New Material of Zhenyuanopterus (Pterosauria) from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning

A new partial specimen of Zhenyuanopterus from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao city, Liaoning Province is described. This specimen is slightly larger than half the size of the holotype. Although it is not complete, it provides new information on Zhenyuanopterus both in taxonomy and ontogeny： the total number of the caudal vertebrae is 15; the forelimb is more robust than the hindlimb; the growth rate of the humerus and femur is constant, and their ratio is about 1. Compared with the holotype, the scapula and coracoid grow faster than the humerus and the femur. The scapula and coracoid may slow their growth rate after a certain ontogenetic stage. The pectoral girdle, robust forelimb and weak hindlimb of the new material（XHPM1088） together with data from the holotype of Zhenyuanopterus indicate that this taxon spent less time on land than in the sky or other ecological niches such as forests and cliffs.     

Large-Sized Ankylosaur (Dinosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Western Liaoning, China

Two incomplete bones referred to ankylosaur scapulocoracoid and humerus are described, which were discovered from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Dachengzi Town, Kazuo County, Liaoning Province. Ankylosaur dinosaurs have ever been found in the Lower Cretaceous Yixian, Fuxin and Sunjiawan Formations of western Liaoning. The occurrence of ankylosaurs within Jiufotang Formation improves our knowledge on the ankylosaur stratigraphic distribution. Based on the length of scapulocoracoid, the new dinosaur is estimated to exceed 6.0 meters long, representing the largest ankylosaur in western Liaoning.     

New Material of Pterosaur Sinopterus （Reptilia： Pterosauria） from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Western Liaoning, China

1 Introduction The Jiufotang Formation is one of the most fossil- productive Early Cretaceous deposits of China. It overlies the famous Yixian Formation from which many important taxa were found (Ji et al., 2004; Chang et al., 2003; Zhou et al., 2003). In addition to other vertebrates, pterosaurs, the first flying reptiles in Earth history, are also abundant in the Jiufotang Formation. At present, nine species belonging to five genera have been reported from the Jiufotang Formation. The…     

New Material of Sinosauropteryx (Theropoda:Compsognathidae) from Western Liaoning,China

An incomplete specimen of Sinosauropteryx prima collected from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of the Dawangzhangzi area in Lingyuan, western Liaoning is depicted. It represents the first systematically described material of this feathered compsognathid outside the Sihetun area in Beipiao. This specimen shows some diagnostic features of Sinosauropteryx prima, such as the very short forelimb in relation to hindlimb with the length ratio of humerus plus radius to femur plus tibia just around 30%, and the long and massive first manual ungual subequal in length to radius. The presence of Sinosauropteryx prima only at Sihetun and Dawangzhangzi supports the suggestion that the fossil-bearing beds in the Sihetun and Dawangzhangzi areas are equivalent to each other within the Yixian Formation.     

A New Carcharodontosauria (Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Guangxi, Southern China

A new large-bodied theropod dinosaur,Datanglong guangxiensis gen.et sp.nov.,was recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Xinlong Formation of the Datang Basin,Guangxi.It is unique in several features including:posteriormost dorsal vertebra with teardrop-shaped pneumatic foramen confined by enlarged pcdl,acpl and the centrum; posteriormost dorsal with well-developed,horizontal prpl; posteriormost dorsal with a parapophysis projecting more laterally than the diapophysis; brevis fossa shallow with short,ridge-like medial blade; and iliac pubic peduncle with posteroventrally expanded margin.Cladistic analysis supports the idea that this new taxon Datanglong guangxiensis is a primitive member of the Carcharodontosauria in possessing two unambiguous synapomorphies:large external pneumatic foramina and internal spaces present in the lateral surface of ilium,and a peg-and-socket ischiac articulation with the ilium.The presence of the new taxon from Guangxi further confirms that Carcharodontosauria were cosmopolitan large-bodied predators during the Early–mid Cretaceous.     

A New Lizard (Lepidosauria: Squamata) from the Upper Cretaceous of Henan, China

Funiusaurus luanchuanensis gen. et sp. nov. was described on the basis of an incomplete skull from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of the Tantou Basin in Luanehuan County, Henan Province. It is the second representative of lizards known from Luanchuan and adds a new member to the Luanchuan Fauna. F. luanchuanensis is a small-sized lizard and systematically assigned to the Polyglyphanodontidae of the Teiioidea because of the presence of a caniniform tooth and an elongate posterior process of the postorbital. It is distinctive in that the heterodont dentition bears 19 teeth in both the upper and lower jaws, the 3^rd maxillary tooth is large and caniniform, the post-caniniform teeth in maxilla and those posterior to the 3^rd dentary tooth are chisel-like in lateral view, the prefrontal possesses a fossa on its lateral surface, the postorbital with an extremely elongate posterior process and the well-developed retroarticular process has a deep fossa on its dorsal surface. In phylogeny, our analysis suggests a close relationship of Funiusaurus to the large-sized Tianyusaurus from the same basin within the Tuberocephalosaurinae. The discovery of Funiusaurus is significant in confirming the status of the Tuberocephalosaurinae, which includes a group of the Asian members of the Polyglyphanodontidae only.     

