Nanxiong Formation

The Nanxiong Formation (also known as Yuanpu Formation) is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation in Guangdong Province. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. It consists of continental siliciclastic red beds, with fauna which similar to that of the Nemegt Formation. It has been dated about 66.7 ± 0.3 million years ago.[1] It is the lowest unit of the Nanxiong Basin, a small graben created during Mesozoic rifting.[2] Buck et al state that it overlies Jurassic granite basement, and is conformably overlain by the Shanghu Formation.[1] Alternative stratigraphic schemes for the Nanxiong basin have been proposed,[3] one of which refers to the Nanxiong succession as the Nanxiong Group, and dividing it into the Yuanfu, Zhutian and Zhenshui formations, and overlying the Albian to Turonian Changba Formation.[4]

Nanxiong Formation Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian, 66.7 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Shanghu Formation
Overlies	Jurassic granite basement (Buck et al 2004) Changba Formation (Nanxiong Group, Xing et al 2017)
Thickness	~300 m (Buck et al 2004) Several kilometers (Nanxiong Group, Xing et al 2017)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone
Other	Limestone, conglomerate
Location
Coordinates	23.5°N 114.9°E / 23.5; 114.9
Approximate paleocoordinates	23.8°N 110.5°E / 23.8; 110.5
Region	Guangdong Province
Country	China
Extent	Nanxiong Basin
Nanxiong Formation (China) Show map of China Nanxiong Formation (Guangdong) Show map of Guangdong

Paleofauna

Dinosaurs

Theropods

Theropods
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Banji[5]	B. long	Nearly complete skull and lower jaw.	An oviraptorid.	Restoration
Corythoraptor[6]	C. jacobsi	Nearly complete skeleton including the skull and lower jaw.	An oviraptorid with a distinct cassowary-like crest.	Restoration
Ganzhousaurus[7]	G. nankangensis	Lower jaw, leg bone, hip bone and caudal vertebrae.	A transitional oviraptorid with both basal and derived traits.	Restoration
Huanansaurus[8]	H. ganzhouensis	Nearly complete skull, lower jaws, neck vertebrae, a humerus, arm fragments, lower part of the right thighbone, the upper part of the right shinbone, and parts of the right foot.	An oviraptorid.	Restoration
Indeterminate oviraptorid[9]	Indeterminate	A female individual preserving the pelvic girdle, some caudals and two eggs inside the abdominal cavity.[9]	An oviraptorid.
Jiangxisaurus[10]	J. ganzhouensis	Incomplete skull, lower jaw, vertebrae, nearly complete pectoral girdle, the left forelimb, ribs, and a partially preserved pelvic girdle.	An oviraptorid.	Restoration
Macroolithus sp.[11]	Indeterminate	Five egg clutches containing over 60 eggs.[11]	Oviraptorid eggs.	Egg clutches
Nankangia[12]	N. jiangxiensis	A partial lower jaw, vertebrae, both scapulocoracoids, a nearly complete right humerus, pubic bones, and some dorsal ribs.	An oviraptorid.	Restoration
Nanshiungosaurus[13]	N. brevispinus	Eleven cervical vertebrae, ten dorsal vertebrae, six sacral vertebrae and the pelvis.	A therizinosaurid.[14]	Restoration
Qianzhousaurus[15]	Q. sinensis	A skull, lower jaw, vertebrae, both scapulocoracoids, a left femur and a left tibia.	A tyrannosaurid, could represent a third species of Alioramus.[16]	Restoration
Shixinggia[17]	S. oblita	Sparce postcranial remains lacking the skull.	An oviraptorid.
Theropoda indet.[18]	Indeterminate	A maxillary tooth that differs from tyrannosaurid and carcharodontosaurid dentition.	A notably large theropod.
Tongtianlong[19]	T. limosus	Almost complete skeleton, portions of the arms, right leg, and tail were destroyed by TNT blasts.	An oviraptorid, the pose indicates that it may have died trying to free itself from mud.	Speculative death conditions
Tyrannosauridae indet.[13][18]	Indeterminate	Several large, well-preserved teeth.[13][18]	A tyrannosaurid.

Ornithopods

Ornithopods
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Microhadrosaurus[13]	M. nanshiungensis	Partial lower jaw from a juvenile that was about 2.6 m long	A nomen dubium hadrosaur taxon.[4]
Hadrosauropodus isp.[4]	Indeterminate	Three-toed footprints.[4]	A hadrosaur.

