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Early Cretaceous Bird-dominated and Dinosaur Footprint Assemblages from the Northwestern Margin of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China

Li-Da Xing a, b*, Jerald D. Harris c, Cheng-Kai Jia d, Zheng-Jiang Luo d, Shen-Na Wang e, Jian-Fu An f
a Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11145 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
b Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
c Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
d Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Karamay, Xinjiang 834000, China
e Meilong Project Exploration Center, Beijing 100007, China
f Moguicheng Dinosaur And Bizarre Stone Museum, Karamay, Xinjiang 834014, China

Abstract:
Here we describe a number of mostly isolated bird and non-avian dinosaur footprints from the Huangyangquan track site in the Lower Cretaceous Lower Layer of the Tugulu Group near Huangyangquan Reservoir in the Wuerhe District, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Bird footprints at the site pertain to Koreanaornis dodsoni n. ichnosp., Goseongornipes isp., Aquatilavipes isp., and Moguiornipes robusta n. ichnogen. n. ichnosp. Moguiornipes tracks may be the products of a bird with lobed feet. These shorebird-morph tracks are the first solid evidence of birds in the Tugulu Group, and greatly enrich the known faunal diversity of the Lower Layer of the Tugulu Group. The Huangyangquan avian ichnofauna is comparable to those of the Jindong Formation, Korea and the Dakota Formation, USA. Non-avian dinosaur footprints at the site pertain to cf. Jialingpus isp., Asianopodus isp., and Kayentapus isp. This is the first report of Jialingpus from Lower Cretaceous strata. The discoveries of Asianopodus isp. and Kayentapus isp. increase the known ranges of these two ichnogenera.

Key words:
Koreanaornis dodsoni; Goseongornipes isp.; Aquatilavipes isp.; Moguiornipes robusta; Lower Layer of the Tugulu Group; Lower Cretaceous


First Record of Dinosaur Trackway from Tibet, China

Xing Li-da1,2, Jerald D. Harris3, Philip J. Currie1
1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11145 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton,
Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
2. Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, 100044 Beijing, China
3. Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA

Abstract:
Three sauropod trackways comprise eight tracks that resemble Brontopodus tracks have been found at the Morong track site in Changdu Prefecture, Tibet, China. These wide- (or sub-wide)-gauge tracks suggest that there was a large sauropod, possibly a member of Titanosauriformes, in Changdu Prefecture during the Early-Middle Jurassic. The sauropod fauna from Changdu Prefecture, Tibet not only has elements in common with the sauropod fauna from the Sichuan Basin, but may include more diverse faunal components.

Key words:
Early-Middle Jurassic, sauropod trackways, Titanosauriformes, Brontopodus, Changdu Prefecture, Tibet


Dinosaur tracks from the Lower Cretaceous Mengtuan Formation in Jiangsu, China and morphological diversity of local sauropod tracks

Xing Li-da1,2, Jerald D. Harris3, JIA Cheng-kai4
1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11145 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton,
Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
2. Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, 100044 Beijing, China
3. Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
4. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development,Karamay 834000,Xinjiang,China

Abstract: Diverse dinosaur (theropod and sauropod) tracks from the Nanguzhai track locality in Donghai County, Jiangsu Province, China occur in the Lower Cretaceous Mengtuan Formation. The locality is subdivided into four adjacent track sites at the same stratigraphic level. The sites preserve at least three track types pertaining to theropods and juvenile to adult sauropods. "Backfilled" theropod and sauropod tracks at Nanguzhai site III are the products of appendage—sediment interactions where the substrate was fluid and behaved plastically.

