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Martin G. Lockley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The first record of Cretaceous non–avian Dinosaur Tracks from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China
Cretaceous Research, 2020Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, W. Scott Persons, Mengyuan Wei, Li Chen, Miaoyan WangAbstract:Abstract A Dinosaur Track assemblage from a remote, high altitude (~4500–5000 m) site on the is the first to be reported from this area. The location, here named the Yangguang Tracksite, represents the Lower Cretaceous part of the Kezilesu Group consisting of feldspathic sandstones and dated as Hauterivian–Barremian on the basis of the palynoflora. As the site is a dangerous working environment, with a steep (65°) Track-bearing surface and constant freeze-thaw-induced rock fall, a photographic survey was undertaken to obtain essential information, while the surface was exposed. The ichnofauna is saurischian-dominated consisting of more than 120 recognizable Tracks comprising at least two diagnostic sauropod Trackway segments (>90 Tracks) and seven theropod Trackways (>30 Tracks). The sauropod Trackways represent large animals (mean pes length ~92 cm) and resemble Brontopodus, although somewhat more narrow-gauge than typical. The theropod Trackways also represent large animals (mean Track lengths > 40 cm) and resemble Iberosauripus from the Kimmeridgian–Berriasian of Spain which is characterized by a relatively short wide footy with weak mesaxony.
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a lower cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the taoqihe formation in central heilongjiang china
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Liang Qiu, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:Abstract An Early Cretaceous Dinosaur ichnofauna is reported from the Taoqihe Formation (Aptian–Albian) in Heilongjiang Province, China. The assemblage, which comprises >70 Tracks in 5 Trackways, includes parallel sauropod Trackways, a toe-trace dominated tridactyl ornithopod Trackway and elongate tridactyl theropod Tracks, the latter tentatively be attributed to swimming activity. The combination of possible swim and walking Trackways suggest that they were formed at different times and in different environments. This is the first Lower Cretaceous Tracksite reported from Heilongjiang Province with the exception of an historic record of a large pentadactyl Track of probable thyreophoran (ankylosaurian) affinity. Ankylosaurian Tracks are rare in China, and reported tentatively from only one other location. The Dinosaur ichnofauna from the Taoqihe Formation is similar in composition to the skeletal assemblages of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in the nearby Liaoning Province. The new Track records are important for better understanding the palaeobiogeography and faunal developments of northeastern China and adjacent Russia.
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a mid cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the hengshan formation in central zhejiang china
Historical Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:The Cretaceous Hengshan Formation at the Baxian Tracksite, central Zhejiang has yielded more than 20 sauropod Tracks with a considerable size range (pes length ranging from 22.7–83.7 cm). The assem...
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an unusual Dinosaur Track assemblage from the jurassic cretaceous boundary anning formation lufeng basin china
Historical Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony RomilioAbstract:Late Jurassic Dinosaur Track assemblages from China are much less common than those reported from the Lower and Middle Jurassic which are heavily dominated by well-known theropod ichnogenera such as Grallator, Eubrontes, Kayentapus, and a few sauropodomorph and ornithischian ichnotaxa. We here report two tridactyl Dinosaur morphotypes from the Lufeng Basin in southern China that most closely resemble Late Jurassic Dinehichnus from North America, a probable gracile ornithopod morphotype, and an unnamed avian morphotype reported from rare occurrences in North America and Europe, which we here name as Tridentigerpes ichnogen. nov., accommodating two ichnospecies T. huasibanleei ichnosp. nov. from the Lufeng Basin, and T. pinuelai ichnosp nov., from Spain. These ichnites re-orient our understanding of Late Jurassic Dinosaur Track distributions in the Late Jurassic of China, which was previously based in large part on very poor material of presumed theropod affinity. Given the sparse body fossil record from southern China including very fragmentary sauropod remains, the ichnological record of diverse bipedal Dinosaurs, suggestive of avian and non-avian Dinosaurs and ornithopods, the Anning Formation represents a type 2b deposit where Tracks are more common than skeletal remains and indicative of faunas not represented by the body fossil record.
