Hekou Group | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous, [1] | |
Type | Geologic group |
Sub-units | Huazhuang Formation, Hongkoucheng Formation, Yanguoxia Formation, Zhujiatai Formation |
Underlies | Unconformity: Minhe Formation |
Overlies | Unconformity: Xiangtang Formation |
Thickness | 3,700 m (12,100 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone, mudstone, conglomerate |
Location | |
Coordinates | 35°54′N103°18′E / 35.9°N 103.3°E |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 34°48′N103°06′E / 34.8°N 103.1°E |
Region | Gansu |
Country | China |
Extent | Longzhong Basin |
The Hekou Group is a geological group in Gansu Province, China. It is Early Cretaceous in age. Many dinosaur fossils have been recovered from the Hekou Group, including iguanodonts, large sauropods, and armored dinosaurs. Fossil eggs are rare, but one oogenus, Polyclonoolithus , was discovered in the Hekou Group. [2] Extensive fossil tracks belonging to pterosaurs and dinosaurs have also been described. [3] [4] The group spans the Valanginian to Albian and can be subdivided into four formations. [1]
Genus | Species | Region | Material | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Daxiatitan | D. binglingi | Upper; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin [5] | A partial skeleton including cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, ribs, and a haemal arch, scapulocoracoid, and femur | A large titanosauriform sauropod | |
Huanghetitan | H. liujiaxiaensis | Upper; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin [5] | A partial skeleton including caudal vertebrae, a partial sacrum and ribs, and the left shoulder girdle | A large titanosauriform sauropod | |
Yongjinglong [5] | Y. datangi | Upper; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin | A partial skeleton including teeth, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, a rib, the left scapulocoracoid, and the right ulna and radius | A euhelopodid titanosauriform sauropod [6] |
Genus | Species | Region | Material | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lanzhousaurus [7] | L. magnidens | A partial skeleton including the mandible, maxillary teeth, dentary teeth, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, sternal plates, ribs, and pubes | A large styracosternan iguanodontian | ||
Stegosaurus [8] | S. sp. | Upper member; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin | A partial skeleton including cervical and dorsal vertebrae, ribs, a right forelimb (including a partial humerus, ulna, and radius), and one dermal plate | A stegosaur distinct from Wuerhosaurus and Stegosaurus stenops. Likely contemporary with Taohelong. | |
Taohelong [9] | T. jinchengensis | Upper member; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin | A partial skeleton including ribs, a left ilium, a caudal vertebra, and part of the sacral shield | A nodosaurid ankylosaur, originally described as the first Asian member of the Polacanthinae |
Genus | Species | Region | Material | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sinamia [10] | S. lanshoensis | Middle–Lower subgroup; "fish quarry" | Many well-preserved specimens as part and counterpart fossils | A sinamiid amiiform fish |
Lanzhousaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur. Lanzhousaurus lived in the Gansu region of what is now China during the Early Cretaceous (Barremian). A partial skeleton has been recovered from the Hekou Group. It was described by You, Ji and Li in 2005 and the type and only species is Lanzhousaurus magnidens. It's been estimated to be about 10 meters in length and 6 tonnes in weight.
The Xiagou Formation is the middle strata of the Xinminbao Group. It is named for its type site in Xiagou, in the Changma Basin of Gansu Province, northwestern China and is considered Early Cretaceous in age. It is known outside the specialized world of Chinese geology as the site of a Lagerstätte in which the fossils were preserved of Gansus yumenensis, the earliest true modern bird.
Huanghetitan, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period. It was a basal titanosauriform which lived in what is now Gansu, China.
The Ziliujing Formation is a geological formation in China, It is Early Jurassic in age. It is part of the stratigraphy of the Sichuan Basin. The dinosaur Gongxianosaurus and indeterminate theropod material are known from the Dongyuemiao Member of the formation, as well as dinosaur footprints, Zizhongosaurus and indeterminate prosauropods from the Da'anzhai Member. The basal sauropod Sanpasaurus is known from the Maanshan Member. An unnamed stegosaur and the pliosauroid plesiosaur Sinopliosaurus are also known from this formation but they were found an indeterminate member. An unnamed teleosaurid known from a complete skull has also been found in the formation, pending a formal description. The deposition environment during the Da'anzhai Member in the lower Toarcian is thought to have been that of a giant freshwater lake encompassing the whole of the Sichuan basin, around 3 times larger than Lake Superior, coeval with the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event around 183 Ma.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2005.
