Stable-isotope analyses of dinosaur eggshells: Paleoenvironmental implications

Abstract

Well-preserved clutches of dinosaur (sauropod) eggshells and skeletal remains have been discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Lameta limestones of the Kheda district, Gujarat, India, indicating a dinosaur nesting site. Oxygen-isotope analyses of the eggs show that the dinosaurs drank from a variety of freshwater bodies such as rivers and small evaporative pools, whereas the carbon-isotope values indicate that the reptiles were consuming plants that utilize the C₃ photosynthetic pathway, e.g., small palms, shrubs, conifers, etc. Similar analyses of the host limestones suggest that they were deposited in a freshwater environment that provided the niche for large-scale breeding and nesting of the dinosaurs.