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a diversified Dinosaur Track assemblage from the lower cretaceous xiaoba formation of sichuan province china implications for ichnological database and census studies
Cretaceous Research, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony Romilio, Guangzhao Peng, Scott W Persons, Kui Tong, Shan JiangAbstract:Abstract The rapid rate of discovery of Lower Cretaceous tetrapod Tracksites in terrestrial sequences on the Sichuan Basin area is such that the 2016 report of 21 sites in the Xiaoba, Feitianshan and Jiaguan Formations is now increased by ∼24%–26 sites. Of these seven occur in the Xiaoba Formation, including two new sites (Luogan and Apuruha) described here. Likewise, there has been a similar increase in reports of sites from the Jiaguan Formation, from 12 to 15 sites (=25%) in the same period. The total of estimated Trackmakers, based on Trackways, not individual Tracks, is ∼598 for all three formations, including∼150 from the Xiaoba Formation, and ∼325 from the Jiaguan Formation. This indicates a two-year increase in the database of ∼20%. To date all Tracks from the Xiaoba formation represent saurischians (non-avian theropods and sauropods). However, as the database has increased for all three formations it has been possible to demonstrate that didactyl, presumably deinonychosaurian Trackmakers, although rare and in some cases poorly preserved, occur in about 20% of assemblages. Thus, the data base helps differentiate between the relatively low abundance and relatively widespread distribution of deinonychosaurian Trackmakers within the non-avian theropod Track database. This difference between abundance and distribution is consistent with what is known of patterns in other parts of Asia.
Lida Xing - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The first record of Cretaceous non–avian Dinosaur Tracks from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China
Cretaceous Research, 2020Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, W. Scott Persons, Mengyuan Wei, Li Chen, Miaoyan WangAbstract:Abstract A Dinosaur Track assemblage from a remote, high altitude (~4500–5000 m) site on the is the first to be reported from this area. The location, here named the Yangguang Tracksite, represents the Lower Cretaceous part of the Kezilesu Group consisting of feldspathic sandstones and dated as Hauterivian–Barremian on the basis of the palynoflora. As the site is a dangerous working environment, with a steep (65°) Track-bearing surface and constant freeze-thaw-induced rock fall, a photographic survey was undertaken to obtain essential information, while the surface was exposed. The ichnofauna is saurischian-dominated consisting of more than 120 recognizable Tracks comprising at least two diagnostic sauropod Trackway segments (>90 Tracks) and seven theropod Trackways (>30 Tracks). The sauropod Trackways represent large animals (mean pes length ~92 cm) and resemble Brontopodus, although somewhat more narrow-gauge than typical. The theropod Trackways also represent large animals (mean Track lengths > 40 cm) and resemble Iberosauripus from the Kimmeridgian–Berriasian of Spain which is characterized by a relatively short wide footy with weak mesaxony.
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a lower cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the taoqihe formation in central heilongjiang china
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Liang Qiu, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:Abstract An Early Cretaceous Dinosaur ichnofauna is reported from the Taoqihe Formation (Aptian–Albian) in Heilongjiang Province, China. The assemblage, which comprises >70 Tracks in 5 Trackways, includes parallel sauropod Trackways, a toe-trace dominated tridactyl ornithopod Trackway and elongate tridactyl theropod Tracks, the latter tentatively be attributed to swimming activity. The combination of possible swim and walking Trackways suggest that they were formed at different times and in different environments. This is the first Lower Cretaceous Tracksite reported from Heilongjiang Province with the exception of an historic record of a large pentadactyl Track of probable thyreophoran (ankylosaurian) affinity. Ankylosaurian Tracks are rare in China, and reported tentatively from only one other location. The Dinosaur ichnofauna from the Taoqihe Formation is similar in composition to the skeletal assemblages of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in the nearby Liaoning Province. The new Track records are important for better understanding the palaeobiogeography and faunal developments of northeastern China and adjacent Russia.
