World's largest deinonychosaur tracks discovered in Fujian
Scientists have discovered large two-toed tracks in Lincheng Town, Fujian Province, east China, which belong to deinonychosaurs, the scientist team said Monday.
At least eight types of dinosaur tracks have been found over the years at the Longxiang tracksite by scientists and experts from China University of Geosciences and Yingliang Stone Natural History Museum, 12 of which are didactyl deinonychosaur tracks that fall into two morphologies.
Among the 12 two-toed fossil tracks, five large tracks measuring 36.4 cm in length and 16.9 cm in width, on average, led researchers to establish a new dinosaur taxon: Fujianipus yingliangi.
Based on relative toe-proportions, Fujianipus is a probable troodontid.
"These are currently the largest deinonychosaur tracks found in China and beyond," said Xing Lida, an associate professor at China University of Geosciences, adding that based on the size of the tracks, it is estimatied that Fujianipus was at least 5 meters long, with a hip height of nearly 2 meters.
"The Longxian tracksite is the best-preserved, largest area, and most diverse Late Cretaceous dinosaur tracksite discovered in China to date," said Niu Kecheng, curator of Yingliang Stone Natural History Museum.
The discovery of the Fujianipus yingliangi greatly expands the size range of deinonychosaur tracks, which is of great significance for the study of the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs in China, Niu added.
The discovery was recently published in the international journal iScience.
Related articles
Ben Affleck did NOT get plastic surgery ahead of Tom Brady's Netflix roast
Ben Affleck may have been on hand to roast Tom Brady – but the actor found himself the target of an2024-05-09Jason Kelce will join ESPN’s 'Monday Night Countdown,' AP source says
Jason Kelce will join ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” after retiring from the Philadelphia Eagles ea2024-05-093 officers killed, 5 wounded in Charlotte, North Carolina shootout; a suspect is dead
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wa2024-05-09Analysis: IndyCar cheating scandal risks sullying Roger Penske's perfect image
Santino Ferrucci once made a typo in a social media post in which he incorrectly spelled Josef Newga2024-05-09Equestrian Beijing Masters to be held in October
The 11th Longines Equestrian Beijing Masters will take place from Oct. 10-13 at the National Stadium2024-05-09Tesla, Domino's Pizza rise; AMC Entertainment, SoFi Technologies fall, Monday, 4/29/2024
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday:Tesla Inc., up2024-05-09
atest comment