Hekou Group

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Hekou Group
Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous, [1] Valanginian–Albian
Type Geologic group
Sub-units Huazhuang Formation,
Hongkoucheng Formation,
Yanguoxia Formation,
Zhujiatai Formation
UnderliesUnconformity: Minhe Formation
OverliesUnconformity: Xiangtang Formation
Thickness3,700 m (12,100 ft)
Lithology
Primary Sandstone, mudstone, conglomerate
Location
Coordinates 35°54′N103°18′E / 35.9°N 103.3°E / 35.9; 103.3
Approximate paleocoordinates 34°48′N103°06′E / 34.8°N 103.1°E / 34.8; 103.1
Region Gansu
CountryFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Extent Longzhong Basin
China edcp relief location map.jpg
Green pog.svg
Hekou Group (China)
China Gansu rel location map.svg
Green pog.svg
Hekou Group (Gansu)

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]

Contents

Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaurs

Saurischians

GenusSpeciesRegionMaterialNotesImages
Daxiatitan D. binglingiUpper; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin [5] A partial skeleton including cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, ribs, and a haemal arch, scapulocoracoid, and femurA large titanosauriform sauropod
Daxiatitan.jpg
Huanghetitan H. liujiaxiaensisUpper; Lanzhou-Minhe Basin [5] A partial skeleton including caudal vertebrae, a partial sacrum and ribs, and the left shoulder girdleA large titanosauriform sauropod
Huanghetitan NMNS.jpg
Yongjinglong [5] Y. datangiUpper; Lanzhou-Minhe BasinA partial skeleton including teeth, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, a rib, the left scapulocoracoid, and the right ulna and radiusA euhelopodid titanosauriform sauropod [6]
Yongjinglong.png

Ornithischians

GenusSpeciesRegionMaterialNotesImages
Lanzhousaurus [7] L. magnidensA partial skeleton including the mandible, maxillary teeth, dentary teeth, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, sternal plates, ribs, and pubesA large styracosternan iguanodontian
Lanzhousaurus UDL.png
Stegosaurus [8] S. sp.Upper member; Lanzhou-Minhe BasinA partial skeleton including cervical and dorsal vertebrae, ribs, a right forelimb (including a partial humerus, ulna, and radius), and one dermal plateA stegosaur distinct from Wuerhosaurus and Stegosaurus stenops. Likely contemporary with Taohelong.
Taohelong [9] T. jinchengensisUpper member; Lanzhou-Minhe BasinA partial skeleton including ribs, a left ilium, a caudal vertebra, and part of the sacral shieldA nodosaurid ankylosaur, originally described as the first Asian member of the Polacanthinae

Fish

GenusSpeciesRegionMaterialNotesImages
Sinamia [10] S. lanshoensisMiddle–Lower subgroup; "fish quarry"Many well-preserved specimens as part and counterpart fossilsA sinamiid amiiform fish

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References

  1. 1 2 Xi, D.; Wan, X.; Li, G.; Li, G. (2018). "Cretaceous integrative stratigraphy and timescale of China". Science China Earth Sciences. 61: 1–31. doi:10.1007/s11430-017-9262-y.
  2. Xie, J.-F., Zhang, S.-K., Jin, X.-S., Li, D.-Q., and Zhou, L.-Q. (2016) "A new type of dinosaur eggs from Early Cretaceous of Gansu Province, China. Archived 2016-01-29 at the Wayback Machine " Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 54(1):1-10.
  3. Lockley, M.; Harris, J.D.; and Mitchell, L. 2008. "A global overview of pterosaur ichnology: tracksite distribution in space and time." Zitteliana. B28. p. 187-198. ISSN   1612-4138.
  4. Li, Dawing; Azuma, Yoichi; Fujita, Masato; Lee, Yuong-Nam; Arakawa, Yohei (2006). "A preliminary report on two new vertebrae track sites including dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Hekou Group, Gansu Province, china". Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea. 22 (1): 29–49.
  5. 1 2 3 Li, L. G.; Li, D. Q.; You, H. L.; Dodson, P. (2014). Butler, Richard J (ed.). "A New Titanosaurian Sauropod from the Hekou Group (Lower Cretaceous) of the Lanzhou-Minhe Basin, Gansu Province, China". PLOS ONE. 9 (1): e85979. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085979 . PMC   3906019 . PMID   24489684.
  6. Mannion, P.D.; Upchurch, P.; Jin, X.; Zheng, W. (2019). "New information on the Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs of Zhejiang Province, China: impact on Laurasian titanosauriform phylogeny and biogeography". Royal Society Open Science. 6 (8): 191057. doi: 10.1098/rsos.191057 . PMC   6731702 . PMID   31598266.
  7. You, Hailu; Ji, Qiang; Li, Daqing (2005). "Lanzhousaurus magnidens gen. et sp. nov. from Gansu Province, China: the largest-toothed herbivorous dinosaur in the world" [中国甘肃发现世界上最大牙齿的植食性恐龙:巨齿兰州龙(新属、新种)]. Geological Bulletin of China. 24 (9): 785–794. ISSN   1671-2552.
  8. Li, Ning; Li, Daqing; Peng, Guangzhao; You, Hailu (2024). "The first stegosaurian dinosaur from Gansu Province, China". Cretaceous Research (in press). 105852. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105852.
  9. Yang J.-T.; You H.-L.; Li D.-Q.; Kong D.-L. (2013). "First discovery of polacanthine ankylosaur dinosaur in Asia" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica (in Chinese and English). 51 (4): 265–277.
  10. Peng, Cuo; Murray, Alison M.; Brinkman, Donald B.; Zhang, Jiang-Yong; You, Hai-Lu (2015-03-04). "A new species of Sinamia (Amiiformes, Sinamiidae) from the Early Cretaceous of Lanzhou Basin, Gansu, China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 35 (2): e902847. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.902847. ISSN   0272-4634.

See also