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a mid cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the hengshan formation in central zhejiang china
Historical Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:The Cretaceous Hengshan Formation at the Baxian Tracksite, central Zhejiang has yielded more than 20 sauropod Tracks with a considerable size range (pes length ranging from 22.7–83.7 cm). The assem...
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an unusual Dinosaur Track assemblage from the jurassic cretaceous boundary anning formation lufeng basin china
Historical Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony RomilioAbstract:Late Jurassic Dinosaur Track assemblages from China are much less common than those reported from the Lower and Middle Jurassic which are heavily dominated by well-known theropod ichnogenera such as Grallator, Eubrontes, Kayentapus, and a few sauropodomorph and ornithischian ichnotaxa. We here report two tridactyl Dinosaur morphotypes from the Lufeng Basin in southern China that most closely resemble Late Jurassic Dinehichnus from North America, a probable gracile ornithopod morphotype, and an unnamed avian morphotype reported from rare occurrences in North America and Europe, which we here name as Tridentigerpes ichnogen. nov., accommodating two ichnospecies T. huasibanleei ichnosp. nov. from the Lufeng Basin, and T. pinuelai ichnosp nov., from Spain. These ichnites re-orient our understanding of Late Jurassic Dinosaur Track distributions in the Late Jurassic of China, which was previously based in large part on very poor material of presumed theropod affinity. Given the sparse body fossil record from southern China including very fragmentary sauropod remains, the ichnological record of diverse bipedal Dinosaurs, suggestive of avian and non-avian Dinosaurs and ornithopods, the Anning Formation represents a type 2b deposit where Tracks are more common than skeletal remains and indicative of faunas not represented by the body fossil record.
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a diversified Dinosaur Track assemblage from the lower cretaceous xiaoba formation of sichuan province china implications for ichnological database and census studies
Cretaceous Research, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony Romilio, Guangzhao Peng, Scott W Persons, Kui Tong, Shan JiangAbstract:Abstract The rapid rate of discovery of Lower Cretaceous tetrapod Tracksites in terrestrial sequences on the Sichuan Basin area is such that the 2016 report of 21 sites in the Xiaoba, Feitianshan and Jiaguan Formations is now increased by ∼24%–26 sites. Of these seven occur in the Xiaoba Formation, including two new sites (Luogan and Apuruha) described here. Likewise, there has been a similar increase in reports of sites from the Jiaguan Formation, from 12 to 15 sites (=25%) in the same period. The total of estimated Trackmakers, based on Trackways, not individual Tracks, is ∼598 for all three formations, including∼150 from the Xiaoba Formation, and ∼325 from the Jiaguan Formation. This indicates a two-year increase in the database of ∼20%. To date all Tracks from the Xiaoba formation represent saurischians (non-avian theropods and sauropods). However, as the database has increased for all three formations it has been possible to demonstrate that didactyl, presumably deinonychosaurian Trackmakers, although rare and in some cases poorly preserved, occur in about 20% of assemblages. Thus, the data base helps differentiate between the relatively low abundance and relatively widespread distribution of deinonychosaurian Trackmakers within the non-avian theropod Track database. This difference between abundance and distribution is consistent with what is known of patterns in other parts of Asia.
Masaki Matsukawa - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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mid cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the tongfosi formation of china comparison with the Track assemblage of south korea
Cretaceous Research, 2017Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Masaki Matsukawa, Kyung Soo Kim, Jong Deock Lim, Scott W PersonsAbstract:A Yanji Basin Tracksite in the Cretaceous Tongfosi Formation in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province was reinvestigated twenty years after the original study. The re-examination confirms the presence of Tracks tentatively referred to ornithopods and theropod Tracks including several not previously reported. In addition to the main Track-bearing level, a second footprint horizon was identified from which a probable ornithopod Track was collected. Some of the formerly identified Tracks were documented using photogrammetry, whereas others that had been collected, eroded, buried or obscured by dense vegetation. The age of the Track-bearing beds is inferred to be late Albian to early Cenomanian. Comparison with Track-bearing units of the same age in Shandong, China, and Korea indicated quite different compositions of Track assemblages. In the case of the Korean sites the differences may be facies related. While the Korean ichnofauna is characterized by the co-occurrence of ornithopod, sauropod and tridactyl theropod Tracks with didactyl dromaeosaurid, Minisauripus (small theropod), pterosaur and avian Tracks, the latter four are absent in the Tongfosi assemblage. This could reflect a restricted environment being not favourable for activities of these Trackmakers or simply a preservational bias.
