Experiments on the taphonomy of amniote eggs in marine environments

Experiments to identify taphonomic variables influencing the fossilization of eggs and eggshells in marine environments were carried out using chicken eggs as models. We examined: (1) the recruitment of eggs into the sea by wave and tidal action; (2) the transport of eggshell fragments by simulated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaios 1997-10, Vol.12 (5), p.482-488
Main Authors: Hayward, James L, Folsom, Scott D, Elmendorf, David L, Tambrini, Alex A, Cowles, David L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthropoda
Aves
bacteria
Bird nesting
California
Cenozoic
Chordata
Cirripedia
coastal environment
Crustacea
currents
Dinosaurs
effects
Eggs
Eggshells
epibiotism
experimental studies
fossilization
Fossils
Gallus gallus
Holocene
intertidal environment
Invertebrata
Laurus glaucescens
living taxa
Mandibulata
marine environment
marine transport
modern analogs
Paleontology
Plantae
Point Conception
preferred orientation
pressure
Quaternary
Research Letters
Rosario Bay
Santa Barbara County California
Sea birds
Sea water
Seas
Sediments
SEM data
shells
Skagit County Washington
statistical analysis
structural analysis
taphonomy
Tetrapoda
thallophytes
turbidite
Turbidity
turbidity currents
United States
Vertebrata
vertebrate
Washington
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Summary:Experiments to identify taphonomic variables influencing the fossilization of eggs and eggshells in marine environments were carried out using chicken eggs as models. We examined: (1) the recruitment of eggs into the sea by wave and tidal action; (2) the transport of eggshell fragments by simulated turbidity currents; (3) the capacities of whole eggs to withstand hyperbaric pressures: and (4) the fates of eggs placed on and beneath the benthic surface. Eggs placed along a beach during rising tides were quickly recruited into the sea. Once in the water, fresh eggs rolled along the benthic surface to deeper sites, whereas partially dehydrated eggs floated away from shore. Eggshell fragments transported by simulated turbidity currents settled toward the bottom of the resultant turbidites, with the number and size of fragments decreasing as a function of increasing distance from the source. Fresh eggs lowered in the ocean to a depth of 626 m did not fracture. Most eggs placed at or just beneath the benthic surface in a shallow bay remained unbroken for at least 44 days and became infested with epibionts. Paleontologists interested in fossil eggs should not overlook paleomarine sediments as one likely source of these important trace fossils.
ISSN:0883-1351
1938-5323
DOI:10.2307/3515385