The Iren Dabasu Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation in the Iren Nor region of Inner Mongolia. Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The formation was first described and defined by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1922 and it is located in the Iren Nor region of China.
Daxiatitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from the Lower Cretaceous of Gansu, China. Its type and only species is Daxiatitan binglingi. It is known from a single partial skeleton consisting of most of the neck and back vertebrae, two tail vertebrae, a shoulder blade, and a thigh bone. At the time of its discovery in 2008, Daxiatitan was regarded as potentially the largest known dinosaur from China.
Ruyangosaurus is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur recovered from the Early Cretaceous Haoling Formation of China. The type species is R. giganteus, described in 2009 by Lü Junchang et al.
Xiongguanlong is an extinct genus of tyrannosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now China. The type and only species is X. baimoensis. The generic name comes from Jiayuguan City and the Mandarin word "long" which means dragon. The specific epithet, "baimoensis" is a latinization of the Mandarin word for "white ghost" in reference to one of the geological features of the type locality.
The Nanxiong Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation in Guangdong Province. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Egg fossils are the fossilized remains of eggs laid by ancient animals. As evidence of the physiological processes of an animal, egg fossils are considered a type of trace fossil. Under rare circumstances a fossil egg may preserve the remains of the once-developing embryo inside, in which case it also contains body fossils. A wide variety of different animal groups laid eggs that are now preserved in the fossil record beginning in the Paleozoic. Examples include invertebrates like ammonoids as well as vertebrates like fishes, possible amphibians, and reptiles. The latter group includes the many dinosaur eggs that have been recovered from Mesozoic strata. Since the organism responsible for laying any given egg fossil is frequently unknown, scientists classify eggs using a parallel system of taxonomy separate from but modeled after the Linnaean system. This "parataxonomy" is called veterovata.
Taohelong is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur known from Lower Cretaceous rocks in north-central China.
Yongjinglong is an extinct genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous of Lanzhou-Minhe Basin of Gansu Province, China. It contains a single species, Yongjinglong datangi.
The year 2010 in Archosaur paleontology was eventful. Archosaurs include the only living dinosaur group — birds — and the reptile crocodilians, plus all extinct dinosaurs, extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosaur palaeontology is the scientific study of those animals, especially as they existed before the Holocene Epoch began about 11,700 years ago. The year 2010 in paleontology included various significant developments regarding archosaurs.
The year 2009 in Archosaur paleontology was eventful. Archosaurs include the only living dinosaur group — birds — and the reptile crocodilians, plus all extinct dinosaurs, extinct crocodilian relatives, and pterosaurs. Archosaur paleontology is the scientific study of those animals, especially as they existed before the Holocene Epoch began about 11,700 years ago. The year 2009 in paleontology included various significant developments regarding archosaurs.
Polyclonoolithus is an oogenus of fossil dinosaur egg. It is from the Early Cretaceous of Gansu, China. They have distinctive, branching eggshell units, which may represent the original form of spheroolithids.
This article records new taxa of fossil archosaurs of every kind that are scheduled described during the year 2014, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of archosaurs that are scheduled to occur in the year 2014.
Yanbeilong is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) Zuoyun Formation of Shanxi, China. The type and only species is Y. ultimus. It is considered one of the youngest definitive records of the group, alongside Mongolostegus from Mongolia and possible Stegosaurus remains from the Hekou Group of China, both of which date to the Aptian–Albian.
Baiyinosaurus is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Wangjiashan Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, B. baojiensis, known from a partial skeleton including cranial bones. The skeletal anatomy of Baiyinosaurus demonstrates transitional features between basal thyreophorans and stegosaurs. While many stegosaurs are known from China, Baiyinosaurus is the only one currently named from Gansu Province.