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VERTEBRATA PALASIATICA Earliest records of Dinosaur footprints in Xinjiang, China
2015Co-Authors: Martin G. Lockley, Hendrik Klein, Wang Qi-fei, Li Zhong-dong, W. Scott, Ye Yong, Masaki MatsukawaAbstract:Abstract Although Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is a vast territory, its fossil tetropod Track record is scant. In recent years, this situation has begun to change and a variety of Jurassic and Cretaceous tetrapod Tracks have been reported and described from Xinjiang, including Tracks attributable to birds, non-avian Dinosaurs, and pterosaurs. Here we report on the first Dinosaur Track discovered from Lower Jurassic deposits in Xinjiang. The Tracks are those of a small theropod and are oldest known Dinosaur Tracks in Northwest China. The Tracks are provisionally assigned to cf. Changpeipus isp., which resembles well-known Tracks in the Grallator-Eubrontes plexus, which dominate tetrapod ichnofaunas in the Early and Middle Jurassic both within China and globally
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upper cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblages and a new theropod ichnotaxon from anhui province eastern china
Cretaceous Research, 2014Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Jianping Zhang, Masaki Matsukawa, Jeong Yul Kim, Scott W Persons, Guanbao ChenAbstract:Abstract Several noteworthy Cretaceous Tracksites are known in the Huizhou District (Huangshan City) in the Yangtzee valley of southern Anhui Province. These include some that have been known since the late 1970s but have not been studied in detail until now. The footprints described here occur in siliciclastic fluvial deposits in three distinct horizons. The Xiaohutian Tracksite in the Upper Cretaceous Xiaoyan Formation is the most interesting, being situated at a historically famous location used as a Taoist and Buddhist shrine. The Xiaohutian Tracksite yields an assemblage with three different morphotypes of non-avian theropod Tracks including the new ichnotaxon Paracorpulentapus zhangsanfengi that can be attributed to a theropod with relatively short “fleshy” toes showing convergence with the footprints of small ornithopods. A further diagnostic feature is the Trackway pattern with relatively short steps. Associated ichnofossils are invertebrate traces that can be assigned to eurybathic forms such as Palaeophycus and ?Planolites or ?Scoyenia. Thus far skeletal remains from the Xiaoyan Formation have proved the pachycephalosaur Wannanosaurus and indeterminate sauropods. The ichnoassemblages enlarge the known Dinosaur fauna by small- to medium-sized theropods that are identified here as the Trackmakers and that are otherwise rare in Upper Cretaceous deposits of eastern China. The Shangshangen locality is another significant Tracksite which has yielded small bird Tracks (cf. Koreanaornis) in association with small Tracks of non-avian theropods.
