The first record of Cretaceous non–avian dinosaur tracks from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

Abstract

A dinosaur track assemblage from a remote, high altitude (~4500–5000 m) site on the is the first to be reported from this area. The location, here named the Yangguang tracksite, represents the Lower Cretaceous part of the Kezilesu Group consisting of feldspathic sandstones and dated as Hauterivian–Barremian on the basis of the palynoflora. As the site is a dangerous working environment, with a steep (65°) track-bearing surface and constant freeze-thaw-induced rock fall, a photographic survey was undertaken to obtain essential information, while the surface was exposed. The ichnofauna is saurischian-dominated consisting of more than 120 recognizable tracks comprising at least two diagnostic sauropod trackway segments (>90 tracks) and seven theropod trackways (>30 tracks). The sauropod trackways represent large animals (mean pes length ~92 cm) and resemble Brontopodus, although somewhat more narrow-gauge than typical. The theropod trackways also represent large animals (mean track lengths > 40 cm) and resemble Iberosauripus from the Kimmeridgian–Berriasian of Spain which is characterized by a relatively short wide footy with weak mesaxony.