The Paleoenvironmental and Paleoecological Significance of Dinosaur Footprints

Jianjun Li

Authors

Jianjun Li Beijing Museum of Natural History, 126 Tianqiao St., Beijing, 100050 PR China

Keywords:

dinosaur tracks, paleoenvironment, paleoecology, Inner Mongolia of China

Abstract

Dinosaur tracks were left by dinosaurs when walking on substrates with moderate water content, conglutination and granulation. They were fossilized in situ when the substrates were lithified. Ichnology, the study of animal tracks, has unique importance to the study of paleoenvironment, paleoecology and paleogeography. Tracks provide information about the track makers that bones never could. The present approaches have yielded valuable data on footprints as evidence of (1) animals unknown as body fossils: (2) geographic and geological ranges of vertebrate species, including biostratigraphic zonations by trace fossils: (3) behavior and habitat adaptations of vertebrates:; and (4) prevailing environmental conditions. Otog Banner, Inner Mongolia, is famous for preserving abundant dinosaur and bird tracks from the Lower Cretaceous. From more than 1500 dinosaur tracks and more than 100 bird track fossils, 5 ichnotaxa are recognized. By analyzing the tracks and their surrounding rocks it was concluded that a seasonal lake existed in the Chabu area during the Early Cretaceous and that dinosaurs and birds living in the vicinity came to drink in the lake during a certain period of the year. By measuring the distances and relationships between the tracks, the speed of the track maker can be calculated. The fastest speed of a dinosaur so far measured in the world, around 44 km an hour, was found from dinosaur tracks in tracksite 5, Chabu area, Otog Banner. Statistical analysis suggests that at least the sauropod dinosaurs in the Chabu area were gregarious during the Early Cretaceous. The small theropods also lived and hunted together, whereas the large theropod dinosaurs were solitary. In some cases, the study of the assemblage of the tracks can be useful for the palichnostratigraphic correlations.

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