Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China.
CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China.
Sci Rep. 2021 Aug 12;11(1):14962. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-94273-7.
The Early Cretaceous Hami Pterosaur Fauna in Northwest China preserves a large number of specimens of the sexually dimorphic pteranodontoid pterosaur Hamipterus tianshanensis, including 3D eggs and embryos. During the last decade, several more fossils have been collected in this area, including three somphospondylan sauropod specimens. The first is Silutitan sinensis gen. et sp. nov., which consists of an articulated middle to posterior cervical vertebrae series. The second, Hamititan xinjiangensis gen. et sp. nov., consists of an incomplete articulated caudal sequence that could be assigned to lithostrotian titanosaurs based on the strongly procoelous caudal vertebrae with lateral concave surface, as well as marked ventrolateral ridges. The third specimen consists of four sacral vertebral elements, apparently unfused, with exposed camellate internal bone and regarded as somphospondylan. Cladistic analyses based on different datasets recovered Silutitan sinensis as an euhelopodid closely related to Euhelopus and Hamititan xinjiangensis as a titanosaur. Besides the pterosaur Hamipterus and one theropod tooth, these dinosaurs are the first vertebrates reported in this region, increasing the diversity of the fauna as well as the information on Chinese sauropods, further supporting a widespread diversification of somphospondylans during the Early Cretaceous of Asia.
中国西北地区早白垩世哈密翼龙动物群保存了大量性二态翼龙翼手龙形翼龙 Hamipterus tianshanensis 的标本,包括 3D 蛋和胚胎。在过去的十年中,该地区又采集到了更多的化石,包括三个索芬脊椎龙类蜥脚类恐龙标本。第一个是中华丝路龙 Sinensis gen. et sp. nov.,由一系列关节中到后颈椎组成。第二个是新疆哈密龙 Xinjiangensis gen. et sp. nov.,由不完全关节的尾序列组成,根据强烈的侧凹尾椎和明显的外侧脊,可归入 Lithostrotian 泰坦巨龙类。第三个标本由四个荐椎椎骨组成,显然没有融合,具有暴露的驼峰状内部骨骼,被认为是索芬脊椎龙。基于不同数据集的分支分析结果表明,中华丝路龙 Sinensis 是一种与 Euhelopus 密切相关的真手盗龙类,而新疆哈密龙 Xinjiangensis 则是一种泰坦巨龙类。除了翼龙 Hamipterus 和一颗兽脚类恐龙牙齿外,这些恐龙是该地区首次报道的脊椎动物,增加了动物群的多样性以及中国蜥脚类恐龙的信息,进一步支持了亚洲早白垩世索芬脊椎龙类的广泛多样化。