A new Middle Jurassic tracksite dominated by non-avian theropod footprints from the Wangjiashan Formation in Pingchuan District,Baojishan Basin,Gansu Province has yielded a unique trackway with four consecutive manus-...A new Middle Jurassic tracksite dominated by non-avian theropod footprints from the Wangjiashan Formation in Pingchuan District,Baojishan Basin,Gansu Province has yielded a unique trackway with four consecutive manus-pes sets.Only three previous examples,all Early Jurassic in age,of theropod trackways are known with convincing examples of manus tracks and in each case,only two tracks were recorded in association with pes tracks with metatarsal impressions and pelvic traces indicating crouching behavior.Thus,this is the first example of manus tracks registered while a theropod trackmaker was walking.This unique configuration is here designated as Grallator pingchuanensis ichnosp.nov.which shows the trackmaker forelimbs registering in a wide straddle gait,much wider than the pes trackway width.G.pingchuanensis confirms previous reports that theropods could occasionally register tridactyl,ectaxonic manus traces.In the case of the Pingchuan trackway,the short step indicates an animal moving at a slow speed,probably due to a soft substrate.展开更多
基金This study is supported by the Research on National Geological Specimen Collection Outline of the Ministry of Land and Resources P.R.C(No.1210811302)
基金supported by the Scientific Innovative Funds and Special Funds for Discipline Construction of Gansu Agricultural University(Grant Nos.066-056001 and GAU-XKJS-2018-159)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41790455 and 41772008)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.2652017215)the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy(Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology,Chinese Academy of Sciences)(Grant No.173127)
文摘A new Middle Jurassic tracksite dominated by non-avian theropod footprints from the Wangjiashan Formation in Pingchuan District,Baojishan Basin,Gansu Province has yielded a unique trackway with four consecutive manus-pes sets.Only three previous examples,all Early Jurassic in age,of theropod trackways are known with convincing examples of manus tracks and in each case,only two tracks were recorded in association with pes tracks with metatarsal impressions and pelvic traces indicating crouching behavior.Thus,this is the first example of manus tracks registered while a theropod trackmaker was walking.This unique configuration is here designated as Grallator pingchuanensis ichnosp.nov.which shows the trackmaker forelimbs registering in a wide straddle gait,much wider than the pes trackway width.G.pingchuanensis confirms previous reports that theropods could occasionally register tridactyl,ectaxonic manus traces.In the case of the Pingchuan trackway,the short step indicates an animal moving at a slow speed,probably due to a soft substrate.
