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The Shishugou Formation ( zh, s=石树沟组, t=石樹溝組, p=Shíshùgōu Zǔ) is a
geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...
in
Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Its strata date back to the
Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...
period. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic, Asia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 550–552. . The Shishugou Formation is considered one of the most phylogenetically and trophically diverse Middle to Late Jurassic
theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...
fauna. The Wucaiwan Member, once considered a separate, underlying formation,Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Middle Jurassic, Asia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 541–542. . is now considered the lowest unit of the Shishugou Formation.


Lithology

At the Wuwaican locality, the formation is approximately 380 m thick, the lower 30 metres of the formation predominantly consist of conglomerate, with the majority of the formation consisting of red coloured mudstone with frequent channel/sheet sandstone lenses and occasional tuffaceous deposits. It is laterally equivalent to the Qigu Formation in the southern half of the Junggar Basin.


Shishugou Formation dinosaur traps

The Shishugou Formation dinosaur traps also known as death pits or death traps are pit structures found within the formation that are noted for their fossil content.


Paleontology

These 'traps' or 'bonebeds' are unusual in that they consist of vertically stacked skeletons of numerous non-avian theropods in deep pits. The pits are filled with a mix of alluvial and volcanic mudstone and sandstone and appear to have been created by the trampling and wallowing of large dinosaurs. Small theropods and vertebrates then became mired in these pits, dying and being forced deeper by the activities of the large dinosaurs and the struggles of later victims. The high quality of preservation suggests a rapid burying of the carcasses. Some scavenging of the bodies took place leading to a dispersal of body parts. Smaller vertebrates were prone to getting stuck in these mudholes, and the small ceratosaur, '' Limusaurus inextricabilis'', is the most common in the resulting bonebeds. Excavations since 2000 have revealed a wealth of fossils dating from a period some 165 to 155 million years ago. Palaeontologists James Clark and Xu Xing are shedding light on this period previously notorious for its paucity of fossils, but important for its massive burst of speciation among the dinosaurs and ancestors of birds. These new branches on the dinosaur family tree led to well-known dinosaur groups, such as the horned
ceratopsians Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Late Jura ...
, armoured
stegosaurs Stegosauria is a group of Herbivore, herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous Period (geology), periods. Stegosaurian fossils have been found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Europe a ...
, and
tyrannosaurs Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family (biology), family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal (phylogenetics), basal relatives. ...
. Clark joined Xu, from Beijing's
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP; ) of People's Republic of China, China is a research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaur specimens (many from the Yixian For ...
, to explore the Junggar Basin, and in particular the Shishugou Formation, where the exposed rocks have been linked to the
Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...
.


Prehistoric life

At the time the area was covered by marshland, adjoined a small mountain range peppered with volcanoes, and was inhabited by dinosaurs, small crocodilians and amphibians. Currently it is a sparsely settled region of dry washes, arid badlands and dunes along the
Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...
’s western edge. The Shishugou Formation consists of mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone, and is named for the silicified wood or petrified logs found here. ('Shishugou' = 'stone tree valley') These badlands were used for some sequences in the film ''
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 epic romantic drama wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Z ...
'', the genus ''
Yinlong ''Yinlong'' (, meaning "hidden dragon") is a genus of basal ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period of China. By far the earliest known ceratopsian, it was a small, primarily bipedal herbivore. Discovery and species A coalition of ...
'' ('hidden dragon') being named for the film. When the site was first excavated, new species of turtles, crocodilians, pterosaurs, and early mammals were revealed. Many of these species showed the rudiments of characteristics that would later become their hallmarks. One of the first fossil skeletons exposed proved to be that of an unknown
theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...
, and revealed a stack of four more theropods buried below the first.
Yang Zhongjian Yang Zhongjian, also Yang Chung-chien (; 1 June 1897 – 15 January 1979), courtesy name Keqiang (), also known as C.C. (Chung Chien) Young, was a Chinese paleontologist and zoologist. He was one of China's foremost vertebrate paleontologists. ...
accompanied the first expedition to the Junggar Basin in 1928, and the fossils found included the medium-size
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 b ...
'' Tienshanosaurus chitaiensis''. Later expeditions stretched from the 1960s to the 1990s and yielded among others the extremely long-necked ''
Mamenchisaurus ''Mamenchisaurus'' ( , or spelling pronunciation ) is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaurs known for their remarkably long necks which made up nearly half the total body length. Numerous species have been assigned to the genus; however, the val ...
'' and the carnivorous ''
Sinraptor ''Sinraptor'' () is a genus of metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name ''Sinraptor'' comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning Chinese, and "raptor", meaning robber. The specific name ''dongi'' honours Dong Zhimin ...
''. In all, some 600 specimens have been collected. On analysis of the rock matrix, large amounts of volcanic ash were found, hinting at eruptions during that period, the ash raining onto the marsh creating viscous mud and becoming subsequent death traps. To date three of these death pits have been located. In one pit a
crocodilian Crocodilia () is an Order (biology), order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorp ...
was found against a small
ceratosaur Ceratosaurs are members of the clade Ceratosauria, a group of dinosaurs defined as all theropods sharing a more recent common ancestor with ''Ceratosaurus'' than with birds. The oldest known ceratosaur, ''Saltriovenator'', dates to the earliest ...
, in another three decapitated ceratosaurs. The most interesting of the traps gave up the fossil remains of an 80 kg
tyrannosauroid Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinen ...
named '' Guanlong'', sporting a crest running from its nose to the back of its head. Its discovery was hailed by paleontologists as the earliest known remains of the tyrannosauroid clan that culminated with ''
Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It live ...
''.


Vertebrate paleofauna


Ornithischians

Undescribed stegosaur is present in the Wucaiwan member. Undescribed ornithopod is present in the Wucaiwan member. Undescribed
ankylosaurs Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with Armour (zoology), armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short ...
present in both upper Shishugou and Wucaiwan members.


Pterosaurs


Sauropods


Theropods

Undescribed ornithomimosaur-like species. Indeterminate tetanuran remains.


Crocodylomorphs

After an overview of
crocodylomorphs Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. Extinct crocodylomorphs were considerably more ...
of the
Junggar Basin The Junggar Basin (), also known as the Dzungarian Basin or Zungarian Basin, is one of the largest sedimentary basins in Northwest China. It is located in Dzungaria in northern Xinjiang, and enclosed by the Tarbagatai Mountains of Kazakhstan in t ...
, Wings ''et al.'' identified the following species from the Shishugou Formation.


Mammaliamorphs


See also

* * *
List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations This list of dinosaur-bearing rock formations is a list of geologic formations in which dinosaur fossils have been documented. * List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils * List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur trace fossils ** ...


References

{{Reflist, 3 Geologic formations of Mongolia Jurassic System of Asia Jurassic China Jurassic Mongolia Callovian Stage Oxfordian Stage Mudstone formations of China Sandstone formations Tuff formations of China Fluvial deposits Lacustrine deposits Paludal deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Asia Paleontology in Xinjiang Conglomerate formations