Sauropods

Sauropods
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Gannansaurus[20]	G. sinensis	A single, nearly complete dorsal vertebra and a mid-caudal vertebra.	A sauropod closely related to Euhelopus.

Other reptiles

Turtles

Turtles
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Jiangxichelys[21]	J. ganzhouensis	A complete shell.	A nanhsiungchelyid turtle
Nanhsiungchelys[22]	N. wuchingensis	A partial skeleton.	A nanhsiungchelyid turtle.[23]
Oolithes[13][23]	O. elongatus, O. nanhsiungensis, O. rugustus and O. spheroides.	Egg and egg clutches. Some of these were probably laid by Nanhsiungchelys.[13][23]	Turtle and/or theropod eggs.	Oolithes spheroides

Crocodilians

Crocodilians
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Jiangxisuchus[24]	J. nankangensis	Nearly complete skull and mandible.	A crocodyloid

Lizards

Lizards
Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Chianghsia[25]	C. nankangensis	A partial skull and lower jaws.	A monstersaurian lizard
Tianyusaurus[26]	T. zhengi	A skull, mandible, first eight cervical vertebrae and nearly complete pectoral girdles.	A polyglyphanodontian lizard, also known from the Qiupa Formation	Holotype skull

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• Dalangshan Formation

References

1. Buck, B. J.; Hanson, A. D.; Hengst, R. A.; Shu-sheng, H. (2004). ""Tertiary Dinosaurs" in the Nanxiong Basin, Southern China, Are Reworked from the Cretaceous". The Journal of Geology. 112 (1): 111–118. Bibcode:2004JG....112..111B. doi:10.1086/379695.
2. Lucas, Spencer G.; Kirkland, James I.; Estep, John W. (1998). "Vertebrate biostratigraphy and biochronology of the Cretaceous of China". Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems: Bulletin 14. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. p. 14.
3. Yan, Yi; Xia, Bin; Lin, Ge; Cui, Xuejun; Hu, Xiaoqiong; Yan, Pin; Zhang, Faqiang (April 2007). "Geochemistry of the sedimentary rocks from the Nanxiong Basin, South China and implications for provenance, paleoenvironment and paleoclimate at the K/T boundary" (PDF). Sedimentary Geology. 197 (1–2): 127–140. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.09.004. ISSN 0037-0738.
4. Xing, L.; Lockley, M. G.; Li, D.; Klein, H.; Ye, Y.; Scott Persons IV, W.; Ran, H. (2017). "Late Cretaceous ornithopod-dominated, theropod, and pterosaur track assemblages from the Nanxiong Basin, China: New discoveries, ichnotaxonomy, and paleoecology" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 466: 303−313. Bibcode:2017PPP...466..303X. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.035.
5. Xu, X.; Han, F.-L. (2010). "A new oviraptorid dinosaur (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of China". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 48 (1): 11–18.
6. Lü, J.; Li, G; Kundrát, M.; Lee, Y.; Zhenyuan, S.; Yoshitsugu, K.; Caizhi, S.; Fangfang, T.; Hanfeng, L (2017). "High diversity of the Ganzhou Oviraptorid Fauna increased by a new "cassowary-like" crested species". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 6393. Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.6393L. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05016-6. PMC 5532250. PMID 28751667.
7. Wang, S.; Sun, C.; Sullivan, C.; Xu, X. (2013). "A new oviraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern China". Zootaxa. 3640 (2): 242–57. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3640.2.7. PMID 26000415.
8. Lü, Junchang; Pu, Hanyong; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Xu, Li; Chang, Huali; Shang, Yuhua; Liu, Di; Lee, Yuong-Nam; Kundrát, Martin; Shen, Caizhi (2015). "A New Oviraptorid Dinosaur (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Southern China and Its Paleobiogeographical Implications". Scientific Reports. 5 (11490): 11490. Bibcode:2015NatSR...511490L. doi:10.1038/srep11490. PMC 4489096. PMID 26133245.
9. Sato, T.; Cheng, Y.-N.; Wu, X.-C.; Zelenitsky, D. K.; Hsiao, Y.-F. (2005). "A Pair of Shelled Eggs Inside A Female Dinosaur". Science. 308 (5720): 375–375. doi:10.1126/science.1110578. PMID 15831749.
10. Wei Xuefang; Pu Hanyong; Xu Li; Liu Di; Lü Junchang (2013). "A New Oviraptorid Dinosaur (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, Southern China". Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition). 87 (4): 899–904. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.12098.
