THE OLDEST CERATOPSIANS AND A FABULOUS JURASSIC FAUNA FROM WESTERN CHINA Dr. Catherine A. Forster Program in Geological Sciences The George Washington University Late Cretaceous in North America pterodactlyloids tyrannosaur ceratopsians ornithopods Mark Stevenson “small theropods” The number of dinosaur localities is much smaller in the Jurassic than in the Cretaceous. Fastovsky et al. 2004 Calibrated Theropod (some at least) Phylogeny Shishugou Formation J. Clark 158.7 my 161.2 my Mamenchisaurus Mark Hallett Sinraptor Cheung Chung Tat GWU-IVPP Expeditions 8 expeditions, from 2001-2012 Co-organized by J. Clark (GWU) and Xu Xing (IVPP) GOALS ACHIEVEMENTS Discover whole skeletons 17 new species, nearly of new species, especially all with most of the smaller faunal components skeleton 5 new species of Discover fossils from the theropod dinosaurs early diversification of dinosaur lineages 2 new basal ceratopsians Discover fossils from the 1 new basal ornithopod early diversification of modern land vertebrates 1 new stegosaur New basal mammals, crocs, turtles, lizards, pterosaurs Junggar Basin Mongolia Beijing Gobi Desert * Tarim Basin Tibetan Plateau India National Geographic Society Geographic National Google Earth 50 km Wucaiwan (Stratigraphy by D. Eberth) WUCAIWAN ("five colored bend") Wucaiwan exposes rocks of the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (~175-120 million years old) The area is named for extremely colorful outcrops featured in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" Sandstorm, Wucaiwan J. Clark J. Clark A. Ossi J. Clark J. Clark J. Clark GratefulClassic Dinosaur thanks Phylogeny to: Ceratopsids (North America) Sinoceratops Chaoyangsaurus Late Jurassic (Tuchengzi Fm., China) dorsal ventral P. Makovicky Digging up ceratopsians Yinlong downsi R.S. Li Xu et al 2006 Proc. R. Soc. B 273, 2135–2140 More Yinlong specimens jugal quadrate squamosal dentaries Hualianceratops Yinlong Heterodontosaurus Hypsilophodon Lesothosaurus Hexinlusaurus Albertaceratops Protoceratops Yinlong Yinlong Liaoceratops Auroraceratops Leptoceratops Protoceratops Zuniceratops At least four lineages of ceratopsians are present by the earliest Late Jurassic Han et al., 2015, PLOSone Ceratopsians Pachycephalosaurs MARGINOCEPHALIA Yinlong Shelf on rear of skull Stegoceras (pachycephalosaur) Yinlong ornamentation Stegoceras (pachycephalosaur) ornamentation Other Discoveries! Collecting skeletons of theropods, upper Shishugou Fm. Haplocheirus sollers, a new alvarezsauroid theropod that extends the fossil record of this group back over 60 million years. Choiniere et al. 2010 Science 327:571-574. X. Xu Portia Sloan Rollings J. Clark Aorun, a new basal coelurosaur Choiniere et al., 2013, Syst. Paleo. Zuolong salleei, another basal coelurosaur Skeleton, 2005, before 2005 block after excavation excavation and jacketing J. Clark Collecting a theropod block “monolith” J Clark J. Clark Guanlong wucaii, one of the oldest and most primitive tyrannosaurs. Xu, Clark et al., 2006, Nature 439: 413-415. J. Clark Two Guanlong skeletons were preserved on top of three more skeletons of other theropods, separated by rock. This raises the question, how did these skeletons become stacked together? Eberth et al. 2010 Palaios 25:112–125 National Geographic Magazine, June 2008 Site of a sauropod “punch mark”, where a gigantic sauropod stepped and pushed the sediment down. D. Eberth A red upper layer drab (tan) layers m 2 B G. wucaii V14531 G. wucaii V14532 C TBB2002 unknown taxon V15302 L. inextricabilis V15303 L. inextricabilis V15304 Eberth et al. 2010 Limusaurus inextricabilis - “mired lizard that could not escape” Xu Xing Xu, Clark et al., 2009 Nature 459: 940-944. The toothless skull of Limusaurus inextricabilis: the first known toothless theropod from the Jurassic. J. Clark Nineteen skeletons of Limusaurus were preserved in the “dino death traps”, including several babies S. Wang Wang et al., 2017 Current Biology 27, 144–148 J. Clark Middle layer of 2005 block, with large theropod skeleton, two small theropod skeletons, and mammal skeleton Skull of baby Limusaurus processed from CT scans J. Stiegler Teeth are present in juvenile Limusaurus and then lost between 1 and 2 years of age, replaced by a beak. 2 cm 2 cm J. Stiegler GratefulOrnithischian thanks phylogeny to: JiangjunosaurusGrateful, a stegosaur thanks from Jiangjunmiao to: Collecting a stegosaur pelvis (poorly) in 2001 One of several skeletons of a small basal ornithopod dinosaur J. Clark Grateful thanks to: A tiny skeleton of a docodont mammal, close to the ancestry of all living mammals J Clark Unnamed cynodont (tritylodont), Wucaiwan 3 cm Bienotheroides, a cynodont from Wucaiwan Ventral view Six species of turtles from Wucaiwan (2 new), including this tortoise-like form with a toothed skull J. Clark J. Clark Joyce et al., 2016, BMC Evolutionary Biology (2016) 16:236 The oldest articulated lizard skeleton, Wucaiwan J. Clark Sericipterus wucaiwanensis, a rhamphorhynchid pterosaur J. Clark Andres et al. 2010 J Vert Pal 30: 163-187. Kryptodrakon progenitor, the oldest pterodactyloid pterosaur. Andres et al. 2014 Current Biology 24: 1011-1016. Skull and skeleton of the “running crocodile”, Junggarsuchus sloani Portia Sloan Rollings Clark et al., 2004, Nature 430:1021-1023 Skeleton of a shartegosuchid crocodyliform, Wucaiwan J. Clark Grateful thanks to: Dr. Xu Xing, Chinese Academy of Sciences Dr. James Clark, GWU Dr. Han Fenglu, China University of Geosciences Jonah Choiniere, Brian Andres, Josef Stiegler, Karen Poole GWU’s University Facilitating Fund U.S. National Science Foundation National Geographic Society Hilmar Sallee bequest Chinese National Natural Sciences Foundation Jurassic Foundation Chinese Academy of Sciences Changji Autonomous Prefecture.