Oolithes

For the sedimentary rock, see Oolite.

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.^[1]

Oolithes Temporal range: Bathonian-Maastrichtian ~167.7–66 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Oolithes sphaericus
Egg fossil classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Oogenus:	†Oolithes Buckman, 1860
Oospecies
O. bathonicae O. nanhsiungensis O. obtusatus O. sphaericus

Since Buckman's description of O. bathonicae, two other oospecies have been named: O. nanhsiungensis and O. sphaericus, both of which were native to the Maastrichtian of China.^[2][3]