Thin fossil eggshell from Upper Cretaceous deposits of Europe, characterized by nodular ornamentation similar to modern gekkotan eggshell, has mostly been interpreted as gekkotan (=‘geckoid’) in origin. However, in some cases, as for the oogenus Pseudogeckoolithus, a theropod affinity has also been suggested. The true affinity of these fossil ‘geckoid’ eggshells has remained controversial due to the absence of analytical methods for identifying genuine gecko eggshell in the fossil record. In this study, we apply electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis to latest Cretaceous European ‘geckoid’ (including Pseudogeckoolithus) eggshell, in comparison with modern gekkotan and theropod (avian) eggshell. We found that Pseudogeckoolithus has a definite theropod eggshell‐like crystallographic configuration, in clear contrast to that seen in modern ‘gecko eggshells’. Furthermore, the crystallography of the nodular ornamentation in Pseudogeckoolithus is similar to that seen in megapode eggshell, but different from that of gecko eggshell, despite superficial morphological similarity. The remarkable morphological similarities between Pseudogeckoolithus and modern gecko eggshells are thus convergent, and the ‘gekkotan affinity’ hypothesis can be dismissed for Pseudogeckoolithus. This study provides a template for differentiating true gekkotan from dinosaurian eggshells in the fossil record. The potential functional significance of eggshell ornamentation, lost in most modern birds, requires further study, and experimental zoological approach may shed light on this issue. Finally, the present results suggest caution about the dangers of using potentially homoplastic eggshell characters in eggshell parataxonomy.

The Ganzhou area of Jiangxi Province, southern China is becoming one of the most productive oviraptorosaurian localities in the world. A new oviraptorid dinosaur was unearthed from the uppermost Upper Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation of Ganzhou area. It is characterized by an anterodorsally sloping occiput and quadrate (a feature shared with Citipati), a circular supratemporal fenestra that is much smaller than the lower temporal fenestra, and a dentary in which the dorsal margin above the external mandibular fenestra is strongly concave ventrally. The position of the anteroventral corner of the external naris in relation to the posterodorsal corner of the antorbital fenestra provides new insight into the craniofacial evolution of oviraptorosaurid dinosaurs. A phylogenetic analysis recovers the new taxon as closely related to the Mongolian Citipati. Six oviraptorid dinosaurs from the Nanxiong Formation (Ganzhou and Nanxiong) are distributed within three clades of the family. Each of the three clades from the Nanxiong Formation has close relatives in Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, and in both places each clade may have had a specific diet or occupied a different ecological niche. Oviraptorid dinosaurs were geographically widespread across Asia in the latest Cretaceous and were an important component of terrestrial ecosystems during this time.

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