First report of a Late Triassic dinosaur track from the Zigui Basin, Middle Yangtze region, China

Abstract

Trace fossils offer a great potential to enhance our understanding of the rise of dinosaurs and their interactions with the environment. Here, we report a Rhaetian theropod footprint found in the Shazhenxi Formation of the Zigui Basin, representing the stratigraphically oldest dinosaur track recorded from the Middle Yangtze region and has great significance for understanding the Late Triassic theropods and their distribution across East Asia. The tridactyl track is assigned to cf. Eubrontes isp. and shows a similar morphology with some tracks from the Sichuan Basin, indicating that Eubrontes had a wider spatial distribution in the Upper Triassic than previously thought. This work highlights the great interest and importance of palaeoichnological prospecting in the Triassic deposits of the Zigui Basin.