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Lufeng Formation
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The Lufeng Formation (formerly Lower Lufeng Series) is a Lower Jurassic sedimentary rock formation found in Yunnan, China. It has two units: the lower Dull Purplish Beds/Shawan Member are of Hettangian age, and Dark Red Beds/Zhangjia'ao Member are of Sinemurian age.[1] It is known for its fossils of early dinosaurs. The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible therizinosaur Eshanosaurus, the possible theropod Lukousaurus, and the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus" sinensis, Lufengosaurus, Jingshanosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod Sinosaurus triassicus, the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", Lufengosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus, indeterminate remains of sauropods, and the early armored dinosaurs Bienosaurus and Tatisaurus.[2]
Key Information
Paleofauna
[edit]Rhynchocephalians
[edit]| Rhynchocephalians reported from the Lufeng Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
|
Indeterminate |
Yunnan |
Partial skulls and jaws.[3] | The three named species do not display any autapomorphic characters and should be considered indeterminate within the genus. Only record of rhynchocephalians from Asia.[3] | |||
Crurotarsans
[edit]| Crurotarsans reported from the Lufeng Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
|
D. lufengensis[4] |
Yunnan[4] |
Dark Red Beds[4] |
Formerly considered an ornithopod dinosaur. | |||
| Dianosuchus[5] | D. changchiawaensis | Lufeng, Yunnan | Dark Red Beds | |||
| Microchampsa[6] | M. scutata | Dahuangtian locality | Lower Red Beds | iIncomplete skeleton consisting of cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae as well as ribs and three rows of dorsal osteoderms | ||
| Phyllodontosuchus[7] | P. lufengensis | Dawa, Yunnan | Dark Red Beds | BVP568-L12, a crushed skull | A potential non-carnivorous crocodrylomorph | |
| Platyognathus[8] | P. hsui | Lufeng, Yunnan | Zhangjiawa Member | IVPP V8266, rostral portion of a skull missing the dorsal bones and with articulated incomplete mandible; CVEB 21301, a nearly complete skull with articulated mandible, articulated with the anterior 17 vertebrae and associated dorsal osteoderms; part of the right scapulocoracoid; the left humerus; the right femur and proximal tibia and fibula | The oldest Gobiosuchoidean | |
| Strigosuchus[9] | S. licinus | Lufeng, Yunnan | Zhangjia'ao Member | FMNH CUP 2082 | ||
Ornithischians
[edit]Indeterminate ornithopod remains Yunnan. Dark Red Beds.[2]
| Ornithischians reported from the Lufeng Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | |
|
B. lufengensis[4] |
Yunnan[4] |
Dark Red Beds[4] |
A right "[d]entary with teeth,"[11] with additional cranial fragments such as a partial frontal. These specimens are catalogued as IVPP V 9612. The dentary preserves 11 teeth or roots with two additional empty alveoli. |
|||
|
T. oehleri[4] |
Yunnan[4] |
Dark Red Beds[4] |
"Isolated dentary."[11] |
|||
Sauropodomorphs
[edit]Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
| Sauropodomorphs reported from the Lufeng Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
C. lufengensis[12] |
Yunnan[12] |
"Skull[12] |
      | |||
|
G. sinensis[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
"[Two] skeletons, [one] with partial skull, [two] partial skeletons, [three] skull fragments, adult."[15] |
||||
|
F. youngi[4] |
Yunnan[4] |
|
"Skull."[16] |
|||
|
J. xinwaensis[14] |
Yunnan[14] |
|
"Complete skeleton with skull, adult."[15] |
|||
|
"K. wusdingensis"[4] |
Yunnan[4] |
|
nomen nudum | |||
| Lishulong[17] | L. wangi[17] | Yunnan[17] |
|
Skull and cervical vertebrae 2–10[17] | ||
|
L. huenei[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
"(including Gyposaurus sinensis, L. magnus)"[2] | ||||
|
L. magnus[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
