Therizinosaur eggs

["Jaime Headden" <jaemei@hotmail.com>]

Does anyone know where the Xixia Basin is? Having trouble finding it in 
the atlas (need a new atlas, mine still says Germany's two countries). 
Sounds Chinese to me. . . . The horizon would help, too.

Now, the reason concerns the egg called *Macroelongatoolithus xixiaen- 
sis*, which is one of the two canidates for therizinosaur embryoship 
(the other being unnamed---to me---as per the May, '96 National 
Geographic).

I've looked at both, and while the rounded, spheroidal egg (the unnamed 
one) has an interesting skull with huge naris and tiny antorbital, 
seeming good characters for a segnosaur---other than a few claws, rib 
fragments, vertebrae, lower jaw, metacarpals and limb fragments, and 
scapula (scapulae?), there's no pelvis showing.

But in Macro, long and less perfectly preserved, the skull is more 
uniform in the sizes of the opening, and teeth are evident (I can't see 
how close they resemble known dino teeth), but what's real good is that 
the pelvis and part of the ischium (or all of it?) is nicely preserved 
and looks almost identical to a miniature *Alxasaurus*.

But, it's the spheroidal eggs that most people I've talked to or 
listened to that are referred to as therizinosaurs'. I've gone ahead and 
restored both as best as the material shows me, and of course without 
hands-on detail or out-of-the-egg preparation, it will be a little 
difficult to assertain this. I feel strongly about this, and will accept 
any comments.

Jaime A. Headden

"Open gunports, Mr. Starkins; neo-dinosaurologist off the port bow!"

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