of submission of full article
Mar. 1,  2010 - deadline for review and revisions
August, 2010 - publication


Field Trips

August 11 and 12 - Fieldtrip (option 1)

Two days, one night field trip to Egg Mountain locality in the Late Cretaceous
Two Medicine Formation of western Montana with overnight stay in Choteau.  Day 1
includes tour of the Egg Mountain localities.  Day 2 will be spent visiting
additional Two Medicine localities and the East Front of the Rocky Mountains.

August 11 through 14 - Fieldtrip (option 2)

Four days, 3 nights.  Day 1 of this field trip will begin with visiting Egg
Mountain, with over night in Choteau.  Day 2 will be spent at Devil's Coulee
nesting locality in the Oldman Formation of Alberta. Day 3 will consist of a
visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Canada, and day
4 will include a visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park.  This trip will end in
Calgary, Canada, with an option to return to Bozeman.  Please note that
participants should be aware of the necessary requirements needed to cross into
and out of Canada.


Accommodations

Dormitory rooms are available on campus during the conference from Aug 7 – 10,
with checkout on Aug. 11.  Alternatively, several motels (in addition to
restaurants, bars and shopping) are located in the downtown area, approximately
30 minutes walking distance from campus and the museum.  If renting a car, other
motels are located near the freeway, approximately 4 miles or 15 minutes driving
distance.  Due to closure of the dorms Aug. 11, participants in the post-meeting
field trips will need to arrange alternative accommodations for their return to
Bozeman.  Excess luggage, however, may be stored during the field trips. 
Bozeman offers very limited taxi service (i.e. 3 vehicles); therefore, a list of
hotels with and without airport shuttles is included.  We recommend that if you
are not staying in the dormitory during the conference you may want to rent a
car or enjoy walking.


Motels

The following motels offer airport shuttle but are not within walking distance
of the museum or campus.  In addition, public bus transportation to campus is
not available on weekends.

Wingate – 1 866-910-4995 222 (www.wingatebozeman.com)
Hampton Inn – 1-800 HAMPTON  (www.hampton.inn.com)
Hilton Garden Inn – 1-406 582-9900  (www.bozeman.stayhgi.com)
Best Western Grandtree Inn – 1-800-624-5865  (www.bestwesterngrandtree.com)


Please Note: The Best Western Grandtree Inn offers a significant discount ($149
vs. $84/room) if 10 rooms are booked for field trip participants in advance for
the evening of August 14, 2009. Let us know if you are interested.


Other Motels/ Bed & Breakfast within 30 min walking distance of the museum and
campus but without airport shuttle service.

City Center Motor Inn – 1 (406) 587-3158.
Lewis & Clark Motel of Bozeman – 1 (406) 586--3341
Imperial Inn – 1 (800) 880-2383; 1 (406) 586-3354
Voss Inn Bed and Breakfast – 1 (406) 587-0982



The host committee welcomes your comments and suggestions and we are looking
forward to the 4th International Symposium on Dinosaur Eggs and Babies in
Bozeman!

Hi everybody,

I have just been sent the papers below...Anybody interested?

A PHYLOGENETIC ASSESSMENT OF PRISMATIC DINOSAUR EGGS FROM THE
CRETACEOUS TWO MEDICINE FORMATION OF MONTANA
DAVID J. VARRICCHIO and FRANKIE D. JACKSON
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(4):931–937,

Recognition of vertebrate egg abnormalities in the
Upper Cretaceous fossil record
Frankie D. Jackson*, James G. Schmitt
Cretaceous Research 29 (2008) 27e39

Paleobiology, 34(2), 2008, pp. 229–246
Comparison of water vapor conductance in a titanosaur egg from
the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina and a Megaloolithus siruguei
egg from Spain
Frankie D. Jackson, David J. Varricchio, Robert A. Jackson, Bernat
Vila, and
Luis M. Chiappe

THE FIRST IN SITU TURTLE CLUTCH FROM THE CRETACEOUS TIANTAI BASIN,
ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA
FRANKIE D. JACKSON,*,1 XINGSHENG JIN,2 DAVID J. VARRICCHIO,1 YOICHI
AZUMA,3 and YANGEN JIANG4
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(2):319–325, June 2008
FRANKIE D. JACKSON,*,1 XINGSHENG JIN,2 DAVID J. VARRICCHIO,1 YOICHI
AZUMA,3 and YANGEN JIANG4

Anybody interested in a PDF copy?

Brood care in a Silurian ostracod
David J. Siveter1,*, Derek J. Siveter2,3, Mark D. Sutton4
and Derek E. G. Briggs5

An exceptionally preserved new ostracod crustacean from the Silurian
of Herefordshire, England,
preserves eggs and possible juveniles within its carapace, providing
an unequivocal and unique view of
parental brood care in the invertebrate fossil record. The female
fossil is assigned to a new family and
superfamily of myodocopids based on its soft-part anatomy. It
demonstrates a remarkably conserved eggbrooding
reproductive strategy within these ostracods over 425 Myr. The
soft-tissue anatomy urges
extreme caution in classifying 'straight-hinged' Palaeozoic ostracods
based on the carapace alone and
fundamentally questions the nature of the shell-based Palaeozoic
ostracod record.
Keywords: brood care; exceptional preservation; Herefordshire
Lagersta¨tte; Myodocopa;
Ostracoda; Silurian

Interesting


http://www.world-science.net/othernews/080622_crocs

Ba­by Nile croc­o­diles' pre-hatch­ing calls ac­tu­ally mean
some­thing to their sib­lings and moth­ers, re­search­ers have found.

