Barremian-Albian Cretaceous Pterosaur Trackways Found in China

Pterosaur trackways from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation (Barremian–Albian) of Qijiang, Southwest China

Authors:

1. Lida Xing (a)
2. Martin G. Lockley (b)
3. Laura Piñuela (c)
4. Jianping Zhang (a)
5. Hendrik Klein 9d)
6. Daqing Li (e)
7. Fengping Wang (f)

Affiliations:

a. School of Earth Sciences Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China

b. Dinosaur Trackers Research Group, University of Colorado at Denver, Colorado 80217-3364 USA

c. Museo del Jurásico de Asturias MUJA (Jurassic Museum of Asturias), Colunga E-33328, Spain

d. Saurierwelt Paläontologisches Museum, Alte Richt 7, D-92318 Neumarkt, Germany

e. Geological Museum of Gansu, Lanzhou 730040 China

f. Qijiang District Bureau of Land Resources, Chongqing 401420 China

Abstract:

The Lotus Fortress tracksite in the Qijiang National Geological Park, in Qijiang District, Chongqing Municipality consists of two distinct assemblages associated with different surfaces (Qijiang Layers 1 and 2). The lower of these two assemblages, here labeled as the “Wupus-Pteraichnus ichnoassemblage” is dominated by multiple, mainly parallel trackways of a small tridactyl and five trackways of pterosaurs (Pteraichnus). The upper surface assemblage, here labeled as the “Caririchnium ichnoassemblage”, is dominated by the tracks of ornithopods (Caririchnium lotus). Here we give a detailed description of the Pteraichnus tracks and evaluate their paleoecological significance together with other reports of pterosaur tracks from East Asia.

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