New data on the dinosaur eggshell Megaloolithidae from southern France: systematic and intraspecific variability.

The Megaloolithidae oofamily, frequently found in the Late Cretaceous continental deposits of southern France, is the most diversified oofamily, with eight valid taxa. Several clutches newly discovered in the Are syncline allow to identify a new oospecies, Megaloolithus microtuberculata, to emend the diagnosis of M. aureliensis, to synonymize Dughioolithus with Cairanoolithus and to discuss the definition of the discretispherulitic morphotype. For each oospecies, the individual morphological variability is established. The weight of erosion weathering and diagenesis on morphological variations is evaluated and it shows that a preliminary analysis of the preservation states is always necessary for the oomaterial determination. (C) 2001 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.