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A new early cretaceous dinosaur track assemblage and the first definite non-avian theropod swim trackway from China

Chinese Science Bulletin volume 58, pages 2370–2378 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

The trackway of a swimming theropod (ichnogenus Characichnos) is reported from the Lower Cretaceous Feitianshan Formation of Sichuan, China. These swim tracks help confirm that non-avian theropods were capable of forging moderately deep bodies of water. The trackway occurs on the same surface as a typical walking trackway of a sauropod (ichnogenus Brontopodus). Both occurrences are the first reported from the Cretaceous of Sichuan, and the swim tracks are the first well-preserved example of a Characichnos trackway from China. Additionally, a theropod walking trackway and several ornithopod walking trackways (similar to the ichnogenus Caririchnium) occur in the same horizon. The ornithopod trackways show a parallel orientation, suggesting gregarious behavior of the trackmakers, which may have been iguanodontiforms and/or hadrosauriforms. The co-occurrence of theropod swim tracks and theropod walking tracks suggests a fluctuation of water depth within a distinct time span.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    LiDa Xing & JianPing Zhang

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, Canada

    LiDa Xing & W. Scott Persons IV

  3. Dinosaur Tracks Museum, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, Colorado, 80217, USA

    Martin G. Lockley

  4. St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, 2180 East Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah, 84790, USA

    Andrew R. C. Milner

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

    Hendrik Klein

  6. Geological Museum of Gansu, Lanzhou, 730040, China

    DaQing Li

  7. Zhaojue County Bureau of Culture, Multimedia, Press & Sport Tourism, Zhaojue, 616150, China

    JieFang Ebi

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Xing, L., Lockley, M.G., Zhang, J. et al. A new early cretaceous dinosaur track assemblage and the first definite non-avian theropod swim trackway from China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 2370–2378 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5802-6

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Keywords

  • theropod swim tracks
  • sauropod tracks
  • ornithopod tracks
  • Feitianshan Formation
  • Early Cretaceous