The Lufeng Formation (formerly Lower Lufeng Series) is a

Lower Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma&nb ...

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

found in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It has two units: the lower Dull Purplish Beds/Shawan Member are of

Hettangian The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (My ...

age, and Dark Red Beds/Zhangjia'ao Member are of

Sinemurian In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series. It spans the time between 199.3 ± 2 Ma and 190.8 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The Sinemurian is preceded by the Hettangian and is ...

age.Luo, Z., and X.-C. Wu. 1994. The small tetrapods of the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China; pp. 251–270 in N. C. Fraser and H.-D.Sues (eds.), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, New York It is known for its

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of early

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s. The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible

therizinosaur Therizinosaurs (once called segnosaurs) were large herbivorous theropod dinosaurs whose fossils have been found across the Early to Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia and North America. Various features of the forelimbs, skull and pelvis unite thes ...

Eshanosaurus ''Eshanosaurus'' is a genus of a dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period. It is known only from a fossil partial lower jawbone, found in China. It may be a therizinosaurian, and if so the earliest known coelurosaur. Discovery and naming The t ...

'', the possible

theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...

Lukousaurus ''Lukousaurus'' is an archosauromorph based on most of a small skull's snout, displaying distinctive lachrymal horns, found in the Early Jurassic-age Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China and was described by Chung Chien Young in 1940. The ge ...

'', and the "

prosauropod Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had l ...

s" "Gyposaurus" ''sinensis'', ''

Lufengosaurus ''Lufengosaurus'' (, meaning "Lufeng lizard") is a genus of Massospondylidae, massospondylid dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic period in what is now southwestern China. Discovery, taxonomy and research During the late 1930s geologi ...

'', ''

Jingshanosaurus ''Jingshanosaurus'' (meaning "Jingshan lizard") is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the early Jurassic period 201.3 million years ago that went extinct 199.3 million years ago in the Hettangian Age. Its maximum weight was around 4.3 t ...

'', and ''

Yunnanosaurus ''Yunnanosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived approximately 199 to 183 million years ago in what is now the Yunnan Province, in China, for which it was named. ''Yunnanosaurus'' was a large sized, moderately-buil ...

''. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod ''Sinosaurus triassicus'', the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", ''Lufengosaurus'', and ''Yunnanosaurus'', indeterminate remains of

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their bo ...

s, and the early armored dinosaurs ''

Bienosaurus ''Bienosaurus'' (meaning "Bien's lizard") is a genus of thyreophoran dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic (probably Sinemurian) Lower Lufeng Formation in Yunnan Province in China. Discovery and species In 1938, Bian Meinian, known in the W ...

'' and ''

Tatisaurus ''Tatisaurus'' is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Early Jurassic from the Lower Lufeng Formation in Yunnan Province in China. Little is known as the remains are fragmentary. The type species is ''T. oehleri''. Discovery and species ...

''.Weishampel, et al. 2004.

Paleofauna

Rhynchocephalians

Crurotarsans

Ornithischians

Indeterminate ornithopod remains Yunnan. Dark Red Beds.

Sauropodomorphs

Theropods

Cynodonts

References

Bibliography

* * Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. {{ISBN, 0-520-24209-2. Geologic formations of China Jurassic System of Asia Jurassic China Hettangian Stage Pliensbachian Stage Sinemurian Stage Mudstone formations Sandstone formations Siltstone formations Fluvial deposits Lacustrine deposits Paleontology in Yunnan