Date of Award
2013
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department
Biology
First Advisor
James L. Hayward
Second Advisor
H. Thomas Goodwin
Abstract
Dinosaur eggshell and evidence for wildfires are common in the fossil record. The effects of fire on ostrich and emu eggshell, modern analogs for dinosaur eggshell, were examined by burning fragments in flames of two different temperature ranges for a series of time intervals. Percent mass loss increased directly with both time and temperature. Different treatment conditions also displayed regular patterns of change in color and curvature. Exposure of eggshell to flame results in dramatic physical changes, knowlegde of which could be useful to paleontologists studying dinosaur nesting ecology.
Recommended Citation
McLarty, Shelley J., "Taphonomic Effects of Fire on Ostrich and Emu Eggshell" (2013). Honors Theses. 65.
https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/65/
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/honors/65
Subject Area
Eggshells., Eggshells--Effect of fires on, Ostriches--Eggs, Emus--Eggs, Birds--Eggs.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/65/