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Dinosaur Footprints from the Khorat Group, Northeastern Thailand

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Dinosaur Footprints from the Khorat Group, Northeastern Thailand Dinosaur Footprints from the Khorat Group, Northeastern Thailand July 2017 Shohei KOZU Dinosaur Footprints from the Khorat Group, Northeastern Thailand A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the University of Tsukuba in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science (Doctoral Program in Earth Evolution Sciences) Shohei KOZU Contents Page Contents i Abstract iii List of Figures and Tables vi 1. Introduction 1 1.1 The History of Dinosaur Footprint Ichnology 1 1.2 The History of Dinosaur Footprint Ichnology in Thailand 2 2. Geological Setting of the Khorat Group 5 2.1 The Khorat Group 5 2.2 Dinosaurs from Thailand 5 3. Methodology; how to study dinosaur footprints 7 3.1 Measuring Methods of Footprints, and Estimation Methods of Hip Height 7 and Moving Speed of Trackmaker 3.2 Replica Producing Methods 9 4. Results; description of dinosaur footprints at each location 11 4.1 Huai Hin Lat Formation 11 4.1.1 Site Nam Nao 12 4.2 Nam Phong Formation 15 4.2.1 Site Tha Song Khong 16 4.2.2 Site Non Tum 19 4.3 Phra Wihan Formation 30 4.3.1 Site Phu Kao 31 4.3.2 Site Phu Faek 32 4.3.3 Site Hin Lat Pa Chad (Phu Wiang) 35 4.4 Phu Pan Formation 43 4.4.1 Site Phu Luang 44 i 4.5 Khok Kruat Formation 47 4.5.1 Site Huai Dam Chum (Tha Uthen) 47 5. Discussions 57 5.1 Reconstruction of the dinosaur ichnofauna in the Khorat Group and its 57 significance 5.2 Comparison of the dinosaur ichnofauna in the Khorat Group with East Asia 58 5.3 Footprint assemblage and its quantitative analysis 63 6. Conclusion 69 Acknowledgements 71 References 72 Figures 1 - 59 95 Tables 1 - 13 161 ii Abstract Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous terrigenous sedimentary rocks, traditionally called the Khorat Group, are widely distributed in northeastern Thailand. This Group is subdivided into eight formations, in the following stratigraphic order; the Huai Hin Lat, Nam Phong, Phu Kradung, Phra Wihan, Sao Khua, Phu Phan, Khok Kruat, and Maha Sarakham formations. Many fossils such as dinosaurs, fishes, crocodilians, turtles, bivalves and palynomorphs have been reported from the Khorat Group. In particular, abundant dinosaur fossils including footprints, teeth and bones have been known from the northeastern part of Thailand. To date, many tetrapod footprints including dinosaurs have been reported from the Huai Hin Lat, Nam Phong, Phra Wihan, Phu Phan and Khok Kruat formations. On the other hand, only two ichnogenera and one ichnospecies have been described in systematic ichnology in Thailand. During my field works for my Doctoral Course study, I visited eight footprint sites in northeastern Thailand, including Nam Nao, Tha Song Khon, Non Tum, Phu Kao, Hin Lat Pa Chad (Phu Wiang), Phu Luang and Huai Dam Chum (Tha Uthen). In this thesis, on the basis of the detailed measurement data, I describe the dinosaur footprints in ichnological taxonomy, and also reconstruct the dinosaur ichnofauna in Thailand. Additionally, I discuss the paleontological significance of Thai dinosaur footprints in East and Southeast Asia. In this study, I have identified 877 tetrapod tracks including 151 trackways in a total of eight tracksites from the Khorat Group, northeastern Thailand. I have also classified some kind of tracks of theropoda, ornithopoda, sauropoda, crocodilian, non-dinosauriform archosauromorpha, and didactyl tracks of tetrapoda from the Khorat Group. The ratio of the occurrence of theropod tracks in dinosaur footprint iii proportion exceeds more than 90 % and the ratio of each geologic age is so high. Additionally, I newly described five ichnogenera of dinosaur footprints, Eubrontes isp., Gigandipus isp., Carmelopodus isp., Irenesauripus isp., and cf. Asianopodus isp., and one ichnogenus of archosauromorpha, cf. Apatopus isp. in ichnotaxonomy. As a result of the comparison between dinosaur fauna based on the bone fossils and dinosaur ichnofauna, both of them do not show the “true dinosaur fauna” in Thailand. However, dinosaur ichnofauna compensates for lack of dinosaur fauna based on the bone fossils will lead to reconstruct more precise dinosaur fauna, and it shows the paleontological significance of dinosaur footprint ichnology. As a result of comparison with the Early Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in East and Southeast Asia, there is a possibility that the origins of ornithopoda and allosauria is in the region of Southeast Asia from the ichnological point of view. As a result of comparison between the Khorat ichnofauna and Chinese and Korean ichnofaunas in East Asia, there is partial common point between the Early Cretaceous Khorat Ichnofauna and the ichnofauna of the region C3 (Inner Mongolia) in