Flannery-Sutherland, JT, Kogan, I, Trubin, YS, Falkingham, PL, Winkler, A, De Sousa, DD, Krylov, KD, Pokhaznikova, AA, Derbisheva, M, Kapitany, T and Dudashvili, A (2023) Dinosaur trackways from the Upper Cretaceous Nichkesai Formation near Mayluu Suu City, Southern Tien Shan Mountains, north-western Kyrgyzstan. Royal Society Open Science, 10 (5).

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Abstract

Trackways provide essential data on the biogeographic distribution, locomotion and behaviour of dinosaurs. Cretaceous dinosaur trackways are abundant in the Americas, Europe, North Africa and East Asia, but are less well documented in Central Asia despite extensive exposure of Cretaceous terrestrial sedimentary rocks in the region. Here we report the presence of bipedal, tridactyl dinosaur trackways near the city of Mayluu Suu, Jalal Abad Oblast, north-western Kyrgyzstan, the first discovery of dinosaur trace fossils within the country. The trackways are situated on a steep slope uncovered by a landslide around the year 2000 in a highly landslide-affected area. Photogrammetry is used to digitally analyse and conserve the trace fossils. We infer a shoreface setting for the trackways based on the locality sedimentology, discuss the identity of the track makers and highlight the potential for future trackway discovery in the area. This discovery contributes vital data to an otherwise sparse record on the spatio-temporal distribution of dinosaurs in Kyrgyzstan, and to the dinosaur trackway record of Central Asia.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology Q Science > QE Geology > QE701 Paleontology
Divisions:	Biological & Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	The Royal Society
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	14 Jun 2023 13:13
Last Modified:	14 Jun 2023 13:13
DOI or ID number:	10.1098/rsos.230311
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19819

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