The chronology of dinosaur oospecies in south-western Europe: Refinements from the Maastrichtian succession of the eastern Pyrenees

The Late Cretaceous deposits of the continental Tremp Formation in the Vallcebre Syncline (Southeastern Pyrenees) provide an extensive egg record of dinosaurs. The parataxonomical study and analysis of multiple eggshell samples, the precise stratigraphical control of several sections and the time calibration of the abundant egg levels enable the establishment of a robust oospecies succession. The successive occurrence of three megaloolithid oospecies (Megaloolithus siruguei-Megaloolithus mamillare-Megaloolithus sp.) in the Early and Late Maastrichtian is well correlated with the magnetic polarity time scale throughout the chron 31. The replacement of Megaloolithus siruguei with Megaloolithus mamillare occurs around the reversal of chrons 31r-31n. A comparison with oospecies successions from Arc basin localities (France) allows the age calibration for such oospecies replacement to be confirmed. This age refinement implies that some of the stated boundaries for the proposed oospecies assemblages may change and that an in-depth revision of the age and magnetic calibration of some south European egg localities is required. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.