Oolithes

Oolithes
Temporal range: Bathonian-Maastrichtian
~
Oolithes spheroides
Egg fossil classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Oogenus: Oolithes
Buckman, 1860
Oospecies
  • O. bathonicae
  • O. nanhsiungensis
  • O. obtusatus
  • O. sphaericus

Oolithes is an oogenus with uncertain affinities. It has historical significance because it was the earliest named oogenus. James Buckman described the first named species as Oolithes bathonicae in a communication to the 4 May 1859 meeting of the Geological Society (published in 1860). Buckman believed that Oolithes represented the eggs of a teleosaurian reptile.

Since Buckman's description of O. bathonicae, two other oospecies have been named: O. nanhsiungensis and O. spheroides, both of which were native to the Maastrichtian of China.