Dinosaur tracks from the Cretaceous of South Korea: Distribution, occurrences and paleobiological significance

Abstract   Abundant dinosaur fossils including dinosaur footprints, eggs and nests, teeth and bones have been found from the Cretaceous non-marine deposits of Korea. Among them, dinosaur tracks are the most distinctive, and some track sites are among the most famous in the world. Until now, 27 dinosaur track localities have been discovered from the Cretaceous strata in the Gyeongsang Basin and several small basins. Ornithopod tracks are most abundant at most Korean track sites, and most of them are identified as Caririchnium ; that is, large ornithopod footprints with wide hoof impressions. Most theropod tracks are found in Neungju Basin and they consist of various types of small or medium-sized bird-like footprints, and other large footprints. Sauropod tracks are also abundant in the Gyeongsang Basin. The sauropod tracks vary in size, shape, and pattern of trackway, and suggest that diverse sauropods existed in this area. These diverse tracks in South Korea suggest that various dinosaurs flourished at the margins of lakes distributed in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula during the Cretaceous.     

河南汝阳地区-巨型蜥脚类恐龙股骨化石的发现及其地层学意义

报道了首次在河南省汝阳县发现的大型蜥脚类恐龙股骨化石。从股骨近端的大小来判断，该股骨的实际长度可能超过2m，应属于巨型蜥脚类恐龙的股骨无疑。虽然化石破碎，种属的归属存在一定的困难，但是它的发现无论从晰脚类恐龙的分布、演化还是从地层学上都具有重要意义。该恐龙股骨化石的发现，将该地区原认为属于古近系蟒川组的时代向前推至早白垩世晚期或晚白垩世早期，同时其下伏地层陈宅沟组也应划归白垩纪时期的沉积。     

吉林九台白垩系一新的蜥脚类恐龙

记述了蜥脚类恐龙(Sauropoda)中一新的属种—西地九台龙(Jiutaisaurusxidiensisgen.etsp.nov.),包括18个相关节的尾椎及13个脉弧。化石产于吉林九台白垩纪泉头组的紫色-杂色砂岩中。其主要特征为:中部尾椎椎体两侧出现前后延长的棱脊,前-中部尾椎双凹型,神经弓位于椎体前半部,脉弧不分叉,血管孔长度约占脉弧长度的1/2以上。新属种的发现对进一步研究白垩纪蜥脚类恐龙的系统演化、古地理分布等提供了新的材料。     

A New Family of Sauropod Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, China

A new gigantic sauropod, Huabeisaurus allocates gen. et sp. nov., about 20 m in length and 5 m in height, was discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Huiquanpu Formation, Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province. It is notably different from Diplodocidae, Titanosauridae and Nemegtosauridae in the following aspects: the teeth are strong, peg-like with a length ratio of the tooth crown to tooth root at about 3 to 1; the cervical vertebrae are long with forked spines; the spines in dorsal vertebrae are relatively high, unbifiarcated; the caudal vertebrae are amphicoelous, with anterior neural spines and unbifurcated spines and chevrons; the femur is straight and long, narrow and flat and the tibia and fibula are long and flat. These characters show that the described genus should represent a new family, Huabeisauridae fam. nov. The discovery enriches the sauropod dinosaur record in China, and is quite significant to the study of the taxonomy, evolution, migration, extinction and palaeobiogeographic provincialism of the     

New Evidence of Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Early Jurassic Period of Thailand

The oldest dinosaur assemblages of Thailand deposit in continental sedimentary rocks of the Nam Phong Formation. Not only Isanosaurus attavipatchi was discovered but at least two more species of basal sauropods were found. A partial skeleton from Phu Hin Tan locality refers to sauropod taxon A. It is different from Isanosaurus and shares some characteristics with basal sauropods in the Early Jurassic. The sauropod taxon B was found in Non Sra Ard locality. Base on postcranial skeleton, sauropod taxon B shares some characteristics of the family Vulcanodontidae. Moreover, several fragments of the sauropods specimen are also found in Pha Khok Wang Yang and Phu Noi localities. All of the evidences above indicate that there are a highly diversity of sauropods in the Nam Phong Formation. At least three sauropod species (including Isanosaurus) were found in the Nam Phong formation. The issue about the age of the Nam Phong has been debated for a long time between the Triassic and Jurassic age. All of sauropodomorphs, in this study, are more likely the Early Jurassic period dinosaurs than the Triassic period dinosaurs. And they have deposited in the upper part of Nam Phong Formation.     