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minisauripus the Track of a diminutive Dinosaur from the cretaceous of china and south korea implications for stratigraphic correlation and theropod foot morphodynamics
Cretaceous Research, 2008Co-Authors: Martin G. Lockley, Masaki Matsukawa, Jeong Yul Kim, Kyung Soo Kim, Sam Hyang Kim, Li Rihui, L I Jianjun, Seongyoung YangAbstract:Abstract The diminutive (2.5–3.0 cm long), Cretaceous Dinosaur Track ichnogenus Minisauripus, previously known only from the type ichnospecies, M. chuanzhuensis, from a single locality in Sichuan Province China, is here reported from two new localities in South Korea and one in China. Material from the new Chinese locality is assigned to the new ichnospecies M. zhenshuonani on the basis of its distinctive morphology. Most of the new material is well-preserved, revealing narrow asymmetric Tracks with claw traces, long step and phalangeal formula (2-3-4 for digits II, III and IV, respectively), suggesting a theropod Track maker rather than an ornithischian, as originally inferred for the Chinese type material. The South Korean samples (eight Tracks), from two localities in the Haman Formation, are considered Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) in age, whereas the Chinese type material (21 specimens) has been assigned both an Early and Late Cretaceous age. The former age is probably correct as suggested by a new Minisauripus locality (5 specimens) from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Albian) of Shandong Province, China. Other diminutive Tracks from the Sichuan fauna include Aquatilavipes sinensis (2.5 cm long, a possible junior synonym of Koreanoris hamanensis), Grallator emeiensis (2 cm long) and Velociraptorichnus sichuanensis (10–11 cm), which occur, in various combinations, with Minisauripus at both the new Korean and Chinese localities. In Minisauripus, digit III is very short in comparison with other theropods and provides a striking contrast to G. emeinsis. This difference has significant implications for standard assumptions about theropod Track allometry. Based on the classic Early Jurassic forms Grallator and Eubrontes, it has long been inferred that relative digit III length shrank with increasing size (up to foot lengths of 30–40 cm). The reiteration of reduction in relative length of digit III in specimens in the size range of 2–3 cm indicates that the allometric or morphodynamic ‘program’ that influenced development in large theropod clades reiterated fractally in theropod clades a full order of magnitude smaller. This shows that a given allometry can be size-dependent in one clade and size-independent in another. Thus, the developmental program appears ‘contracted’ or morphologically miniaturized by heterochrony to manifest paedomorphically in some clades and peramorphically in others. This strongly suggests that ‘formal’ developmental ‘programs operated’ along similar morphodynamic lines in quite different clades.
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geological ages of Dinosaur Track bearing formations in china
Cretaceous Research, 2006Co-Authors: Peiji Chen, Masaki Matsukawa, Haichun Zhang, Qifei Wang, Martin G. LockleyAbstract:Abstract In China more than 30 forms of Dinosaur Tracks at about 50 localities distributed in 16 provinces have been reported. These fossil footprints have been found in 25 Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous formations. They are the Xujiahe Formation (Upper Triassic), Zhenzhuchong and Ziliujing formations (Lower Jurassic), Xintiangou and Lower Shaximiao formations (Middle Jurassic), Penglaizhen Formation (Upper Jurassic), and Jiaguan and Daergun formations (Upper Cretaceous) in the Sichuan Basin; the Fengjiahe Formation (Lower Jurassic) and Jiangdihe Formation (Upper Cretaceous) in the central Yunnan Basin; the Zhiluo Formation (Middle Jurassic) and Fengjiashan Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in Shaanxi Province; the Jingchuan Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in Inner Mongolia; the Houcheng Formation (Upper Jurassic) and Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in northern Hebei; the Tuchengzi Formation (Upper Jurassic) and Fuxin Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in western Liaoning; the Laiyang Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in the Shandong Peninsula; the Tongfosi Formation (Cretaceous) in eastern Jilin Province; the Hekou Group (Lower Cretaceous) in Gansu; and the Xiaodong, Qiyunshan, and Nanxiong formations (Upper Cretaceous) in Hunan, Anhui, and Guangdong provinces, respectively. The invertebrate and vertebrate fossils including tetrapod footprints reported from some of these formations are outlined and their biostratigraphic significance and utility for correlation are discussed.
