Dinosaur footprint assemblage from the Lower Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation,Khorat Group,northeastern Thailand

The Khok Kruat Formation is the upper part of the Khorat Group, which consists of upper Lower Cretaceous non-marine sedimentary rocks in northeastern Thailand. Many dinosaur footprints have been known from the upper Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) Khok Kruat Formation at the Huai Dam Chum (Tha Uthen) site, northeastern Thailand. Approximately 600 tracks occur in thin mudstone layer of the northern part of the outcrop at the Huai Dam Chum track site. Two types of footprints, small-sized theropod and crocodylomorph are imprinted with mud cracks and ripple marks on the thin mud layer. Most of footprints are referred to cf. Asianopodus, and are imprinted by small-sized theropoda, probably ornithomimosauria. Theropod tracks are mainly separated into two groups, Group A and Group B. From ichnological viewpoints, the small-sized theropod track assemblage indicates the herd behaviour and its idiosyncratic group composition. In particular, the histogram of size-frequency measurements of Group A shows the anomalous bimodal distribution. We consider that there are two hypotheses; the first one is due to the male-female difference, and the second is a result of the different growing stage.     

山东诸城晚白垩世恐龙动物群研究进展

自从20世纪60年代初在山东诸城发现第一具恐龙骨架“巨型山东龙”以来,一系列具有代表性的恐龙骨骼化石在诸城白垩纪地层中被发现,特别是埋藏于诸城晚白垩世地层中恐龙骨骼化石群,最为引人注目。目前研究发现了包括鸭嘴龙类、角龙类、暴龙类等在内的多种恐龙类型,为丰富我国东部白垩纪恐龙动物群的研究提供了新的宝贵材料。该文系统总结和归纳了近些年来在诸城晚白垩世地层中发现的恐龙骨骼化石及其所代表的恐龙动物群类型的研究成果,同时又提出了目前依然存在的一些亟待解决的关键问题和研究意义,有助于下一步更好的深入研究诸城晚白垩世恐龙动物群。     

河南西峡恐龙蛋壳化石的研究

本文介绍了恐龙蛋壳化石的宏观和微观结构特征,在扫描电镜下观察到了恐龙蛋壳化石的组织结构。对恐龙蛋壳化石做了碳、氧同位素分析,经研究发现,恐龙蛋壳化石碳、氧同位素异常主要与成岩次生变化有关。要从恐龙蛋壳化石的碳、氧同位素上去追索恐龙的食物类型、生态环境及其绝灭原因等,必须对恐龙蛋壳化石的原生碳酸盐矿物和次生碳酸盐矿物加以分离。     

内蒙古乌拉特中旗恐龙足迹研究

2006年内蒙古地质环境监测院在乌拉特中旗海流图镇西10公里处发现一恐龙足迹化石点。由于恐龙足迹产地的地层研究程度较低,因此这批恐龙足迹的研究在地层年代确定、以及恢复古环境方面具有重大意义。共识别出脊椎动物足迹化石119个,其中大部分为恐龙足迹,包括兽脚类恐龙足迹:玫瑰实雷龙足迹(Eubrontes glenrosensis)、海流图卡岩塔足迹(Kayentapus hailiutuensis ichnosp.nov)和鸟脚类恐龙足迹中型异样龙足迹种(Anomoepus intermedius),以及鳄类足迹的蛙步足迹,其中海流图卡岩塔足迹(Kayentapus hailiutuensisichnosp.nov)为新种。根据足迹形态的对比,推断造迹恐龙分别为兽脚类恐龙中的巨齿龙类(Megalosaurus)和双脊龙类(Dilophosaurus)以及鸟脚类恐龙棱齿龙类(Hypsilophodont)。通过对比发现乌拉特与波兰Opatw附近的Podole地区的早侏罗世的足迹组合十分相似,因此建议将乌拉特中旗海流图的足迹及含足迹地层的年代归入侏罗纪早期。根据对足迹产地附近的地层剖面的研究以及足迹组合中含大量鸟脚类恐龙足迹的事实推断:侏罗纪早期研究区古环境为山涧河流环境,雨量充沛。     

宁夏恐龙足迹的发现及其意义

报道了在宁夏固原首次发现的恐龙足迹化石。该恐龙足迹化石分别为鸟脚类恐龙足迹和蜥脚类恐龙足迹,均发现于早白垩世李洼峡组沉积地层中。其中的鸟脚类恐龙足迹命名为六盘山宁夏足印 ( Ningxiapus liupanshanensis ichnogenus et inchnosp． nov． ) 。六盘山宁夏足印长与宽之比为1. 22; 第I 趾纤细,短于第IV 趾; 第II 趾与第III 趾之间夹角为35°,第III 趾与第IV 趾之间夹角为45° 等特征区别于其他鸟脚类恐龙脚印。新发现的蜥脚类恐龙以足迹化石形式保存,其前、后足印的长度大小分别为36 cm 和15 cm,应为中等大小的蜥脚类恐龙所留下。这些恐龙足迹化石的发现,为研究该地区的古生物地理及古生态的恢复以及为将来在该地区发现恐龙骨骼化石提供重要信息。     

