China News Service, Chongqing, June 1 (Reporter Zhong Yang) The reporter learned from the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau on the 1st that a group of dinosaur footprints discovered in the urban area of Chongqing had been identified by the bureau and a team of paleontology experts. It is identified as Kayentapus, and can be classified into its model species, Kayentapushopii, which is the best preserved Jurassic Kayanta footprint group in Asia. The latest scientific research results have been published in the British SCI journal "Historical Biology".
It is reported that the research paper team is composed of Xing Lida, associate professor of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Dai Hui, a senior engineer of Chongqing 208 Geological Relics Protection Research Institute, and Wei Guangbiao, a research librarian of Chongqing Geological Survey Institute.
In March 2019, rock climbing enthusiasts found a bunch of "chicken paw prints" in the Sharen Air Shelter in the eastern part of Chongqing Geleshan National Forest Park, which was initially identified by the team of paleontology experts organized by the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau as being born in 100 million. Nineteen million years ago, the Lower Jurassic Pearl Chong group theropod dinosaur footprint group.
The picture shows the footprint characteristics of Geleshan Kayan Tower. Photo courtesy of Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau
According to reports, the footprint group is located on the surface of two quartz sandstones approximately 3 meters apart, with a total of 46 three-toed theropod footprints. Among them, the surface of the first layer consists of 7 tracks consisting of a total of 32 footprints, and another 12 isolated footprints; the second layer has a total of 2 isolated footprints. The average footprint of the 7 tracks on the first floor is 24.1 cm, the largest footprint is 35 cm long, and the smallest footprint is 16 cm long. According to the relative stride length of the measured footprint, experts speculate that it was made of large and medium-sized theropod dinosaurs, and the "trackmaker" was doing a trot gait at the time.
The picture shows the restoration of the Chinese dragon, the creator of the Kayan Tower footprint (drawing: Han Zhixin-Beijing Xiaotianxia). Photo courtesy of Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau
The Kayanta footprint originally referred to the genus name of a larger (about 35 cm long) three-toed bipedal theropod dinosaur footprint, which was first discovered in the lower pygmy in Arizona, USA The Luotong formation is characterized by the absence of the mark of the big toe, and the mark of the metatarsophalangeal pad of the fourth finger, which is completely separated from the remaining marks. The Caryan Tower footprints are widely distributed in Jurassic strata in North America, Northeast Europe, Africa and Asia. China is mainly distributed in the Lower Jurassic strata in Lufeng, Jinning, Panxi, Sichuan, and Zizhou, Shaanxi. In North America, the Kayan Tower trail "tracker" is the theropod dilophosaurus or the backbone of the dragon, living in the early Jurassic in the world, is one of the earliest large carnivorous dinosaurs. In China, especially in the southwestern region, the Kayan Tower footprint "trackmaker" is likely to be a Chinese dragon. The Chinese dragon has two crowns on its head. The body is about 5.6 meters long and weighs half a ton. It is a ferocious large carnivorous dinosaur.
Dai Hui, a senior engineer of Chongqing 208 Geological Heritage Protection Research Institute, said that although the Kayan Tower footprint is widely distributed all over the world, there has never been a conclusive Kayentapushopii footprint in Asia. This discovery enriches the records of the Kayanta footprint group in China and even Asia, and further proves that the lower Jurassic dinosaur footprints in Asia and even the world are mostly theropod dinosaur footprints, and the types of footprint patterns show a consistent diversity. It is of great significance to study the distribution and evolution of the early Jurassic dinosaur fauna in China.