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Sauropod Teeth from the Lower Cretaceous Luohandong Formation of Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia
Yandong HOU,
Lifu ZHANG,
Shan JIANG,
Shu-an JI,
Yandong HOU
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037 China
Search for more papers by this authorLifu ZHANG
Administration of the National Natural Protection Region on the Otog Dinosaur Tracks, Otog Qi, Inner Mongolia 016100 China
Search for more papers by this authorShan JIANG
Natural History Museum of Guangxi, Nanning, Guangxi 530012 China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Shu-an JI
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037 China
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorYandong HOU,
Lifu ZHANG,
Shan JIANG,
Shu-an JI,
Yandong HOU
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037 China
Search for more papers by this authorLifu ZHANG
Administration of the National Natural Protection Region on the Otog Dinosaur Tracks, Otog Qi, Inner Mongolia 016100 China
Search for more papers by this authorShan JIANG
Natural History Museum of Guangxi, Nanning, Guangxi 530012 China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Shu-an JI
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037 China
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorAbout the first author:
HOU Yandong, male, born in 1991 in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, graduate student of the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. His current interest is the Mesozoic reptiles.
Address: 26 Baiwanzhuang Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100037, China.
E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract
The Early Cretaceous Zhidan Group in the northern Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, yielded a large number of tetrapods, including turtles, choristoderes, crocodyliforms, psittacosaurs, stegosaurs, theropods and birds. Well-preserved sauropod teeth have been found in the Luohandong Formation, a middle-upper unit of the Zhidan Group. The large V-shaped wear facet, low slenderness index value, labial grooves, lingual ridge and concavity on the tooth crown suggest that these teeth are from titanosauriforms. Moreover, the presence of the prominent bosses on the lingual side of the tooth crown indicates these teeth should be identified as Euhelopus teeth further. The existence of Euhelopus in Ordos Basin (Inner Mongolia), Shandong Province and western Liaoning Province shows some connections about vertebrate faunas during Early Cretaceous in these areas. Other tetrapod groups such as turtles (Sinemys, Ordosemys), choristoderes (Ikechosaurus), psittacosaurs (Psittacosaurus) and birds (Cathayornis) provide more evidences for this viewpoint.
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