Ziliujing Formation | |
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Stratigraphic range: Toarcian, | |
Type | Geological formation |
Sub-units | Dongyuemiao Member, Maanshan Member, Daanzhai Member |
Underlies | Xintiangou Formation |
Overlies | Zhenzhuchong Formation |
Thickness | Dongyuemiao M. 5 to 11.2 metres (20 to 40 ft), Maanshan M. 131 to 180 metres (430 to 590 ft) Daanzhai M. 18 to 45.2 metres (60 to 150 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Mudstone |
Other | Sandstone |
Location | |
Country | China |
Extent | Sichuan Basin |
Type section | |
Named for | Ziliujing District |
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. [1] The basal sauropod Sanpasaurus is known from the Maanshan Member. [2] An unnamed stegosaur and the pliosauroid plesiosaur Sinopliosaurus are also known from this formation but they were found an indeterminate member. [2] An unnamed teleosaurid known from a complete skull has also been found in the formation, pending a formal description. [3] 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. [4]
Color key
| Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, considered a member of the family Unionidae inside Unionida. Ecological indicator of shallow zone of the big fresh-water lake under a hot climate | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Unionidae inside Unionida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Unionidae inside Unionida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Unionidae inside Unionida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Unionidae inside Unionida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Unionidae inside Unionida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Margaritiferidae inside Unionida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater mussel, member of the family Mytilidae inside Mytiloida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater clam, member of the family Pseudocardiniidae inside Trigoniida. | ||
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| Isolated Shells | A freshwater clam, member of the family Pseudocardiniidae inside Trigoniida. | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Limnadiidae. The species Palaeolimnadia baitianbaensis represent the main member of its own fauna section, that comprises other 52 species of Phyllopods | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Limnadiidae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Lioestheriinae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Lioestheriinae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Lioestheriinae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Triglyptidae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Triglyptidae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Triglyptidae. | ||
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| A clam shrimp (“conchostracan”), member of the family Ovjuridae. | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| Bony Fish, considered a member of the family Semionotidae. The only major Bony fish recovered in this unit, with resemblance with coeval European species. Unlike that ones, the local Lepidotes lived in Freshwater settings. | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Material | Section | Notes | Images |
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Ceratodus szechuanensis |
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| A freshwater Lungfish, type member of the Ceratodontidae inside Ceratodontiformes. Lungfish related with late jurassic genera of the same region | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| A plesiosaur, considered a member of the family Rhomaleosauridae. An unusual freshwater plesiosaur linked to the large Sichuan Lake system developed locally. [10] | ||
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| A plesiosaur, considered a member of the family Pliosauridae. Likely an invalid genus of freshwater pliosaur | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| Turtle remains of uncertain affinity. The only major turtle remains recovered in this unit. This along some undescribed shell fragments from the Lower Jurassic of Sichuan appear to represent the first documented occurrence of the fossil Testudines in China | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| A teleosaur, considered a member of the family Teleosaurinae. An unusual freshwater teleosauroid, previously referred Peipehsuchus teleorhinus. [12] | ||
Teleosaurus? sp. |
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| A teleosaur, considered a member of the family Teleosaurinae. | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Section | Material | Notes | Images |
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| Footprints | Ornithischian footprints which resemble the pes of some neornithischians | ||
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| Footprints | Sauropod footprints which resemble the pes of some mamenchisaurids. Associated Brontopodus-like trackway with Liujianpus indicates that small and large sauropodomorphs may have co-existed. | ||
Cetiosauridae Indet. |
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| A eusauropod related to the family Cetiosauridae; likely the oldest referred specimen to this family | ||
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| Indeterminate remains of theropods with resemblance to the genus Elaphrosaurus , initially thought to be a member of Coeluridae. [2] | ||
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| Footprints | Theropod footprints of uncertain affinity, probably related to theropods such as Dilophosaurus | ||
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| A sauropod that may represent a late-surviving basal member of the group. It has some features of both sauropods and sauropodomorphs, and may be regarded as an intermediate type in the evolution between both groups. | ||
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| Footprints | Theropod footprints of uncertain affinity. The Grallator relationships of these tracks are solid, as they don't display features of other ichnogenera found in the early Jurassic of the same region. Includes some of the smallest Grallator (and avian theropod) tracks ever described in the literature. [22] | ||
Liujianpus shunan |
