An international team of paleontologists from China, the United States, Germany and other countries recently announced the discovery of a tiny dinosaur footprint of only 10.2 mm in Zigong, Sichuan.
This is the smallest dinosaur footprint found in China and may shed light on the developmental strategies of the theropod dinosaurs in early or ultra-early formation. The relevant results were published in the international paleontological journal "Historical Biology" on the 21st.
Found in Wuli Village, Yongnian Town, Fushun County, Zigong City, Sichuan Province, this dinosaur footprint is 10.2 mm long and 9.6 mm wide, with three distinct toes, of which the III toe is the most prominent, without a clear toe pad, and a relatively blunt paw print on each toe. This footprint is the smallest dinosaur footprint currently recorded in China.
Tiny dinosaur footprints that are only 10.2 millimeters long are compared to the size of a dime coin. Courtesy of Zigong Dinosaur Museum
Paleontologists believe that the more than 40 three-toed footprints found on the same rock slab along with this footprint all belong to the stilt-legged dragon footprint class, and the common size of the stilt-footed dragon footprint is less than 15 centimeters.
"Stilt-footed dinosaurs were a small carnivorous dinosaur that was a more common type of dinosaur in the early Jurassic period. These footprints were formed about 190 million years ago, when the Sichuan Basin was still a lake, and Zigong was located on the shore of the lake. Zigong Dinosaur Museum Jiangshan deputy research librarian said.
Restoration of the stilt-footed dragon. Author Of The Divine Thorn, courtesy of Zigong Dinosaur Museum
As with the footprints of most micro-small theropod dinosaurs, it remains inconclusive whether this footprint came from newborn small dinosaurs or adult small dinosaurs.
But paleontologists tend to believe that this tiny footprint was left by a small dinosaur that had just been born, and that the tracer's body length was estimated to be about 12 centimeters, roughly the size of a modern sparrow.
The slabs preserve a series of footprints of varying sizes but relatively uniform morphology, which they believe may represent a collection of footprints of small theropod dinosaurs at different stages of development.
A slab photo of the dinosaur footprints preserved. Courtesy of Zigong Dinosaur Museum
If the Tiny Footprints of Fushun do record the footprints left by juvenile theropods very early in life, this most likely indicates a developmental strategy of early or ultra-early growth.
Among living animals, some early or ultra-early adult animals, such as most land birds and game birds, hatch their eyes when they hatch from the egg shell, have dense villi all over the body, and have strong legs. It can follow the parent birds to forage for food in a day or even a few hours.
3D plot of the minimum footprint (top right) and contour plot (bottom right). Courtesy of Zigong Dinosaur Museum
The study was done by the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), and paleontologists from the United States, Germany, and Australia.
Source: Xinhua Viewpoint