A New Species of Huaxiapterus （Pterosauria： Pterodactyloidea） from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China with Comments on the Systematics of Tapejarid Pterosaurs

A new species of tapejarid pterosaur, Huaxiapterus coroUatus sp. nov. is erected on the basis of a nearly complete skull and postcranial skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Huaxiapterus coroUatus sp. nov. is characterized by a hatchet-shaped rectangular process on the premaxilla, whose short axis is perpendicular to the anterior margin of the premaxillae. Except for this process, other characters of the skull such as the breadth of the snout between the anterior margin of the nasoantorbital fenestra and the anterior margin of the premaxilla are similar to that of Huaxiapterus jii. Huaxiapterus and a second Chinese tapejarid, Sinopterus, share several unique cranial characters in common with Tapejara and these three genera appear to be more closely related to each other than to other azhdarchoids. The Chinese tapejarids （Sinopterus and Huaxiapterus） have relatively elongate skulls and weakly developed cranial crests and seem to be less derived than Tapejara, with its shorter, deeper skull and large cranial crest. Tupuxuarids （Tupuxuara and Thalassodromeus） have often been associated with tapejarids in the family Tapejaridae, but this relationship is controversial because some phylogenetic analyses have supported the pairing of tupuxuarids with Azhdarchidae. We propose that Tapejaridae be restricted to Tapejara, Sinopterus and Huaxiapterus.     

Pygostyle-like Structure from Beipiaosaurus (Theropoda, Therizinosauroidea) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China

Pygostyle was previously considered as a unique structure of ornithothoracine birds, used to maneuver tail feathers. A similar structure from an oviraptorosaurian dinosaur was considered functionally associated with the rectrices as in birds. We report a pygostyle-like structure from a therizinosauroid dinosaur. The presence of filamentous integuments, but absence of rectrices, on the tail of this therizinosauroid, combined with other lines of evidence, suggests that the initial function of the pygostyle was not related to the rectrices.     

Sedimentary Characteristics of Flood-Overlake in Large Depression Basin——Taking the 4th Member, Quantou Formation, Lower Cretaceous,in Southern Songliao Basin as an Example

本文建立了一种干旱背景下坳陷湖盆全新的沉积充填模式,即“洪水—河漫湖”沉积模式.在干旱背景下,物源区的河流主要表现为季节性的洪水,大多数河流都消失在荒漠中,河水主要以地表蒸发、植被生态消耗、地下渗流、河流终端湖以及河漫湖等形式排泄,坳陷湖盆内并未形成统—大面积的汇水中心和湖相沉积.这种背景条件下,湖盆的沉积充填特征明显不同于经典的坳陷湖盆和浅水湖盆沉积.下白垩统泉头组四段沉积时期,松辽盆地具有气候干旱、地势平坦、生物单调贫乏等特征,盆地南部存在5大沉积体系及7条主要的水系.除在盆地西部古龙凹陷地区河流汇水形成小范围浅水湖泊外,在盆地南部主要为“洪水—河漫湖”的河流相沉积.坳陷湖盆“洪水—河漫湖”沉积具有以下特点:①全盆地没有统一的汇水中心,因而缺乏大面积分布的湖相和三角洲沉积;②河流表现为季节性的洪水,部分河流由于地形变缓,并未进入汇水中心,而是消失在荒漠中,河流相为盆地沉积充填的主要类型;③湖盆具有多物源、多漫湖、满盆含砂的沉积特点;④河漫湖与河流在空间分布上存在3种关系,即河流终止于河漫湖、河流穿过河漫湖、河流绕过河漫湖等.坳陷湖盆“洪水—河漫湖”是—种中—新生代陆相坳陷湖盆沉积充填的新模式,具有重要的理论和实践意义.     

