The first sauropod trackways from China

The first reported sauropod tracks and trackways (ichnogenus Brontopodus) from the Lower and Upper Cretaceous of China occur at multiple stratigraphic levels in the Jing Chuan Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Barremian–Aptian) of the Chabu area, near Otog Qi, Inner Mongolia and in the Jiang Di He Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Turonian–Coniacian), near Kunming, Yunnan Province, Peopleʹs Republic of China. Sauropod tracks at several sites are quite well preserved and reveal distinctive trackway patterns strongly suggestive of gregarious behaviour among small individuals. The trackways at both sites tend towards being slightly wide gauge with relatively large manus impressions (i.e., heteropody is not strongly developed). They are best accommodated in the ichnogenus Brontopodus, a senior synonym of the little-known Chinese ichnogenus Chuxiongpus. The co-occurrence of sauropod and theropod tracks without evidence of large ornithopods or other ornithischians supports the suggestion that this ‘saurischian’ association is characteristic of many inland basins in the Cretaceous of China.