Key words:
Sauropod tracks, Parabrontopodus isp., Theropod tracks, Mengtuan Formation, Early Cretaceous


An Early Cretaceous Non-avian Dinosaur and Bird Footprint Assemblage from the Laiyang Group in the Zhucheng Basin, Shandong Province, China

Xing Li-da1,2, Jerald D. Harris3, Wang Ke-bai4, Chen Shu-qing5, Zhao Cheng-jun5, Li Ri-hui6
1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11145 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton,
Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
2. Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, 100044 Beijing, China
3. Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
4. Zhucheng Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Zhucheng 262200, Shandong, China
5. Zhucheng Dinosaur Research Center, Zhucheng 262200, Shandong, China
6. Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266071, Shandong, China

Abstract:
Diverse non-avian dinosaur (sauropod and ornithopod) and bird tracks occur in the Lower Cretaceous Yangjiazhuang Formation at the Zhangzhuhewan village track site in Zhucheng Basin, Shandong Province, China. Non-avian dinosaur tracks at this tracksite are heavily deformed, having been registered in waterlogged sediment. Sauropod pes and manus impressions, made by a slowly advancing track maker, are roughly equal in area. The ornithopod tracks are of the generalized Iguanodon-hadrosaur morphotype. The bird tracks are unlike other Mesozoic bird tracks from China, but are similar to the shorebird-like ichnotaxon Jindongornipes. Of tracks previously reported from the Laiyang Group, Laiyangpus is of uncertain affinity and its type specimen has been lost, and Paragrallator is referable to Anchisauripus isp. The new tracks described herein further increase the known dinosaur diversity in eastern Shandong Province.

Key words:
Zhucheng Basin, Early Cretaceous, Yangjiazhuang Formation, Shandong, Sauropod tracks, Ornithopod tracks, Bird tracks


The Earliest Known Deinonychosaur Tracks from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary in Hebei, China

Xing Li-da1)*, Jerald D. Harris2), Sun Deng-hai3), Zhao Hui-qiang4)
1) Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China
2) Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
3) Chicheng County Vocational Education Center, Zhangjiakou, 075500, China
4) Chicheng County Bureau of Land and Resources, Zhangjiakou, 512400, China

Abstract:
Herein we describe a single trackway that pertain to Menglongipus sinensis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. from the Nijiagou track site in the Chicheng county, Hebei Province, China. The tracks occur in the Tuchengzi Formation, which spans the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. The discovery of M. sinensis indicates that deinonychosaurians occupied this area prior to deposition of the Yixian Formation, from which the oldest deinonychosaur body fossils in the region have been found. The body length (~65 cm) of the M. sinensis track maker is very similar to that estimated for basal paravians. Additional details are provided about the type Velociraptorichnus sichuanensis, and the association between dromaeopodid and other theropod tracks is discussed.

Key words:
Deinonychosaur track, Menglongipus sinensis, Grallator, Tuchengzi Formation, Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary

Menglongipus sinensis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov.

Dromaeosaurid's hunting

Ornithopod (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) Tracks from the Upper Cretaceous Zhutian Formation in Nanxiong Basin, China and General Observations on Large Chinese Ornithopod Footprints

Xing Li-da1*, Jerald D. Harris2, Dong Zhi-ming3, Lin You-li4, Chen Wei5, Guo Sheng-bin4, Ji Qiang1
1) Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China
2) Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
3) Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
4) Nanxiong County Bureau of Land and Resources, Shaoguan, 512400, China
5) Chongqing Nature Museum, Chongqing, 400013, China

Abstract: Herein we describe three trackways that pertain to Hadrosauropodus nanxiongensis ichnosp. nov. from the Yangmeikeng track site in the Nanxiong Basin, Guangdong Province, China. The tracks occur in the Upper Cretaceous Zhutian Formation. The nearby Gushi track site preserves trackways attributable to Hadrosauropodus isp. These represent the first occurrences of hadrosaur footprints in China. These discoveries expand the known distribution of hadrosaur tracks from North America to China, and provides evidence for the existence of large hadrosaurs in the Cretaceous of the Nanxiong Basin. Other previously-described, large, ostensible ornithopod track occurrences in China are discussed: Sinoichnites is represented only by an informal “plastotype,” Yangtzepus is attributable to a theropod, and Iguanodonopus is considered a nomen nudum and its specimens attributable to Iguanodontipus. New specimens of Jiayinosauropus allow some redescription of the ichnotaxon, and the unnamed Neixiang footprint is redescribed.