China. However, the tracksites are few in number in the Khorat Group, and there is few report describing dromaeosaurids tracks, large sauropod and ornithopod tracks, pterosaur, turtle, bird tracks in Thailand compared with East Asian tracksites. The Khorat Group has a little different ichnofauna with East Asia while sharing the partial ichnofauna which is characterized as non-avian theropod track (like Asianopodus) rich. FI described the dinosaur footprint assemblage in ichnotaxonomy for the first time in Thailand. As a result of the quantitative analysis of dinosaur footprint assemblage in the site Huai Dam Chum, the footprint assemblage of the theropod tracks referred to cf. Asianopodus isp. is estimated to be imprinted by probably gregarious iv ornithomimosaurs. The tracks are mainly separated into two groups, Group A and Group B, and indicate the accurate herd behaviour and its idiosyncratic group composition. In particular, the histogram of size-frezuency measurements of Group A shows the anomalous bimodal distribution. I consider that there are two hypotheses; the first one is due to the male-female difference, and the second is a result of the different growing stage. Key words; dinosaur, footprint, the Khorat group, Mesozoic, northeastern Thailand v List of Figures and Tables Figures Page Figure 1. Index map showing the distribution of the Khorat Group and 95 footprint sites. Figure 2. Lithostratigraphic column and dinosaur ichnofauna of the 96 Khorat Group. Figure 3. Diagrams of footprints and trackways, showing measurement 97 methods. Figure 4. Photograph of making silicon mold (process 3). 98 Figure 5. Photograph of making silicon mold (process 4). 99 Figure 6. Photograph of making silicon mold (process 7). 100 Figure 7. Photograph of making plaster mold (process 2). 101 Figure 8. Photograph of making plaster cast (process 5). 102 Figure 9. Photograph of the outcrop and sketch of a trackway at the site 103 Nam Nao. Figure 10. Sketch of the trackway of archosauromorpha phytosaur at the 104 site Nam Nao. Figure 11. Photograph and sketch of left manus and pes impressions at 105 the site Nam Nao. Figure 12. Size comparison of a human and an archosauromorph, 106 possible phytosaur at the site Nam Nao. Figure 13. Comparison chart of archosauromorpha tracks. 107 Figure 14. Photograph of the outcrop at the site Tha Song Khon. Each 108 arrow shows footprints. vi Figure 15. Sketch of the trackway at the site Tha Song Khon. 109 Figure 16. Photographs of footprints at the site Tha Song Khon. 110 Figure 17. Size comparison of a human and a theropod at the site Tha 111 Song Khon. Figure 18. Comparison chart of theropod tracks. 112 Figure 19. Locality map and outcrop photograph of the site Non Tum. 113 Figure 20. Lithostratigraphic clumn at the site Non Tum. 114 Figure 21. Photographs and sketch of tracks at the site Non Tum. 115 Figure 22. Mesh maps at the Non Tum site. 116 Figure 23. The trackway and photographs of didactyl tracks. 117 Figure 24. Comparison chart of didactyl tracks. 118 Figure 25. Meshmap of the Trackway T1 in the northern part of the 119 outcrop at the site Non Tum. Figure 26. Photographs and sketches of theropod tracks T1 which consist 120 of T1n1 to T1n6. Figure 27. Size comparison of a human, a theropod, and a sauropod at 121 the site Non Tum. Figure 28. Photograph of possible sauropod pes and manus impressions. 122 Scale bar is 10 cm. Figure 29. Comparison chart of the trackway, Eosauropus, Brontopodus 123 and Non Tum specimen T4. Figure 30. Photograph of the outcrop at the site Phu Kao. 124 Figure 31. Sketch of the outcrop and a photograph and a sketch of the 125 track T7n1. vii Figure 32. Lithostratigraphic clumn at the site Phu Faek. 126 Figure 33. Sedimentary structures in the sandstone, including parallel 127 and trough cross-laminations (in the upper part of the study section). Figure 34. Photograph of the outcrop at the site Phu Faek. Red arrow 128 shows T1n1, and blue arrow shows T3n4. Figure 35. Sketch of the tracks T1 to T4 at the site Phu Faek. 129 Figure 36. Size comparison of a human and a theropod. 130 Figure 37. Photograph of the track T2n2. 131 Figure 38. Photograph of the trace fossils Thalassinoides sp. which 132 imprinted on the same upper surface with dinosaur tracks. Figure 39. Meshmap of the outcrop at the site Hin Lat Pa Chad. 133 Figure 40. Photograph of the trackway T4 Neoanomoepus isp., showing 134 detail of the region outlined by the square in Fig. 39. Figure 41. Size comparison of a human, a small-sized ornithopod, and a 135 small-sized theropod at the site Hin Lat Pa Chad Figure 42. Photographs of the outcrop and the trackways T1 and T2. 136 Figure 43. Photograph of the trackway T10 Carmelopodus isp. at the site 137 Hin Lat Pa Chad. Figure 44. Photographs of the well preserved tracks T10n2 and T10n3 at 138 the site Hin Lat Pa Chad. Scales are 5 cm.
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