中国西南攀西地区下侏罗统益门组蜥脚类足迹:分类学与潜在的造迹者

恐龙足迹和骨骼的记录往往出现在不同的地区。然而,一些地层显示了关系紧密的骨骼和足迹,它们都指向同一个来源。报道了来自四川省攀西地区会理县通安镇通保村下侏罗统益门组中上部的蜥脚类足迹(雷龙足迹Brontopodus),其地理和地层归属均与真蜥脚类的何氏通安龙极为接近。通保足迹与造迹者的关联是可能的,但目前还需要更多的证据。通保的雷龙足迹是攀西地区首次发现侏罗纪的蜥脚类足迹,这也表明,在早侏罗世,原始蜥脚类和基干蜥脚型类共存于中国西南地区。     

河南省汝阳巨型蜥脚类恐龙动物群及含化石地层时代讨论

在河南省汝阳盆地原划分的古近系始新统"蟒川组"中新发现了大量的恐龙化石。这个动物群主要以植食性的巨型、大型蜥脚类恐龙为主,兼有鸭嘴龙类及肉食性小型兽脚类、大型肉食龙类为辅的恐龙动物群,经初步研究确认至少有10种以上新属种恐龙,还有大量的恐龙蛋壳、龟鳖类、双壳类、植物类等丰富的动植物化石,被称为"汝阳巨型蜥脚类恐龙动物群"。该动物群代表了我国早白垩世晚期至晚白垩早期的恐龙动物群,其分异程度也比以前想象的高得多。而轮藻、介形虫和孢粉等微体化石组合特征、地层叠合关系和区域对比等综合分析,更多显示了汝阳盆地赋存恐龙化石的地层时代为早白垩世中晚期的特征。无疑,汝阳盆地原划分为始新世的"陈宅沟组"、"蟒川组"应为白垩纪,至于是早白垩世中晚期或是晚白垩世早期,还需要更多的证据才能确定。     

小江断裂带巧家段巨型古滑坡及其工程地质特征

巧家地处小江断裂带与则木河断裂、五莲峰断裂相交地带, 地质构造复杂, 断裂与地震活动频繁, 崩滑流地质灾害极为发育。通过遥感解译与工程地质分析, 在小江断裂带巧家段东侧识别出一处巨型古滑坡。巧家古滑坡平面形态为筲箕形, 堆积体长5.5 km, 宽9 km, 平均厚度约250 m, 预测体积达到约 10亿m3。古滑坡后缘为典型的圈椅状地貌, 两侧边界多沿基岩地层中的次级断层发育, 并在地表呈阶梯式的台阶状地形。堆积体的岩性主要由二叠系阳新组灰岩组成, 局部存在二叠系峨眉山组玄武岩, 多具碎裂-松散结构。整体上看, 该滑坡体风化强烈, 中前部发育大型纵向冲沟, 暗示形成时代较老。综合分析认为, 巧家古滑坡成因极可能是由于小江断裂带强烈左旋走滑作用下, 导致巧家东侧山地发生持续性的构造抬升, 并在巨大地震活动触发下形成。关于小江断裂带巧家段在未来的大地震活动背景下, 是否可能导致古巨型滑坡复活, 或该区是否还存在发生类似巨型地震滑坡的风险等问题, 显然值得进一步深入研究。     

A New Sauropod, Gongxianosaurus, from the Lower Jurassic of Sichuan, China

The paper describes an early and primitive sauropod dinosaur, Gongxianosaurus shibeiensis (gen. et sp. nov.), from the Dongyuemiao Member of the Lower Jurassic Ziliujing Formation in Shibei Township, Gongxian County, Sichuan Province, China, which is one of the 5 dinosaur fossils discovered in Gongxian in 1997. Except the skull which is incomplete, the fossils are well preserved. It has some features of both sauropods and prosauropods. It is an intermediate type in the evolution of dinosaurs from prosauropods to sauropods and provides materials for the study of the origin and evolution of the sauropod dinosaur fauna. The discovery of this new sauropod furnishes a way for the stratigraphic correlation between the Early Jurassic Ziliujing Formation in the Sichuan basin and the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation in the Central Yunnan basin.     

甘肃省永靖县盐锅峡发现大型蜥脚类恐龙足迹

甘肃永靖盐锅峡下白垩统河口群盐锅峡组发现大量恐龙足迹化石 .初步调查发现了 10个化石点 2 93个足印化石 .其中在 1号点 6 0 0m2 的发掘面上 ,保存有 7组蜥脚类 138个足印、9组兽脚类 6 0个足印、1组鸟脚类 3个脚印和 1组翼龙类 11个足印 .7组蜥脚类足印形成4组保存完好的行迹和 3组的足迹组合 .最大的蜥脚类足印化石前脚 790mm× 112 0mm ,后脚 15 0 0mm× 14 2 0mm ,是目前发现的世界上最大的恐龙足印之一 .盐锅峡蜥脚类恐龙足迹可以分为 3种类型 :第 1类足迹前脚为新月形 ,后脚为椭圆形 ,前后足印不重合并均向外偏转 ;第 2类足迹前脚为半圆形 ,后脚为椭圆形 ,前后足印部分重合 ,后脚印向外偏转 ;第 3类足迹前脚半圆形 ,后脚U形 ,前后足印明显分离并均向外偏转 .蜥脚类恐龙足迹向外偏转反映恐龙成“外八字”型行走 ,这种行进方式可能与其巨大的体重有关 .根据计算 ,盐锅峡蜥脚类恐龙臀高最小为 3.0 4m ,最大可达到 5 .3m .恐龙行走的速度 2 .3～ 3.4km/h .古环境、古地理分析认为白垩纪甘肃兰州—青海民和一带为一内陆淡水湖盆 .盐锅峡一带的恐龙足迹化石就发现于最近湖中心的“雾宿山古岛”西侧湖岸上 .虽然白垩纪当地气候并不湿润 ,但湖岸地区草肥水美 ,是恐龙及其他陆生生物的乐园 .