11. Yang, T.-R.; Wiemann, J.; Xu, L.; Cheng, Y.-N.; Wu, X.-C.; Sander, P. M. (2019). "Reconstruction of oviraptorid clutches illuminates their unique nesting biology". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 466: 581−596. doi:10.4202/app.00497.2018.
12. Lü, J.; Yi, L.; Zhong, H.; Wei, X. (2013). Dodson, Peter (ed.). "A New Oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Southern China and Its Paleoecological Implications". PLoS ONE. 8 (11): e80557. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...880557L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080557. PMC 3842309. PMID 24312233.
13. Dong, Z. (1979). "Cretaceous dinosaur fossils in southern China" [Cretaceous dinosaurs of the Huanan (south China)]. In Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology; Nanjing Institute of Paleontology (eds.). Mesozoic and Cenozoic Redbeds in Southern China (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. pp. 342–350. Translated paper
14. Zanno, L. E. (2010). "A taxonomic and phylogenetic re-evaluation of Therizinosauria (Dinosauria: Maniraptora)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 8 (4): 503–543. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.488045.
15. Lü, Junchang; Yi, Laiping; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Yang, Ling; Li, Hua; Chen, Liu (2014). "A new clade of Asian Late Cretaceous long-snouted tyrannosaurids". Nature Communications. 5: 3788. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.3788L. doi:10.1038/ncomms4788. PMID 24807588.
16. Carr, Thomas D.; Varricchio, David J.; Sedlmayr, Jayc C.; Roberts, Eric M.; Moore, Jason R. (2017). "A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system". Scientific Reports. 7: 44942. Bibcode:2017NatSR...744942C. doi:10.1038/srep44942. PMC 5372470. PMID 28358353.
17. Lü, J. C.; Zhang, B. K. (2005). "A new oviraptorid (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Nanxiong Basin, Guangdong Province of southern China". Acta Palaeontologica Sinica. 44: 412−422.
18. Mo, J.-Y.; Xu, X. (2015). "Large theropod teeth from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi, southern China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 53 (1): 63−72.
19. Lü, J.; Chen, R.; Brusatte, S.L.; Zhu, Y.; Shen, C. (2016). "A Late Cretaceous diversification of Asian oviraptorid dinosaurs: evidence from a new species preserved in an unusual posture". Scientific Reports. 6: 35780. Bibcode:2016NatSR...635780L. doi:10.1038/srep35780. PMC 5103654. PMID 27831542.
20. Junchang Lü; Laiping Yi; Hui Zhong; Xuefang Wei (2013). "A New Somphospondylan Sauropod (Dinosauria, Titanosauriformes) from the Late Cretaceous of Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province of Southern China". Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition). 87 (3): 678–685. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.12079.
21. Haiyan Tong; Jinyou Mo (2010). "Jiangxichelys, a new nanhsiungchelyid turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, China". Geological Magazine. 147 (6): 981–986. Bibcode:2010GeoM..147..981T. doi:10.1017/S0016756810000671. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
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23. Tong, H.; Li, L. (2019). "A revision of the holotype of Nanhsiungchelys wuchingensis, Ye, 1966 (Testudines: Cryptodira: Trionychoidae: Nanhsiungchelyidae)". Cretaceous Research. 95: 151−163. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.11.003. hdl:311034/9424.
24. Chun Li; Xiao-chun Wu; Scott Rufolo (2018). "A new crocodyloid (Eusuchia: Crocodylia) from the Upper Cretaceous of China". Cretaceous Research. 94: 25–39. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.09.015.
25. Mo, J. Y.; Xu, X.; Evans, S. E. (2012). "A large predatory lizard (Platynota, Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous of South China". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (2): 333. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.588254.
26. Jun-chang Lü; Shu-an Ji; Zhi-ming Dong; Xiao-chun Wu (2008). "An Upper Cretaceous lizard with a lower temporal arcade". Naturwissenschaften. 95 (7): 663–669. Bibcode:2008NW.....95..663L. doi:10.1007/s00114-008-0364-1. PMID 18338150.