|||||
|
T. minor[4] |
Yunnan[4] |
|
||||
| Xingxiulong | X. chengi | Yunnan | ||||
| X. yueorum[18] | Yunnan |
|
LF2015-NO01, an articulated postcranial skeleton | |||
| Yizhousaurus[19] | Y. sunae | Yunnan |
|
Partial skeleton with skull | ||
|
Y. huangi[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
"More than [twenty] partial to complete skeletons, [two] skulls, juvenile to adult."[16] |
||||
|
Y. robustus[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
|||||
Theropods
[edit]| Theropods reported from the Lower Lufeng Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|
E. deguchiianus[14] |
Yunnan[14] |
|
"Dentary."[20] |
Possible therizinosaur |
 | |
|
L. yini[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
Possible crocodylomorph[23] | ||||
|
S. triassicus[13] |
Yunnan[13] |
|
Dilophosaurus sinensis specimen Now included in Sinosaurus | |||
| Panguraptor[24] | P. lufengensis[24] | Yunnan[24] |
|
|
A coelophysid | |
Cynodonts
[edit]| Cynodonts reported from the Lufeng Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
| Bienotherium |
|
A tritylodontid |  | |||
| Dianzhongia | D. longirostrata | A tritylodontid | ||||
| Hadrocodium[25] |
H. wui[25] |
Yunnan[25] |
|
Skull | One of the oldest and smallest mammaliaforms known. Indicates a correlation between the separation of the middle ear bones from the mandible and the expanded brain vault in early mammals.[26] | |
| Lufengia | L. delicata | A tritylodontid | ||||
| Morganucodon |
|
Zhangjiawa Member (M. heikuopengensis)
Shawan Member (M. oehleri) |
A morganucodontan | |||
| Sinoconodon | S. rigneyi | Zhangjiawa Member | A mammaliamorph closely related to Mammaliaformes | |||
| Yunnanodon[27][28] |
Y. brevirostre[27] |
Yunnan[27] |
|
A tritylodontid | ||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Luo, Z., and X.-C. Wu. 1994. The small tetrapods of the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China; pp. 251–270 in N. C. Fraser and H.-D.Sues (eds.), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, New York
- ^ a b c Weishampel, et al. 2004.
- ^ a b c Jones MEH. 2006 The Early Jurassic clevosaurs from China (Diapsida: Lepidosauria). New Mex. Museum Nat. Hist. Sci. Bull. 37, 548–562.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae "48.3 Yunnan, People's Republic of China; 2. Dark Red Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 534.
- ^ Young, C.-C. (1982). On a primitive crocodile from Lufeng, Yunnnan. Selected Works on Yang Zhungijang. Science Press, Beijing pp. 26–28.
- ^ Young, C.C., 1951, "The Lufeng saurischian fauna in China", Palaeontologia Sinica, New Series C, 13: 1-96
- ^ Harris, Jerald D.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Estep, John W.; Li, Jianjun (2000-01-10). "A new and unusual sphenosuchian (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha) from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation, People's Republic of China". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 215 (1): 47–68. Bibcode:2000NJGPA.215...47H. doi:10.1127/njgpa/215/2000/47. ISSN 0077-7749.
- ^ Wang, Lihua; Clark, James M; Li, Hongqing; Ruebenstahl, Alex; Bi, Shundong (2025-06-02). "A new specimen of the early branching crocodyliform Platyognathus hsui extends the record of gobiosuchids back 67 million years". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204 (2). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf032. ISSN 0024-4082.
- ^ Simmons, D.J. (1965). "The non-therapsid reptiles of the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan, China". Fieldiana Geology. 15: 1–93. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.5426.
- ^ Raven, Thomas J.; Barrett, Paul M.; Xu, Xing; Maidment, Susannah C.R. (2019). "A reassessment of the purported ankylosaurian dinosaur Bienosaurus lufengensis from the Lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 64 (2): 335–342. doi:10.4202/app.00577.2018. hdl:10141/622543.
