We herein describe an associated partial postcranial skeleton of a theropod dinosaur discovered in the Lower Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of the Yujingzi Basin, in the Jiuquan area of Gausu Province, northwestern China. ...We herein describe an associated partial postcranial skeleton of a theropod dinosaur discovered in the Lower Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of the Yujingzi Basin, in the Jiuquan area of Gausu Province, northwestern China. Features of its humerus, such as strongly expanded proximal and distal ends, a well developed medial tuberosity, distal condyles expressed on the humeral cranial surface, and a hypertrophied entepicondyle, definitively establish the therizinosauroid affinities of the specimen. It differs from other therizinosauroids in having a shallow, poorly demarcated glenoid fossa with a prominent rounded and striated tumescence on the dorsomedial surface of its scapular portion, and a pubis with a strongly concave cranial margin. It represents a new taxon, Suzhousaurus megatherioides gen. et sp. nov. Cladistic analysis recovers Suzhousaurus as the sister taxon of Nothronychus mckinleyi from the mid-Cretaceous of western North America; together, they are basal members of the Therizinosauroidea, more derived than the Early Cretaceous Falcarius and Beipiaosaurus but less derived than Alxasaurus and the Therizinosauridae. Along with "Nanshiungosaurus" bohlini from possibly coeval beds in the Mazongshan area of northern-most Gansu, Suzhousaurus represents one of the largest-known Early Cretaceous therizinosauroids, demonstrating that this clade attained considerable body size early in its evolutionary history.展开更多
A new dinosaur tracksite was discovered in a steeply inclined sandstone layer of the Middle Jurassic Sanjianfang Formation in the Shanshan area of the Turpan Basin. The site is the first record of dinosaur footprints ...A new dinosaur tracksite was discovered in a steeply inclined sandstone layer of the Middle Jurassic Sanjianfang Formation in the Shanshan area of the Turpan Basin. The site is the first record of dinosaur footprints from Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. More than 150 tridactyl theropod dinosaur footprints are preserved as positive hyporeliefs on the lower bedding plane of a fine-grained sandstone body. Most of the footprints are isolated and appear to be randomly distributed. Some show well defined phalangeal pads, heels and rarely indistinct impressions of the distal part of the metatarsus. Two distinct morphotypes are present: a larger type with relatively broad pads shows similarities to Changpeipus and Megalosauripus, and a slightly smaller, slender and gracile type which is similar to Grallator, Eubrontes and Anchisauripus. In both morphotypes, digit III is the longest with a length between 11.4 and 33.6 cm. A single imprint shows prominent scratches, probably formed during slipping of the track maker.展开更多
基金We are grateful to Ji Qiang, Tang Zhilu, and Peter Dodson for their generous help. We also thank Zhang Yuqing for the preparation of FRDC-GSJB-99 Equal thanks go to every member of the field team. Early drafts of this paper benefited from discussions with Lindsay Zanno and Bucky Gates. Funding was provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (973 Project: 2006CB701405) to Ji Qiang, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40672007) the Hundred Talents Project of Ministry of Land and Resources of China to You Hailu, and Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources of Gansu Province to Li Daqing.
文摘We herein describe an associated partial postcranial skeleton of a theropod dinosaur discovered in the Lower Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of the Yujingzi Basin, in the Jiuquan area of Gausu Province, northwestern China. Features of its humerus, such as strongly expanded proximal and distal ends, a well developed medial tuberosity, distal condyles expressed on the humeral cranial surface, and a hypertrophied entepicondyle, definitively establish the therizinosauroid affinities of the specimen. It differs from other therizinosauroids in having a shallow, poorly demarcated glenoid fossa with a prominent rounded and striated tumescence on the dorsomedial surface of its scapular portion, and a pubis with a strongly concave cranial margin. It represents a new taxon, Suzhousaurus megatherioides gen. et sp. nov. Cladistic analysis recovers Suzhousaurus as the sister taxon of Nothronychus mckinleyi from the mid-Cretaceous of western North America; together, they are basal members of the Therizinosauroidea, more derived than the Early Cretaceous Falcarius and Beipiaosaurus but less derived than Alxasaurus and the Therizinosauridae. Along with "Nanshiungosaurus" bohlini from possibly coeval beds in the Mazongshan area of northern-most Gansu, Suzhousaurus represents one of the largest-known Early Cretaceous therizinosauroids, demonstrating that this clade attained considerable body size early in its evolutionary history.
文摘A new dinosaur tracksite was discovered in a steeply inclined sandstone layer of the Middle Jurassic Sanjianfang Formation in the Shanshan area of the Turpan Basin. The site is the first record of dinosaur footprints from Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. More than 150 tridactyl theropod dinosaur footprints are preserved as positive hyporeliefs on the lower bedding plane of a fine-grained sandstone body. Most of the footprints are isolated and appear to be randomly distributed. Some show well defined phalangeal pads, heels and rarely indistinct impressions of the distal part of the metatarsus. Two distinct morphotypes are present: a larger type with relatively broad pads shows similarities to Changpeipus and Megalosauripus, and a slightly smaller, slender and gracile type which is similar to Grallator, Eubrontes and Anchisauripus. In both morphotypes, digit III is the longest with a length between 11.4 and 33.6 cm. A single imprint shows prominent scratches, probably formed during slipping of the track maker.
基金K. Hayashibara (former president of the Hayash-ibara Company Limited,Okayama,Japan) for his continuous financial support of the Japanese-Mongolian Joint Paleontological Expedition since 1993TT was supported by JSPS Post-doctoral Fellowships and Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows from the Japan Society for Promotion of ScienceTT also thanks M. Manabe ( National Museum of Nature and Science,Tokyo) for continuous support for his research