Lufeng Formation
Geological Formation in China
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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]
| Lufeng Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Hettangian-Pliensbachian ~ | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Sub-units | Shawan & Zhangjia'ao Members |
| Underlies | Chuanjie Formation |
| Overlies | Precambrian slate basement |
| Thickness | over 300 metres (980 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Siltstone |
| Other | Sandstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 25.0°N 102.1°E |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 34.3°N 104.6°E |
| Region | Yunnan |
| Country | China |
| Extent | Yunnan Basin |
  Lufeng Formation (China)  Lufeng Formation (Yunnan) | |
Paleofauna
Rhynchocephalians
| 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
| 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
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
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
| 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
| 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 | ||