Key words:
Nanxiong Basin, Upper Cretaceous, Zhutian Formation, Hadrosauropodus nanxiongensis, Yangtzepus, Iguanodonopus, Jiayinosauropus, Neixiang Footprint

More Images Hadrosaur broken its eggs!!  


Theropod (Dinosauria: Saurischia) tracks from Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation at Sihetun, Liaoning Province, China and Possible Track Makers

Xing Li-da1*, Jerald D. Harris2, Feng Xiang-yang3, Zhang Zhi-jun3
1) Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China
2) Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
3) Department of Palaeontology, Geological Museum of China, Beijing 100034, China

Abstract: Herein we describe three and one half footprints that pertain to Grallator isp. from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, Sihetun, Liaoning Province, China. This is the first description of dinosaur footprints from the Yixian Formation. The tracks were left by at least three individual track makers. It is estimated from the tracks that the body lengths of the track makers were 1.51 m, which is the average length of known theropods from the Yixian Formation. The feet of Caudipteryx and Sinosauropteryx were reconstructed. The former was more similar than the latter to the Grallator isp. track outlines. Feet capable of registering Grallator morphotype tracks may therefore have been widely distributed in small-medium sized theropods (other than dromaeosaurids and troodontids) from the Yixian Formation.

Key words:
Sihetun of Liaoning Province, Yixian Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Grallator, Track Maker

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Discovery of Dinosaur Footprints from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan Province, China and New Observations on Changpeipus

Li-da Xing 1, 2)*, Jerald D. Harris3), Sekiya Toru4), Fujita Masato5), Zhi-ming Dong 2, 6)
1) Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037, China
2) Lufeng Dinosaur Research Center, Yunnan, 651200, China
3) Physical Sciences Department, Dixie State College, 225 South 700 East, St. George, Utah 84770, USA
4) Research Center of Paleontology, Jilin University, Changchun, 130026, China
5) Toyama Science Museum, 1-8-31 Nishinakano-machi, Toyama Prefecture, 939-8084, Japan
6) Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044. China

Abstract:Herein described are two footprints that belong to the new ichnospecies Changpeipus pareschequier ichnosp. nov. from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation near Yaozhan village, Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, China. This is the first discovery of dinosaur footprints in the Lufeng Formation. The ichnogenus Changpeipus is revised after the re-study of its type specimens. Specimen IVPP V2472 2a, a supposed manus print that is part of the ichnogenoholotype of Changpeipus carbonicus, is re-studied herein and assessed as a pes print of a juvenile individual of the Changpeipus carbonicus track maker. Changpeipus luanpingeris is a junior synonym of Changpeipus carbonicus. Changpeipus pareschequier ichnosp. nov. resembles the ichnotaxon Kayentapus. Based on its characteristics, the footprints were presumably made by a member of the Coelophysoidea from the Lufeng Formation.

Key words: Lufeng County of Yunnan Province, Lufeng Formation, Early Jurassic, Changpeipus, Kayentapus


The Discovery of Dinosaur Footprints from the Middle Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation of Qijiang County, Chongqing City

XING Lida1,2),WANG Fengping3),PAN Shigang4),CHEN Wei5)
1) Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100037
2) Lufeng Dinosaur Research Center, Yunnan, 651200
3) Qijiang County Bureau of Land and Resources, Chongqing, 401420
4) Lufeng Dinosaur Museum, Yunnan, 651200
5) Chongqing Nature Museum, Chongqing, 400013

Abstract: The dinosaur footprints from the Middle Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation of Qijiang County are described. Some new ichnotaxa,Qijiangpus sinensis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. of Ankylosauria, Wupus agilis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. of Theropoda, Laoyingshanpus torridus ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. and Caririchnium lotus ichnosp. nov. of Ornithopoda are erected. Among them, Qijiangpus sinensis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. is the first record trace fossil of Ankylosauria from China. Caririchnium lotus ichnosp. nov. provides the evidence of the ontogenic development of Hadrosauroidea.

Key words: Qijiang County; Jiaguan Formation; Middle Cretaceous; Ankylosauria; Ornithopoda; Theropoda

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