Elsevier

Palaeoworld

Volume 21, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 50-58
Palaeoworld

Research paper
Early Cretaceous pterosaur tracks from a “buried” dinosaur tracksite in Shandong Province, China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2012.02.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Here we describe the pterosaur and tridactyl dinosaur footprint assemblage from a new tracksite in the Early Cretaceous Qugezhuang Formation near the Wenxiyuan Community in Jimo County-level City, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, East China. The construction of a community building has, since the discovery, covered the majority of tracks, but a few specimens on abandoned building stones constitute the first pterosaur track record in eastern China. The pterosaur tracks are assigned to Pteraichnus isp. and were probably made by a small to medium-sized pterodactyloid. The new pterosaur trackway contributes to the growing database of pterosaurian ichnites in Asia. The Wenxiyuan tridactyl dinosaur tracks are morphologically similar to those of theropods, but they are too poorly preserved to be referred to any particular ichnotaxon.

Introduction

The Early Cretaceous Laiyang Group (120–130 Ma) in the Laiyang region of Shandong Province, China, consists of lacustrine deposits that produce fossils, most famously fishes, insects, plants, and dinosaur tracks (Li and Zhang, 2001, Wang et al., 2010a). The similarity of fossil faunas indicates that the Laiyang Group corresponds in age to the Jehol Group of northeastern China. This fauna is considered part of the Jehol Biota (Zhang, 1992, Lucas, 2001, Wang et al., 2010a, Zhang et al., 2010). Young (1958) and Chao (1962) reported remains of the basal ceratopsian dinosaur Psittacosaurus from Laiyang, and Young, 1958, Young, 1964 reported pterodactyloid pterosaur fossils from the region.

In April 2009, construction in the Wenxiyuan Community, Jimo City, 80 km northeast of Laiyang City, uncovered many tridactyl dinosaur tracks 5 m below the surface. The Jimo Municipal Museum was aware of the existence of the tracks but took neither photographs nor measurements. Initial reports estimated that hundreds of tridactyl tracks were found (Jiao, 2009). In 2011, Xing L.-D. and Tang Y.-G. obtained photographs that had been taken for journalistic purposes from Mr. Jiao, as well as a few track-bearing slabs from the building contractor. Later, the dinosaur tracksite was covered by the buildings of the Wenxiyuan Community. In May 2011, Tang Y.-G. discovered and collected pterosaur tracks on a single slab (Specimen No. LUGP3-001) at a neighboring building site in the Wenxiyuan Community. These tracks constitute the first pterosaur track record in eastern China. The new pterosaur trackway contributes to the growing database of pterosaurian ichnites in Asia. Here we describe the Wenxiyuan pterosaur and tridactyl dinosaur footprint assemblage.

Section snippets

Qugezhuang Formation

The Wenxiyuan Community, Jimo County-level City, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, is located at the junction of Wenhua Road and Gaoshan Er Road (Fig. 1), and is surrounded by domestic architecture. The nearby outcrops are lithologically and stratigraphically comparable to those of the Mashan National Nature Reserve, which provides a stratigraphic basis for the tracks. The outcrop at the Mashan National Nature Reserve exposes the uppermost Qugezhuang Formation, the uppermost unit in the Early

Pterosaur tracks

Pteraichnus Stokes, 1957

Pteraichnus isp.

Materials. Five complete natural molds of pes and manus prints cataloged as LUGP3-001.1p (p = pes) and LUGP3-001.2 m (m = manus) (LUGP = Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Linyi University, Linyi City, Shandong, China), LUGP3-001.2p, and LUGP3-001.3m and LUGP3-001.3p (Fig. 3, Fig. 4) from the Wenxiyuan tracksite (36°23′0.12″N, 120°25′41.05″E). Artificial molds of the tracks are stored at the Huaxia Dinosaur Tracks Research and Development Center, where they

Acknowledgements

We thank Daniel Marty (Section d‘archéologie et paléontologie – Paléontologie A16, Switzerland) and Matteo Belvedere (Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy) for their critical comments and suggestions on this paper. Thanks to Mrs. Shen-Na Wang and Mr. Gong-Shen Jiao for assistance and logistical support during the field expedition to study the tracks. Thanks to Jin-Hong-Yuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. of Qingdao City for access to the specimens. This research project was supported by the

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