PI requests funds to travel to Cluj, Romania to salvage fossil dinosaur eggs and embryos and associated geological data from the world-renown Tustea dinosaur-nesting site. The extremely small Tustea fossil site is presently 90% destroyed by unwarranted bulldozing. The destruction of the relatively thin fossil-bearing layer represents a major loss for paleontology and science and threatens hope for future, long-term studies of the identity of the embryos, their phylogenetic placement, in depth paleobiological investigations of the nesting sites, and the association of dinosaur embryos with the associated eggs. Dr. Codrea from the University of Cluj discovered and recovered fossil dinosaur eggs and embryos. He asked Dr. Grellet-Tinner to travel to Cluj to assist in the salvaging operation and study of the resultant specimens. The PI's home institution, the Journey Museum in Rapid city, South Dakota, serves a large community of Native Americans, the regional school system, and the national and international adult population. A portion of the museum's geology/paleontology exhibit features the PI's previous research. It will be updated and expanded to incorporate the outcome of the new research in the form of displays and molds of the embryos and eggs.
What are the major goals of the project? The main goal of this proposal was salvaging fossil dinosaur eggs and embryos, and associated geological data from the world-renown Tustea dinosaur-nesting site in Romania. The site is located in the Hateg Basin, part of the Mesozoic Hateg Island, nested in the Carpathian Mts (Fig. 1). What was accomplished? Activities, objectives, and results Salvaging fossil dinosaur eggs and embryos Historically, the continental deposits of the Hateg basin of Transylvania were brought to the attention of the scientific community a century ago through the work of Baron Nopcsa. Then, in the 1990’s, Dr. Grigorescu reported the findings of dinosaur embryos in ovo from this site. Although, the in ovo association was never substantiated, the presence of dinosaur eggs and embryos represents a unique fossil assemblage, as to date, only two other comparable instances have been documented in the world. News of the destruction of this site by unwarranted bulldozing triggered the present RAPID request. As per field observations, the site is entirely destroyed and all the evidences point to a malicious action from Dr. Grigorescu, as according to the bulldozer driver, he was present, supervising, and monitoring the destruction of the Tustea dinosaur nesting site (Fig. 2). The causes of this action are still unclear and beyond the scope of this research. One of the 3 proposed objectives of this RAPID grant was to perform preliminary observations of the fossils eggs and embryos. The destruction of the relatively thin fossil-bearing layer represents major loss for paleontology, as it likely eliminates any hope for future long-term studies. However, the PI with his two Romanian colleagues was able to recover a substantial amount of dinosaur embryonic bones, a complete egg, and several eggshell fragments (Fig. 3). The eggshell fragments from the complete egg were compared with the scattered specimens in a preliminary study at the university of Sydney microscopic center using scanning electron microscopy, micro-CT characterizations (Fig. 4), and electron backscatter diffraction analyses (Fig. 5). In addition to the above-mentioned oological microcharacterizations, one of the embryonic bones was thin sectioned to estimate its ontogenetic maturity. Presently, results show that: The egg material is homogenous and represents a single taxon; The skeletal material belongs to a basal dwarf hadrosaurid, Telmatosaurus transylvanicus; The bone structure indicates that the embryos were extremely mature, nearly at the hatching stage (Fig. 6). The oological material and the embryos are taxonomically discordant. The skeletal remains indicate a hadrosaurid identity while the oological specimens would suggest a titanosaurid affinity. A follow up study is needed to confirm these preliminary results. Although the results of my preliminary observations are excellent, I will need more funds in the near future to complete this study. The main objectives are to compare the Tustea oological material with those of Totesti and Nalatvad (See Grellet-Tinner et al., 2012), and Auca Mahuevo (see Grellet-Tinner et al., 2004 and Grellet-Tinner 2005) to establish a positive taxonomic identity for these oological specimens by comparing them with those from Auca Mahuevo with embryos in ovo and by determining whether or not the Tustea oological material is congruent with that of the neighboring sites located within a 6 km radius. Two other objectives were mentioned in the original proposal: 1) Gather as much as possible any geological data from the site from both the talus and a narrow area of approximatively 5-6 meters by 20 meters long of still untouched fossil-bearing layer. 2) Advice on possible ensuing studies of this material and the need of gathering more data (geochemical, sedimentary, and paleobiology) from the site. In respect with objective #1, sedimentary samples were obtained and stratigraphic profiles were drawn. However, the sedimentary analyses (geochemical and isotopic) will be performed due to their complexity and costs after a new funding is requested (same as above-mentioned for the microcharacterizations). In regard to objective #2, we are convinced that the fossiliferous strata is extending laterally and more importantly in the background escarpment noted in Figure 2. However, new exploitation of this site is conditional to local politics and governmental guidelines, which is presently beyond the scope of the research.