Hendrik Klein - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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first upper cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from jordan middle east preliminary results
Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 2020Co-Authors: Hendrik Klein, Gerard D. Gierliński, Jens N Lallensack, Abdalla Abu Hamad, Habes Almashakbeh, Ikhlas Alhejoj, Marcin Konopka, Marcin BlonskiAbstract:Dinosaur Tracks from Jordan (Middle East) have only been briefly reported in geological overview papers and books. We present here the first description and documentation of Jordanian Dinosaur Tracks based on a new Tracksite from the south-central part of the country. The Track-bearing strata belong to marginal marine (tidal flat) deposits of the Na’ur Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Cenomanian). This unit largely consists of well-bedded limestones, dolomites and marls that contain abundant marine invertebrate fossils such as bivalves, ammonites and foraminifers. The Dinosaur ichnofauna occurs on four different levels and comprises abundant theropod Tracks and Trackways as well as isolated sauropod and ornithopod Tracks. Theropod Trackways consist of two different morphotypes. Morphotype 1 is tridactyl (26 cm pes length) and with a broad, but short metatarsal area and resembles the ichnogenus Picunichnus from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Argentina. Morphotype 2 (36 cm pes length) has extensive and narrow metatarsal impressions continuously occurring along regularly-spaced Trackways. This suggests either a plantigrade movement of the Trackmaker or reflects preservational factors. By their overall-shape with thin digits, Morphotype 2 resembles described penetrative Tracks suggesting a strong influence of the substrate. Sauropod Tracks are relatively small (40 cm pes length) and show low heteropody with a kidney-shaped manus imprint, pointing to a Sauropodichnus -like form. The single ornithopod pes Track (18 cm in length) is similar to material described as Ornithopodichnus from the Lower Cretaceous of Korea. Due to the incomplete material of sauropod and ornithopod prints, no concrete assignment is given to this material and further study is needed. The presence of Dinosaur Tracks proves a temporary subaerial exposure of the surface whereas the main part of the Na’ur Formation is dominated by subaqueous activity of marine faunas.
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The first record of Cretaceous non–avian Dinosaur Tracks from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China
Cretaceous Research, 2020Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, W. Scott Persons, Mengyuan Wei, Li Chen, Miaoyan WangAbstract:Abstract A Dinosaur Track assemblage from a remote, high altitude (~4500–5000 m) site on the is the first to be reported from this area. The location, here named the Yangguang Tracksite, represents the Lower Cretaceous part of the Kezilesu Group consisting of feldspathic sandstones and dated as Hauterivian–Barremian on the basis of the palynoflora. As the site is a dangerous working environment, with a steep (65°) Track-bearing surface and constant freeze-thaw-induced rock fall, a photographic survey was undertaken to obtain essential information, while the surface was exposed. The ichnofauna is saurischian-dominated consisting of more than 120 recognizable Tracks comprising at least two diagnostic sauropod Trackway segments (>90 Tracks) and seven theropod Trackways (>30 Tracks). The sauropod Trackways represent large animals (mean pes length ~92 cm) and resemble Brontopodus, although somewhat more narrow-gauge than typical. The theropod Trackways also represent large animals (mean Track lengths > 40 cm) and resemble Iberosauripus from the Kimmeridgian–Berriasian of Spain which is characterized by a relatively short wide footy with weak mesaxony.
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a lower cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the taoqihe formation in central heilongjiang china
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Liang Qiu, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:Abstract An Early Cretaceous Dinosaur ichnofauna is reported from the Taoqihe Formation (Aptian–Albian) in Heilongjiang Province, China. The assemblage, which comprises >70 Tracks in 5 Trackways, includes parallel sauropod Trackways, a toe-trace dominated tridactyl ornithopod Trackway and elongate tridactyl theropod Tracks, the latter tentatively be attributed to swimming activity. The combination of possible swim and walking Trackways suggest that they were formed at different times and in different environments. This is the first Lower Cretaceous Tracksite reported from Heilongjiang Province with the exception of an historic record of a large pentadactyl Track of probable thyreophoran (ankylosaurian) affinity. Ankylosaurian Tracks are rare in China, and reported tentatively from only one other location. The Dinosaur ichnofauna from the Taoqihe Formation is similar in composition to the skeletal assemblages of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in the nearby Liaoning Province. The new Track records are important for better understanding the palaeobiogeography and faunal developments of northeastern China and adjacent Russia.