- ^ a b "Table 15.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 336.
- ^ a b c d Junchang, Lü; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Tianguang, Li; Shimin, Zhong (2010). "A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, Southwestern China". Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition). 84 (6): 1336–1342. Bibcode:2010AcGlS..84.1336L. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2010.00332.x.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "48.3 Yunnan, People's Republic of China; 1. Dull Purplish Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series and 2. Dark Red Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series" in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 534.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "48.3 Yunnan, People's Republic of China; 1. Dull Purplish Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 534.
- ^ a b "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 234.
- ^ a b "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 236.
- ^ a b c d e Zhang, Q.; Jia, L.; Wang, T.; Zhang, Y.; You, H. (2024). "The largest sauropodomorph skull from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of China". PeerJ. 12 e18629. e18629. doi:10.7717/peerj.18629. PMC 11646418. PMID 39677945.
- ^ Chen, Xiang-Yuan; Wang, Ya-Ming; Zhang, Qian-Nan; Wang, Tao; You, Hai-Lu (2025). "A new species of Xingxiulong (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) from the lower Jurassic Lufeng formation of Yunnan Province, China". Historical Biology. 0: 1–10. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2458130. ISSN 0891-2963.
- ^ Zhang, Qian-Nan; You, Hai-Lu; Wang, Tao; Chatterjee, Sankar (2018-09-07). "A new sauropodiform dinosaur with a 'sauropodan' skull from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan Province, China". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 13464. Bibcode:2018NatSR...813464Z. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31874-9. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6128897. PMID 30194381.
- ^ "Table 7.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 152.
- ^ Young, C.C. (1948). "Further notes on Gyposaurus sinensis Young". Bulletin of the Geological Society of China. 28 (1–2): 91–103.
- ^ M. N. Bien. 1940. Discovery of Triassic saurischian and primitive mammalian remains at Lufeng, Yunnan. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 20(3/4):225-234
- ^ Irmis, R. B. (2004). "First report of Megapnosaurus (Theropoda: Coelophysoidea) from China". PaleoBios. 24 (3): 11–18.
- ^ a b c d e You, Hai-Lu; Azuma, Yoichi; Wang, Tao; Wang, Ya-Ming; Dong, Zhi-Ming (2014). "The first well-preserved coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from Asia". Zootaxa. 3873 (3): 233–49. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3873.3.3. PMID 25544219. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ a b c Luo, Zhe-Xi; Crompton, Alfred W.; Sun, Ai-Lin (2001). "A New Mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and Evolution of Mammalian Characteristics (Supplementary Information (Hadrocodium wui IVPP8275))". Science. 292 (5521): 1535–1540. Bibcode:2001Sci...292.1535L. doi:10.1126/science.1058476. PMID 11375489. S2CID 8738213. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ Luo, Zhe-Xi; Crompton, Alfred W.; Sun, Ai-Lin (2001). "A New Mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and Evolution of Mammalian Characteristics" (PDF). Science. 292 (5521): 1535–1540. Bibcode:2001Sci...292.1535L. doi:10.1126/science.1058476. PMID 11375489. S2CID 8738213. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-20.
- ^ a b c Cui, G. H. (1976). "Yunnania, a new tritylodont genus from Lufeng, Yunnan". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 25: 1–7.
- ^ Cui, G. H. (1986). "Yunnanodon, a replacement name for Yunnania Cui, 1976". Gu Jizhui Dongwu Yu Gu Renlei Vertebr. PalAsiatica. 24: 9.
Bibliography
[edit]- Barrett, P.M.; Xu X. (2005). "Reassessment of Dianchungosaurus lufengensis Yang, 1982, an enigmatic reptile from the Lower Lufeng Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China". Journal of Paleontology. 79 (5): 981–986. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[0981:ARODLY]2.0.CO;2.
- Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.