After garnering worldwide attention last year for her research on the origins of egg colour in birds, Yale paleontologist Jasmina Wiemann has taken a second look at her eggshells.
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| From front to back: an emu egg, a eumaniraptoran theropod egg, and a crocodile egg [Credit: Jasmina Wiemann] |
But a lingering question within the scientific community had to do with whether pigments found in the shells of dinosaur eggs actually meant the eggs looked different to the naked eye. A certain level of pigment may have existed in the chemical make-up of the shells without manifesting in the outward colour of the eggs, some observers noted.
A new, follow-up study published this week in the journal Nature indicates that Wiemann's initial conclusion was correct.
"We demonstrate that our analytical approach actually targets egg colour and not only egg pigmentation, as we need substantial concentrations of the red pigment, protoporphyrin, to elicit a positive signal for egg colour," Wiemann said. "The result is the same. Egg colour had a single evolutionary origin in eumaniraptorans."
A previous study by a different research team had analyzed pigmentation in the eggshells of Siamese crocodiles. That study speculated that pigmentation, but not egg colour, may have originated with archosaurs (a group that includes dinosaurs, birds, and crocodiles).
"We had the opportunity to directly address their question and test—thanks to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History's egg collection—if there is, indeed, evidence for the red pigment in Siamese crocodile eggshells," Wiemann said. "We showed that there are no detectable quantities of protoporphyrin in the eggshells of Siamese crocodiles."
Author: Jim Shelton | Source: Yale University [June 24, 2019]
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