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This work was supported the PLEC2021-008203 project and RYC2021-034473-I, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union "NextGenerationEU"/PRTR"; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT-MCTES) of Portugal (projects PTDC/CTA-PAL/31656/2017 and PTDC/CTA-PAL/2217/2021) , and Research Unit GeoBioTec UIDB/04035/2020. Also, the work is part of the Carmen Nunez- Lahuerta is supported by FJC2020-044561-I-; MCIN, co -financed by the Next Generation EU/PRTR.

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Article

Large dinosaur egg accumulations and their significance for understanding nesting behaviour

Publicated to:Geoscience Frontiers. 15 (5): 101872- - 2024-09-01 15(5), DOI: 10.1016/j.gsf.2024.101872

Authors: Ezquerro, L; Coimbra, R; Bauluz, B; Nunez-Lahuerta, C; Roman-Berdiel, T; Moreno-Azanza, M

Affiliations

Insitut Catala Paleoecol Humana & Evolucio Social, Zona Educ 4,Campus Sescelades URV Edif W3, Tarragona 43007, Spain - Author
Museu Lourinha, Lourinha, Portugal - Author
Univ Aveiro, Dept Geociencias, GeoBioTec, Aveiro, Portugal - Author
Univ Complutense Madrid, Fac Ciencias Geol, Dept Geodinam Estratig & Paleontol, C Jose Antonio Novais,12, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Univ Nova Lisboa, NOVA Sch Sci & Technol, Dept Earth Sci, GeoBioTec, Caparica, Portugal - Author
Univ Rovira i Virgili, Dept Hist & Hist Art, Av Catalunya 35, Tarragona 43002, Spain - Author
Univ Zaragoza, Fac Ciencias, Dept Ciencias Tierra, Aragosaurus IUCA Recursos Geol & Paleoambientales, C-Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009, Spain - Author
Univ Zaragoza, Fac Ciencias, Dept Ciencias Tierra, Geotransfer IUCA, Zaragoza, Spain - Author
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Abstract

The accurate identification of dinosaur egg accumulations as nests or clutches is crucial for understanding the reproductive behaviour of these extinct species. However, existing methods often rely on the presence of complete eggs and embryo remains, and sedimentological criteria that are only applicable to well -structured sediments. In this study, we introduce an innovative approach to characterize egg accumulations in structureless sediments, where traditional nest structures may not be preserved. Our methodology employs a unique combination of sedimentological, taphonomic, geochemical, and geophysical proxies for the study of egg accumulations. We applied this approach to the egg accumulation from Paimogo (Jurassic, Portugal), traditionally interpreted as a nest. Our findings reveal that the Paimogo egg assemblage is a secondary deposit, resulting from a flooding event in a fluvial plain that dismantled several allosauroid and crocodylomorph clutches. The eggshell vapor conductance results, coupled with sedimentological evidence, suggest that allosauroid dinosaurs buried their eggs in the dry terrain of overbank areas close to a main channel during the breeding season, likely during the dry season to prevent the embryos from drowning. This research underscores the necessity of multidisciplinary approaches in interpreting egg accumulations and offers a novel methodology for studying these accumulations in structureless sediments. Our findings provide new insights into the breeding behaviour and nesting preferences of these extinct organisms, contributing to our understanding of dinosaur ecology. (c) 2024 China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Geosciences (Beijing). This is an open access article under the CC BY -NC -ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords

Breeding behaviourGas conductanceHateg basiInner-mongoliaJurassiJurassicJurassic lourinha formationLa riojaLusitanian basinMagnetic susceptibilityMagnetic-susceptibilityPaleoenvironmental reconstructionSedimentary-rocksStable isotopesStable-isotope analysesTaphonomyTheropod

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Geoscience Frontiers due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 9/254, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Geosciences, Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-06-14:

  • Scopus: 3

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-14:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 446086.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 441905 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 39.4.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 47 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Portugal.