Research on Dinoasur Footprints in Zizhou, Shaanxi Province, China

In recent years, the discoveries of dinosaur footprints have been successively reported from Dianshi Town, Zizhou City, Shaanxi Province. The footprints include the tracks of theropod, ornithopod and sauropod as well. Actually, the dinosaur footprints were found by local inhabitants much earlier in history, but not for science. The slabs bearing the dinosaur footprints were collected for domestic use, such as building stones, millstones, cellar covers, sheepfold fences, windlass holders, etc. This paper is to describe the dinosaur footprints on both sides of three slabs used for cellar covers, sheepfold fences and windlass holders by the local people. 24 dinosaur footprints and 4 trackways have been recognized and all of them belong to theropod. Four kinds of dinosaur footprints are identified, including 1 new ichnogenus and 2 new ichnospecies: (1) Shanbeipus caudatus ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov.; (2) Pengxianpus yulinensis ichnosp. nov.; (3) Eubrontes ichnosp; (4) Kayentapus ichnosp. Dinosaur-footprint-bearing beds were initially identified as the Fuxian Formation of the Lower Jurassic. Multipal dinosaur footprints associated with fragment plant fossils suggest a humid fluvio-lacustrine environment setting in the Ordos Basin during the early period of the Jurassic.     

A new bird track,Koreanaornis lii ichnosp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Hekou Group in the Lanzhou-Minhe Basin,Gansu, Northwest China,and implications for Early Cretaceous avian diversity

There are a growing number of Early Cretaceous avian tracks and trackways from around the world, with Asia (China and Korea) having the largest reported number and diversity of Mesozoic avian traces to date, and these new discoveries are increasing the Early Cretaceous avian ichnodivesrity of Laurasia. Here we report on a new Lower Cretaceous avian track locality in the Guanshan area, Yongjing County, Gansu Province, northwest China, and on a novel ichnospecies of Koreanaornis, Koreanaornis lii ichnosp. nov. Koreananornis lii is distinct from other Koreanaornipodidae in that it possesses a consistently wider digit divarication than previously described tridactyl tracks, and possess a short, small, posteromedially oriented hallux that displays a different orientation than that seen in Koreanaornis hamanensis. The lack of linear and angular data reported for digit I traces of many avian ichnotaxa has the potential to give misleading results in multivariate statistical analyses. Also, the wide divarication of Koreanaornis lii causes the ichnotaxon to not group with other Koreanornipodidae in multivariate analyses, but with Ignotornidae. Despite the results of the analyses, K. lii is morphologically distinct from these ichnotaxa. The results demonstrate that relying solely on multivariate statistical analyses without careful examination of footprint morphology will result in erroneous ichnospecies groupings. While new vertebrate ichnotaxa discoveries from Asia may support the hypotheses of the presence of a unique and endemic Asian vertebrate ichnofauna during the Cretaceous, the recent discovery of skeletal remains interpreted to be of a volant wading bird from the Early Cretaceous, and recent reports of tracks from volant avians, could suggest that flighted avians of the shore- and wading bird ecotypes could have had a Laurasian-wide distribution during the Early Cretaceous. However, strong convergence in foot morphology of shore- and wading birds suggests that avian ichnotaxa found in both present-day Asia and North America may have been made by birds endemic to eastern and western Laurasia during the Early Cretaceous.     

The calculation and analysis of ecological footprints,diversity and development capacity of China

The ecological footprint of China’s provinces is calculated in this paper.In general,China’s development is not sustainable because its ecological footprint is beyond its bio-capacity.The sustainability status of each province in China is presented.Ulanowicz’s developmnt capacity formula was introduced to discuss th relation ship of development and ecological footprint’s diversity.The diversity of ecological impacts is related to the efficiency with which an economy uses the source and sink services of the environment and,in this efficiency with which an economy uses the source and sink services of the environment and ,in this view,should be a factor in economic output.Development capacity,calculated from the ecological footprint and its diversity,is used to examine the relationship o economic output with the structure of the ecological footprint.China and its provinces are presented as a case study to investigate this relationship.The analysis shows that footprint capacity is significant in prdicting economic output.Increasing the ecological footprint’s diversity is presented as another way to increase development capacity.     

A Middle Jurassic sauropod tracksite in the Argana Basin,Western High Atlas,Morocco: an example of paleoichnological heritage for sustainable geotourism

A Middle Jurassic site at Tafaytour area (Argana Basin, Morocco) with trackways of six large sauropod dinosaurs is regarded as having high scientific and touristic value. The new dinosaur track site is extremely vulnerable, and suffers from continuous degradation caused by weathering and human activity. Documentation and protection of this tracksite is still a necessity for its integration into local geotourism activities, where it may have a socio-economic impact on the local population. Taking into consideration many similar tracksites, and strata of great paleontological interest in Morocco, including the Tafaytour tracksite, the implementation of legislation for the protection of Morocco's geological heritage, especially the paleoichnological heritage, to protect against destruction, is strongly recommended. This is necessary to cement geoheritage impact, both for scientific reasons and to value add to the socio-economic activities of the local people.