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a mid cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the hengshan formation in central zhejiang china
Historical Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:The Cretaceous Hengshan Formation at the Baxian Tracksite, central Zhejiang has yielded more than 20 sauropod Tracks with a considerable size range (pes length ranging from 22.7–83.7 cm). The assem...
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a diversified Dinosaur Track assemblage from the lower cretaceous xiaoba formation of sichuan province china implications for ichnological database and census studies
Cretaceous Research, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony Romilio, Guangzhao Peng, Scott W Persons, Kui Tong, Shan JiangAbstract:Abstract The rapid rate of discovery of Lower Cretaceous tetrapod Tracksites in terrestrial sequences on the Sichuan Basin area is such that the 2016 report of 21 sites in the Xiaoba, Feitianshan and Jiaguan Formations is now increased by ∼24%–26 sites. Of these seven occur in the Xiaoba Formation, including two new sites (Luogan and Apuruha) described here. Likewise, there has been a similar increase in reports of sites from the Jiaguan Formation, from 12 to 15 sites (=25%) in the same period. The total of estimated Trackmakers, based on Trackways, not individual Tracks, is ∼598 for all three formations, including∼150 from the Xiaoba Formation, and ∼325 from the Jiaguan Formation. This indicates a two-year increase in the database of ∼20%. To date all Tracks from the Xiaoba formation represent saurischians (non-avian theropods and sauropods). However, as the database has increased for all three formations it has been possible to demonstrate that didactyl, presumably deinonychosaurian Trackmakers, although rare and in some cases poorly preserved, occur in about 20% of assemblages. Thus, the data base helps differentiate between the relatively low abundance and relatively widespread distribution of deinonychosaurian Trackmakers within the non-avian theropod Track database. This difference between abundance and distribution is consistent with what is known of patterns in other parts of Asia.
Scott W Persons - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a lower cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the taoqihe formation in central heilongjiang china
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Liang Qiu, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:Abstract An Early Cretaceous Dinosaur ichnofauna is reported from the Taoqihe Formation (Aptian–Albian) in Heilongjiang Province, China. The assemblage, which comprises >70 Tracks in 5 Trackways, includes parallel sauropod Trackways, a toe-trace dominated tridactyl ornithopod Trackway and elongate tridactyl theropod Tracks, the latter tentatively be attributed to swimming activity. The combination of possible swim and walking Trackways suggest that they were formed at different times and in different environments. This is the first Lower Cretaceous Tracksite reported from Heilongjiang Province with the exception of an historic record of a large pentadactyl Track of probable thyreophoran (ankylosaurian) affinity. Ankylosaurian Tracks are rare in China, and reported tentatively from only one other location. The Dinosaur ichnofauna from the Taoqihe Formation is similar in composition to the skeletal assemblages of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in the nearby Liaoning Province. The new Track records are important for better understanding the palaeobiogeography and faunal developments of northeastern China and adjacent Russia.
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a mid cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the hengshan formation in central zhejiang china
Historical Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Chunyong Chou, Donghao Wang, Scott W PersonsAbstract:The Cretaceous Hengshan Formation at the Baxian Tracksite, central Zhejiang has yielded more than 20 sauropod Tracks with a considerable size range (pes length ranging from 22.7–83.7 cm). The assem...