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| Footprints | Sauropodomorph footprints, with features seen in the ichnogenus Otozum, as well as in the sauropod ichnogenus Brontopodus. This ichnogenus dominates all the track assemblages where it is found, with a presence of up the 97%. [23] | ||
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| A sauropodomorph; probably a member of the family Massospondylidae. One of the youngest non-sauropod sauropodomorphs discovered worldwide. It represents its own faunal section. | ||
Mamenchisauridae Indet. |
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| An eusauropod, related to the family Mamenchisauridae; likely the oldest referred specimen to this family (Unless Tonganosaurus is a mamenchisaur) | ||
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| Indeterminate remains of theropods, very common along Gongxianosaurus fossils. | ||
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| Indeterminate remains of possible ornithischians | ||
Parabrontopodus isp. |
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| Footprints | Sauropod footprints. The narrow-gauge trackway pattern resembles Parabrontopodus , well known from the Jurassic, but other features, such as the low heteropody, are different | ||
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| A sauropodomorph; the associated clutch provides strong evidence for the earliest known leathery eggs. | ||
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| A sauropod with uncertain affinities inside the group. Originally interpreted it as the remains of an ornithopod ornithischian. [27] | ||
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| A sauropod, referred to the family Shunosaurinae. Likely not Shunosaurus. It was described in the Zigong Museum Guide | ||
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| Indeterminate remains of possible thyrephorans. "Gen. indet. imperfectus" represents a large possible ornithischian or a sauropod that was originally assigned to Sanpasaurus | ||
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| An invalid genus of sauropod of uncertain affinities. "Yibinosaurus" is from the same locality as Gongxianosaurus, and Gongxianosaurus sp. nov. may be the "Yibinosaurus" material | ||
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| A sauropod, referred to the family Vulcanodontidae or Shunosaurinae. It builds its own faunal section, yet some authors view it as a nomen dubium. | ||
Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
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| Affinities with Equisetaceae inside Equisetales. Based on analogies with morphologically similar extant Equisetum species, it is interpreted to represent a plant of consistently moist habitats, such as marshes, lake margins or forest understorey, developed normally dense thickets. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Matoniaceae inside Gleicheniales. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. Dictyophyllum is a common Dipteridacean genus of the mid-Mesozoic. Here is indicator of Toarcian age for the sedimnets | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Schizaeaceae inside Schizaeales. Grass Ferns | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Schizaeaceae inside Schizaeales. Grass Ferns | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Dicksoniaceae inside Cyatheales. Common cosmopolitan Mesozoic Tree fern genus. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Osmundaceae inside Osmundales. Lower vegetation members | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Williamsoniaceae inside Bennettitales. Insufficient and incomplete material prevents certain allocation to that species. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with the Bennettitales inside Bennettitopsida. Anomozamites is characterised by slender, (almost) completely and regularly segmented leaves whose leaflets are generally as long as broad or, at maximum, two times as long as broad. This genus is related with more arboreal Bennetitalean flora. Shows coriaceous leaves and is a genus linked more with dry climates. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Cycadales inside Cycadopsida. | ||
| Badong-Lichuan |
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| Affinities with Karkeniaceae inside Ginkgoales. | ||
| Badong-Lichuan |
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| Affinities with Ginkgoaceae inside Ginkgoales. | ||
| Yangtze Gorges area |
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| Affinities with Krassiloviaceae inside Voltziales. | ||
| Badong-Lichuan |
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| Affinities with Krassiloviaceae inside Voltziales. | ||
Mamenchisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known for their remarkably long necks which made up nearly half the total body length. Numerous species have been assigned to the genus; however, many of these might be questionable. Fossils have been found in the Sichuan Basin and Yunnan Province in China. Several species are from the Upper Shaximiao Formation whose geologic age is uncertain. However, evidence suggests that this be no earlier than the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic. M. sinocanadorum dates to the Oxfordian stage and M. anyuensis to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous around 114.4 mya. Most species were medium to large size sauropods, around 15 to 26 meters in length and possibly up to 35 meters (115 ft) based on two undescribed vertebrae.
Xiaosaurus, is a genus of small herbivorous dinosaur from the middle Jurassic, approximately 169 to 163.5 mya. Xiaosaurus lived in what is now the Sichuan Basin of China.
Agilisaurus is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now eastern Asia. It was about 3.5–4 ft long, 2 ft in height and 40 kg in weight.
Xuanhanosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of the Sichuan Basin, China, around 166 million years ago. This taxon represents one of the various non-coelurosaurian tetanuran taxa found on the Middle Jurassic of the region, uncovered in the Lower Shaximiao Formation. Although it has been known for more than 40 years, this taxon has been the subject of very few studies, although most seem to agree that it is a tetanuran, possibly a basal allosauroid, highlighting the fact that it has a vestigial fourth metacarpal.
Omeisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now China. Its name comes from Mount Emei, where it was discovered in the lower Shaximiao Formation of Sichuan Province.
Sinosaurus is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. It was a bipedal carnivore approximately 5.5 metres (18 ft) in length and 300 kilograms (660 lb) in body mass. Fossils of the animal were found at the Lufeng Formation, in the Yunnan Province of China.
Szechuanosaurus is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. Fossils referred to the genus have been found in China, Asia in the Oxfordian-?Tithonian. Its type species is based on several undiagnostic teeth from the Kuangyuan Series. Additional possible specimens of Szechuanosaurus were also reported from the Kalaza Formation, also located in China.
Gigantspinosaurus is a genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. It was a stegosaur found in China.
Eubrontes is the name of fossilised dinosaur footprints dating from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. They have been identified from France, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Australia (Queensland), US, India, China and Brazil (South).
The Lufeng Formation is a Lower Jurassic sedimentary rock formation found in Yunnan, China. It has two units: the lower Dull Purplish Beds/Shawan Member are of Hettangian age, and Dark Red Beds/Zhangjia'ao Member are of Sinemurian age. It is known for its fossils of early dinosaurs. The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible therizinosaur Eshanosaurus, the possible theropod Lukousaurus, and the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus" sinensis, Lufengosaurus, Jingshanosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod Sinosaurus triassicus, the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", Lufengosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus, indeterminate remains of sauropods, and the early armored dinosaurs Bienosaurus and Tatisaurus.
The Chuanjie Formation, is a geological formation in Yunnan, China. It dates back to the Middle Jurassic. It was formerly referred to as being the lower member of the "Upper Lufeng" as opposed to the underlying "Lower Lufeng" now referred to as the Lufeng Formation. Tracks of theropods and sauropods, as well as thyreophorans are known from the formation.
The Tuchengzi Formation is a geological formation in China whose strata span the Tithonian to Berriasian ages. Dinosaur fossils, particularly footprints, have been found from the formation.
The Zhenzhuchong Formation is an Early Jurassic geologic formation in China. Plesiosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata. Remains of the prosauropod Lufengosaurus huenei have been recovered from this formation As well as dinosaur footprints.
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.
Tonganosaurus is a genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur, similar to Omeisaurus. It is known from one specimen consisting of twenty vertebrae, a front limb and pectoral girdle, and a complete hind limb with partial hip. It was discovered in the Yimen Formation, China. The horizon of the specimen and the age of the Yimen Formation is controversial. The formation has been divided into three levels, and Tonganosaurus appears to be of late Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) age. Tonganosaurus is the oldest known member of the mamenchisaurids, being almost 15 million years older than the next-oldest members of the group. It was first named by Li Kui, Yang Chun-Yan, Liu Jian and Wang Zheng-Xin in 2010 and the type species is Tonganosaurus hei.
Jialingpus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur, likely a theropod. Its footprints have been found in the Feitianshan Formation, a low-energy lake formation. Holotype is SCFP-24, which was found in Late Jurassic (Oxfordian)-aged Yuechi tracksite at Huanglong, China. These footprints were found within the vicinity of those of the smaller theropod Minisauripus, meaning that Jialingpus likely hunted Minisauripus.
This article records new taxa of trace fossils of every kind that are scheduled to be described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to trace fossil paleontology that are scheduled to occur in the year 2019.
The Xintiangou Formation is a geological formation in China. Part of the stratigraphy of the Sichuan Basin, it is of an uncertain Middle Jurassic age, with preliminary U-Pb estimates giving an age range of 170 ma. It predominantly consists of interbedded mudstone and sandstone, with subordinate shelly limestone. At the Laojun site remains of lungfish, bony fish, freshwater sharks, temnospondyls, plesiosaurs, crocodyliformes, the Xinjiangchelyid turtle Protoxinjiangchelys and tritylodontids are known. The dinosaurs Sanxiasaurus,Yunyangosaurus, and indeterminate sauropods are also known from the formation. Theropod and ornithopod tracks have also been reported from the formation.
The Shengjinkou Formation is an Early Cretaceous (Aptian)-aged Konservat-Lagerstätte composed of "interbedded red green and yellow variegated mudstones and siltstones" that is part of the larger Tugulu Group of China. Dinosaur and pterosaur remains have been recovered from the formation.