First report of deinonychosaurian trackway from the Cretaceous of Guizhou, China

Abstract

The southern edge of Sichuan Basin has a long-standing folklore about the Tian Ji Stone, which actually tells of the theropod tracks. Here we describe a new Tian Ji track site named Xinglongwan in Chishui, Guizhou Province, China. Two kilometers away from the old site recorded in 2011, the later with cf. Irenesauripus isp. are morphologically different from the Xinglongwan theropod tracks. The tridactyl tracks from Xinglongwan site have been assigned to the cf. Eubrontes. Didactyl tracks in the Xinglongwan site, which are the first discovery of deinonychosaurian tracks in Guizhou Province, are assigned to the Velociraptorichnus. Both tracks were recorded in the report about ichnofauna in Jiaguan Formation, representing the diversity of theropod tracks in Sichuan Basin. The authors also briefly discuss the preservation mode and potential external-morphological changes of cf. Eubrontes and Velociraptorichnus from Xinglongwan site.