Dinosaur tracks from Beijing, China

[Ben Creisler <bscreisler@yahoo.com>]

From: Ben Creisler
bscreisler@yahoo.com
 
 
 Many thanks to Xing Lida for bringing this new paper to my attention. Note 
that the English-language version should appear later in the English version of 
open-access Chinese Science Bulletin 
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/1001-6538/preprint/).  For now, this is 
the Chinese version with nice photos.
 
　
Zhang Jianping, Xing Lida, Gierliński, Gerard D., Wu Fadong, Tian Mingzhong & 
Currie, Philip (2012)
First record of dinosaur trackways in Beijing, China. [in Chinese] 
Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) 57: 144–152 
doi: 10.1360/972011-1963 
Can be downloaded for free at:  
http://xinglida.net/paper_list.htmhttp://xinglida.net/pdf/Xing_et%20_al_2012_Beijing%20track.pdf
 
 
We describe a number of newly discovered dinosaur tracks from the Late 
Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Tuchengzi Formation, located in the core zone of 
Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark, during field work for the preparation 
of global geopark application  in Yanqing County, Beijing. The preliminary 
research indicates that these may comprise thyreophoran (cf. Deltapodus  isp.), 
theropod, ornithopod and probably sauropod tracks. The thyreophoran tracks 
indicate the presence of this family during the Late Jurassic in the 
Jibei-Liaoxi area. This may be related to the presence of ankylosaurids from 
the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, in Chaoyang, Liaoning. As they are rare, 
high-speed theropod tracks reveal  aspects of their paleoethology. The dinosaur 
tracks from Yanqing constitute the first evidence of dinosaurs  in Beijing. 
These also enrich the knowledge on the diversity of dinosaur species in  the 
Tuchengzi Formation, which provides an excellent
 evolutionary sample to compare with that of the later Jehol Fauna.