The call­s—which are per­fectly au­di­ble to hu­mans and sound like
"umph! umph!"—tell the oth­er young­sters it's time to hatch, and
alert the moth­er to start dig­ging up the nest, ac­cord­ing to the group.

A hatching crocodile. (Im­age cour­tesy U.S. Geo­lo­gi­cal Sur­vey)
The find­ings, drawn from sound-play­back ex­pe­ri­ments, con­firm
what some had sus­pected based on an­ec­dote, ac­cord­ing to the
sci­en­tists, Amélie Vergne and Ni­co­las Math­evon of Un­iver­sité
Jean Mon­net in France.

The call­ing be­hav­ior may be key to the rep­tiles' early sur­viv­al,
and their abil­ity to hatch to­geth­er of "vi­tal im­por­tance,"
Ma­th­e­von spe­c­u­lat­ed.

"Most mor­tal­ity oc­curs early in life and hatch­ing
vo­cal­iz­a­tions might well at­tract pre­d­a­tors. There­fore, adult
pres­ence at the nest and its re­s­ponse to ju­ve­nile
vo­cal­iz­a­tions may of­fer pro­tec­tion…. In this sense, it is
im­por­tant for all em­bryos in the nest to be ready for hatch­ing at
the same time so that they all re­ceive adult care and pro­tec­tion."

The re­search­ers di­vid­ed croc­o­dile eggs due to hatch with­in 10
days in­to three groups. One group was played record­ings of
pre-hatch­ing calls; one was played record­ings of noise; and the last
was left in si­lence.

The eggs played the pre-hatch sounds more of­ten an­swered back, the
ex­pe­ri­menters re­ported. Many of the eggs in that group al­so
moved. Fi­nal­ly, the re­search­ers said, all of the eggs in the
pre-hatch group hatched dur­ing the play­back or with­in 10 min­utes
of it. Only once did the eggs hear­ing noise hatch, and the rest
hatched at least five hours af­ter the last test.

The sci­en­tists then tested the moth­ers' re­sponses to the calls. In
the zoo where the ex­pe­ri­ments were car­ried out, eggs are re­moved
from the nest with­in a few days of lay­ing, the re­search­ers
ex­plained. In spite of this, fe­males con­tin­ue to guard the nest.

At the end of the in­cuba­t­ion per­i­od, the re­search­ers hid a
loud­speak­er un­der­ground near the emp­ty nest. They then played
pre-hatch­ing calls in­ter­spersed with noise to ten moth­ers. The
adults more of­ten turned their heads or moved af­ter egg sounds than
af­ter noise, they not­ed, and eight of the moth­ers re­sponded to the
recorded calls by dig­ging.

The find­ings ap­pear in the June 23 is­sue of the re­search jour­nal
Cur­rent Bi­ol­o­gy.

The be­hav­ior may have a long his­to­ry, the re­search­ers said.

"As birds al­so pro­duce em­bry­on­ic vo­cal­iz­a­tions that in­duce
pa­ren­tal care," they wrote, "such acous­tic com­mu­nica­t­ion at an
early stage of de­vel­op­ment may be a shared be­hav­ioral fea­ture of
past and pre­s­ent ar­cho­saurs." Ar­cho­saurs are an an­cient group
of rep­tiles now repre­s­ented by mod­ern birds and croc­o­diles

Anybody Fancy a copy of the below papers?




Rusu, M. & Teodorescu, V. S.2003. Fractal structure of dinosaur
eggshell pores.The first south-east european symposium on
Interdisplinary approaches in fractal Analysis. May 7-10, Bucharest, 5pp.

A re-evaluation of the Snake Dam eggshell: Phylogenetic and temporal
implications. Paleobios 21 (1): 4

Miguel Moreno-Azanza has passed me some very good papers related to
the evolution of vertebrate reproduction!

Anybody interested in the paper send me an email!

Live birth in the Devonian period
John A. Long1,2,3, Kate Trinajstic4, Gavin C. Young2 & Tim Senden5
The extinct placoderm fishes were the dominant group of vertebrates
throughout the Middle Palaeozoic era1, yet controversy
about their relationships within the gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates)
is partly due to different interpretations of their reproductive
biology2–5. Here we document the oldest record of a
live-bearing vertebrate in a new ptyctodontid placoderm,
Materpiscis attenboroughi gen. et sp. nov., from the Late
Devonian Gogo Formation of Australia (approximately 380 million
years ago)6. The new specimen, remarkably preserved in three
dimensions, contains a single, intra-uterine embryo connected by
a permineralized umbilical cord. An amorphous crystalline mass
near the umbilical cord possibly represents the recrystallized yolk
sac.Another ptyctodont fromtheGogo Formation, Austroptyctodus
gardineri 7, also shows three small embryos inside it in the same
position. Ptyctodontids have already provided the oldest definite
evidence for vertebrate copulation8, and the newspecimens confirm
that some placoderms had a remarkably advanced reproductive
biology, comparable to that of some modern sharks and rays. The
new discovery points to internal fertilization and viviparity in
vertebrates as originating earliest within placoderms.