Alfred Nicholson Leeds and the first fossil egg attributed to a ‘saurian’

Liston, J.J. and Chapman, S.D. (2014) Alfred Nicholson Leeds and the first fossil egg attributed to a ‘saurian’. Historical Biology, 26(2), pp. 229-235. (doi: 10.1080/08912963.2013.809575)

Abstract

Discovered by the nineteenth century collector Alfred Nicholson Leeds, the first object to be described (1898) as a fossil reptile egg is a unique find from the Oxford Clay near Peterborough. It also comes from one of a very small number of Jurassic localities worldwide that can claim to have yielded a fossil egg. Given its historical and contemporary significance, this object is reassessed in the light of increased understanding of such objects. Data from scanning electron microscopy, computerised tomography, synchrotron imaging, X-ray diffraction and petrographic thin sectioning prove inconclusive. However, the presence of apparent external openings resembling angusticanaliculate pores – a pore type common only to certain types of dinosaur eggshell – in both size and sparseness of distribution prevents its summary dismissal as not being a dinosaurian egg.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Liston, Dr Jeff
• Authors: Liston, J.J., and Chapman, S.D.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Historical Biology
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• ISSN: 0891-2963
• ISSN (Online): 1029-2381