Fossilised footprints in China’s ‘dinosaur city’ shed light on 100 million-year-old turtle species
- More than 20 footprints found in dinosaur tracks at Huanglonggou fossil site in Shandong province, including one ‘among the world’s best preserved’
- Team names the turtle after the area the ancient impressions were found in
Chinese scientists say they have discovered rare fossilised footprints left during the Early Cretaceous period by turtles living in China’s “dinosaur city”.
The researchers found more than 20 turtle footprints, including one that shows five intact toes, in dinosaur tracks at the Huanglonggou fossil site in Shandong province.
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The team that uncovered the turtle footprints said they belonged to a previously unknown taxon and named the new turtle group after the city where the footprints were found. Zhucheng, which is home to more than 30 dinosaur fossil sites, is dubbed China’s “dinosaur city”.
While they did not specify the age of the fossils, the Early Cretaceous is considered to stretch from about 145 million to 100 million years ago.
The scientists from the Zhucheng Dinosaur Research Centre and the Shandong Geological Sciences Institute in Jinan named the new turtle Zhuchengichnites perfectus, for its complete fossilised footprint, according to an article published in the Chinese-language journal Geological Review last month.
“The Huanglonggou footprint site in Zhucheng, Shandong province, has preserved a large number of turtle footprints with various forms in the Early Cretaceous,” they wrote.
