Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38707200›Full record

ArticleNational science review2024

Exceptional Early Jurassic fossils with leathery eggs shed light on dinosaur reproductive biology.

Fenglu Han, Yilun Yu, Shukang Zhang, Rong Zeng, Xinjin Wang, Huiyang Cai, Tianzhuang Wu, Yingfeng Wen, Sifu Cai, Chun Li and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in National science review, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Swiss journal of palaeontology · 2025
    Article
  7. Review
  8. Rethinking the egg.National science review · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Fenglu HanSchool of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan  430074, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3399-4008
Yilun YuKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing  100044, China.
Shukang ZhangKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing  100044, China.
Rong ZengGuizhou Provincial Museum, Guiyang  550081, China.
Xinjin WangGuizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Guiyang  550001, China.
Huiyang CaiGuizhou Provincial Museum, Guiyang  550081, China.
Tianzhuang WuGuizhou Provincial Museum, Guiyang  550081, China.
Yingfeng WenPingba Institute of Cultural Relics Administration, Anshun  550820, China.
Sifu CaiGuizhou Provincial Museum, Guiyang  550081, China.
Chun LiKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing  100044, China.
Rui WuSchool of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan  430074, China.
Qi ZhaoKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing  100044, China.
Xing XuCentre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming  650091, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Our understanding of pre-Cretaceous dinosaur reproduction is hindered by a scarcity of evidence within fossil records. Here we report three adult skeletons and five clutches of embryo-containing eggs of a new sauropodomorph from the Lower Jurassic of southwestern China, displaying several significant reproductive features that are either unknown or unlike other early-diverging sauropodomorphs, such as relatively large eggs with a relatively thick calcareous shell formed by prominent mammillary cones, synchronous hatching and a transitional prehatching posture between the crocodilians and living birds. Most significantly, these Early Jurassic fossils provide strong evidence for the earliest known leathery eggs. Our comprehensive quantitative analyses demonstrate that the first dinosaur eggs were probably leathery, elliptical and relatively small, but with relatively long eggshell units, and that along the line to living birds, the most significant change in reptilian egg morphology occurred early in theropod evolution rather than near the origin of Aves.

Indexed as

dinosauregg evolutionembryoJurassicreproductive behaviorsauropodomorph

Identifiers

PMID38707200
PMCPMC11067957

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.