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a diversified Dinosaur Track assemblage from the lower cretaceous xiaoba formation of sichuan province china implications for ichnological database and census studies
Cretaceous Research, 2019Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony Romilio, Guangzhao Peng, Scott W Persons, Kui Tong, Shan JiangAbstract:Abstract The rapid rate of discovery of Lower Cretaceous tetrapod Tracksites in terrestrial sequences on the Sichuan Basin area is such that the 2016 report of 21 sites in the Xiaoba, Feitianshan and Jiaguan Formations is now increased by ∼24%–26 sites. Of these seven occur in the Xiaoba Formation, including two new sites (Luogan and Apuruha) described here. Likewise, there has been a similar increase in reports of sites from the Jiaguan Formation, from 12 to 15 sites (=25%) in the same period. The total of estimated Trackmakers, based on Trackways, not individual Tracks, is ∼598 for all three formations, including∼150 from the Xiaoba Formation, and ∼325 from the Jiaguan Formation. This indicates a two-year increase in the database of ∼20%. To date all Tracks from the Xiaoba formation represent saurischians (non-avian theropods and sauropods). However, as the database has increased for all three formations it has been possible to demonstrate that didactyl, presumably deinonychosaurian Trackmakers, although rare and in some cases poorly preserved, occur in about 20% of assemblages. Thus, the data base helps differentiate between the relatively low abundance and relatively widespread distribution of deinonychosaurian Trackmakers within the non-avian theropod Track database. This difference between abundance and distribution is consistent with what is known of patterns in other parts of Asia.
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multiple parallel deinonychosaurian Trackways from a diverse Dinosaur Track assemblage of the lower cretaceous dasheng group of shandong province china
Cretaceous Research, 2018Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Anthony Romilio, Scott W Persons, Ying Guo, Junqiang Zhang, Li Zhang, Yonggang TangAbstract:Many newly-discovered Dinosaur Tracksites have recently been reported from the Lower Cretaceous Dasheng Group of Shandong Province. These are proving valuable as tools for characterizing the fauna in deposits almost devoid of body fossils. Here we report on a new Cretaceous site, the 14th documented in recent years, with multiple Track-bearing levels, that adds ∼300 Tracks to a growing database. At least two morphotypes tentatively labelled as cf. Menglongpus isp., representing a deinonychosaur, and cf. Tatarornipes isp., representing an avian theropod, add to the list of at least seven named ichnogenera attributed to avian and non-avian theropods reported from the Dasheng Group in Shandong Province. Combined with two sauropodomorph and two ornithopod ichnogenera, and unnamed turtle Tracks, the genus-level ichnodiversity (∼14) is one of the highest reported for any Cretaceous unit either regionally in China or globally. The Tracks identified as cf. Menglongpus isp. occur in four parallel Trackways indicating a group of small didactyl bipeds of inferred deinonychosaurian affinity. Despite the lack of body fossils from the Dasheng Group in Shandong Province, a high diversity of deinonychosaur body fossils is known from the contemporary Jehol Biota from northeastern China. This similarity underscores the importance of the Shandong Track assemblage as indicators of regional, tetrapod biodiversity during the Cretaceous.
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mid cretaceous Dinosaur Track assemblage from the tongfosi formation of china comparison with the Track assemblage of south korea
Cretaceous Research, 2017Co-Authors: Lida Xing, Hendrik Klein, Martin G. Lockley, Masaki Matsukawa, Kyung Soo Kim, Jong Deock Lim, Scott W PersonsAbstract:A Yanji Basin Tracksite in the Cretaceous Tongfosi Formation in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province was reinvestigated twenty years after the original study. The re-examination confirms the presence of Tracks tentatively referred to ornithopods and theropod Tracks including several not previously reported. In addition to the main Track-bearing level, a second footprint horizon was identified from which a probable ornithopod Track was collected. Some of the formerly identified Tracks were documented using photogrammetry, whereas others that had been collected, eroded, buried or obscured by dense vegetation. The age of the Track-bearing beds is inferred to be late Albian to early Cenomanian. Comparison with Track-bearing units of the same age in Shandong, China, and Korea indicated quite different compositions of Track assemblages. In the case of the Korean sites the differences may be facies related. While the Korean ichnofauna is characterized by the co-occurrence of ornithopod, sauropod and tridactyl theropod Tracks with didactyl dromaeosaurid, Minisauripus (small theropod), pterosaur and avian Tracks, the latter four are absent in the Tongfosi assemblage. This could reflect a restricted environment being not favourable for activities of these Trackmakers or simply a preservational bias.