A new pterosaur tracksite from the Lower Cretaceous of Wuerho, Junggar Basin, China: inferring the first putative pterosaur trackmaker

Abstract

We report the discovery of 114 small pterosaur footprints preserved in a greyish-green fine sandstone slab comprising 57 manus imprints and 57 pes imprints. Due to the chaotic distribution of footprints, the trackways are difficult to recognize. The pes imprints are sub-triangular and enlongate, the metatarsal part is roughly subequal to the digital part. The manus imprints are asymmetrical, longer than wide, and the lengths of digits I–III gradually increase. According to the diagnostic features of the Wuerho small pterosaur tracks, the present set was classified as Pteraichnus and is different from the nine reported valid ichnospecies of Pteraichnus. We therefore propose a new ichnospecies, Pteraichnus wuerhoensis isp. nov. The description is based on the anatomical characteristics (lengths of digits I–IV, length of digital part, length of metatarsal part) extracted from the pes imprints and comparisons with the pes bone fossils of Noripterus complicidens. We infer that the footprints were probably left by N. complicidens and the total width of the wings was presumably 2–2.3 m. In addition, the high density (365 per square meter) and varied sizes of the Wuerho small pterosaur tracks suggest that many pterosaurs of different ages lived in Huangyangquan Reservoir tracksite 1 area. Thus the trackmakers may have had gregarious behavior.