A New Enantiornithes (Aves) from the Early Cretaceous of China

A new bird from the early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China is described. This new species, Grabauornis lingyuanensis, shares several synapomorphies with the Enantiornithes. The specimen is relatively well preserved. The skeletal morphology of Grabauornis bears close resemblance to that of other Chinese members of this clade. The brachial index （the ratio between the lengths of humerus and ulna） is 0.95, which is close to the average for enantiornithine birds. It indicates that Grabauornis was a rather good flyer, and the presence of an alula in the wing further testifies to this.     

辽西朝阳地区下白垩统九佛堂组一新的离龙类

根据发现于辽宁省西部朝阳地区下白垩统九佛堂组的离龙类一具有头骨的不完整骨架，建立Simoedosauridae科中的一新属新种：朝阳辽西龙：Liaoxisaurus chaoyangensis gen．etsp．nov．。朝阳辽西龙的下颌缝合部短，小于下颌长度的20％，牙齿齿槽近似正方形，区别于任何已知的进步的离龙类。它吻部相对较短，占头骨总长的49．8％。     

New Eoenantiornithid Bird from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Western Liaoning, China

1 Introduction Enantiornithes were the most blooming branch among the early birds and had distinct diversities. They flourished in the Early Cretaceous (Kurochkim, 1985; Chiappe, 1991; Sanz and Bonaparte, 1992; Boles, 1995; Elzanowski, 1995), and become extinct at the end of the Late Cretaceous. Lots of the birds have been reported in western Liaoning, China (Sereno and Rao, 1992; Zhou, 1995; Hou, 1996, 1997; Sanz and Chiappe, 1996; Sanz et al., 1997; Hou and Chen, 1999; Hou et al., 1…     

A New Enantiornithine Bird from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Jinzhou Area,Western Liaoning Province,China

A new Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from Liaoning Province of northeastern China, Shengjingornis yangi, gen. et sp. nov., is reported. This new bird possesses the following unique combination of features: a long rostrum, with some teeth in the front; short nasal; slender jugal; Y-shaped furcula, with expanded distal end of the hypocleidum; cake-like sternum, with a low and caudally distributed keel; strut-like and caudally concave coracoid. The derived features of the scapula and the wings suggest a powerful flapping flight capability.     

辽西早白垩世九佛堂组一新的初鸟类

描述了产于辽宁朝阳盆地联合乡回家子南山早白垩世九佛堂组一新的初鸟类化石。因其头骨下颌近前部具有一嵴状突;前肢短于后肢,前后肢长度比率为0,82;掌骨未愈合;后足纤细,第一趾反转,与其他三趾对握;尾椎少于23节等特征,区别于其他任何已知的初鸟类,故命名为一新属、新种一粗颌大连乌（Dalianraptor cuhe gen．et sp.nov）。     

辽西地区九佛堂组及其珍稀化石层划分与对比

辽西地区是世界重要的化石产地,中生界下白垩统九佛堂组是该地区重要的含化石层位,含有著名的热河生物群化石。通过对辽西地区九佛堂组诸多剖面的综合研究及化石组合对比,将辽西地区九佛堂组划分为3个岩性段,并整理完善了辽西九佛堂组珍稀化石层序列。根据对辽西九佛堂组珍稀化石层进行的对比研究,建立了肖台子层、报马营子层、西营子层等3个珍稀化石层,并分析了珍稀化石层岩性特征,认为珍稀化石层的形成与火山活动存在直接关系,首次提出辽西九佛堂期存在火山活动。     

辽西早白垩世一反鸟类新属种的发现

新反鸟化石（Gracilornis jiufotangensis gen. et sp. nov.）产于辽宁省朝阳地区早白垩世九佛堂组。根据该反鸟的骨骼细弱、肢骨关节发达、胸骨与躯干相比较小（胸骨宽与躯干长比率约为0.11;胸骨长与躯干长比率约为0.13）等不同于其他已知反鸟的特征,建立一新属种,归于华夏鸟科（Cathayornithidae）。     

辽西早白垩世一反鸟类新发现

描述发现于中国辽宁朝阳早白垩世九佛堂组地层中的一件鸟类标本。该标本体型较小,具有许多反鸟类的近裔特征。通过对新标本后肢形态特征的分析,可判断其为一小型树栖反鸟类。新标本具有发育的前肢和进步的乌喙骨,及发育滞后的后肢和相对原始的胸骨形态。胸骨长宽比约为1,顶端呈圆弧形,两个后侧突末端不膨大,中央突末端稍扩大,龙骨突基本不发育等。新标本同时具有反鸟类的原始和进步特征,以及原始的胸骨特征。其综合特征不同于已知任意一种小型反鸟类,因此建立一个反鸟类新属种——普通小反鸟(Microenantiornis vulgaris gen.et sp.nov.)。