page_title: Elongatoolithidae
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Elongatoolithidae / History
caption_attribution_description: Citipati embryo
context_page_description: Elongatoolithidae is an oofamily of fossil eggs, representing the eggs of oviraptorosaurs. They are known for their highly elongated shape. Elongatoolithids have been found in Europe, Asia, and both North and South America.
context_section_description: The first elongatoolithid eggs were discovered in the 1920s, and were thought to belong to Protoceratops. Oviraptor was first discovered in 1924 with a nest of elongatoolithid eggs, and it was conjectured to have been caught in the act of raiding a Protoceratops nest. Following the discovery of Troodon eggs in 1990, their close resemblance to elongatoolithids lead Russian paleontologist Konstantin Mikhailov to believe they were actually theropod eggs, not Protoceratops eggs. In 1994, his hypothesis was confirmed when Norell et al. discovered embryonic remains of an Oviraptorosaur inside an elongatoolithid egg. It was then hypothesized that Oviraptor was in fact  a brooding mother, not an egg thief. Since then, several discoveries of embryos and association of adults with eggs have shown that elongatoolithids are the eggs of Oviraptorosaurs.
  The first oospecies formally described was "Oolithes" elongatus (Young, 1954), from China. They were thought to belong to Protoceratops or a related dinosaur because of their similarity to the supposed Protoceratops eggs found in Mongolia. In 1975, Chinese paleontologist Zhao Zikui devised a formal classification system for fossil eggs, in which he created a new oogenus for "Oolithes" elongatus: Elongatoolithus. He classified Elongatoolithus and another new oogenus Macroolithus into a new oofamily, Elongatoolithidae.
  The oogenus Spongioolithus, first named by Bray in 1999, was originally considered a member of Elongatoolithidae, but it is currently considered a junior synonym of the non-elongatoolithid Continuoolithus.
caption: An elongatoolithid with embryo preserved inside
exif: {}