South China dinosaur footprint discovery sheds light on mysterious ancient worlds

This file photo shows dinosaur footprints uncovered at Nanmushan Village in Dongxing City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua)

NANNING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- A recent study has resulted in the unveiling of the southernmost dinosaur tracks ever found in China, thereby providing new insights into ecosystems across southern China in the Mesozoic era.

Led by paleontologist Xing Lida, an associate professor from China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and professor Mo Jinyou, a researcher from the Guangxi Museum of Natural History, the discovery was published in the journal Earth History and Biodiversity.

The findings of this study extend the known range of dinosaur footprints in China to the shores of the Beibu Gulf -- about 21 degrees north latitude and located in what is now south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The tracks, uncovered in 2021 during high-speed railway construction at a village in the city of Dongxing, consist of seven theropod footprints on a four-square-meter rock slab -- indicating that some bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs had left these traces in this southern China coastal area.

Despite damage caused by blasting during construction, which left some of the tracks only partially preserved, researchers managed to identify two distinct footprint types.

"Type A tracks, which are relatively well-preserved with their length longer than their width, belong to medium-sized theropods with a likely length measured from nose to tail of 3 to 4 meters," said Xing. "With a robust third toe, V-shaped toe divergence and clear heel impressions, these tracks resemble those from Chongqing in southwest China, suggesting a close connection with the agile, predatory dinosaurs of the Sichuan Basin."

Type B tracks, though less distinct, indicate a much larger predator, potentially exceeding 6 meters in length measured from nose to tail, possibly an allosaurid or megalosaurid.

"This discovery confirms the presence of apex predators in Guangxi during the Middle-Late Jurassic," said Mo. However, the limited number of tracks and a lack of detailed toe pad impressions, make precise classification challenging. "Future excavations and 3D modeling could provide further clarity," Mo added.

The study also compared 14 fossil sites in Guangxi to those in the Sichuan Basin in southwest China -- revealing similar dinosaur species from the Middle-Late Jurassic period. This suggests a close geographic connection between these two regions in ancient times.

In addition, the study also highlighted a high level of consistency between the early Cretaceous fossils from Guangxi's Xinlong Formation in the Napai Basin in Fusui County and those found in Thailand's Khok Kruat Formation -- lending credence to the existence of a shared "southern" biogeographic province in southern China and Southeast Asia during the late Early Cretaceous period.

"The discovery in Dongxing marks Guangxi's first formally documented dinosaur footprint site, filling a critical gap in the region's Jurassic fossil records," said He Guan from Dinosaur Odyssey Science Museum, Guangxi. "And it also confirms active dinosaur populations along southern China's coastlines and provides a fossil benchmark for correlating Jurassic-Cretaceous strata across southern China and Southeast Asia."

"This discovery not only pushes the known boundaries of dinosaur distribution in China but also strengthens the prehistoric connection between southern China and Southeast Asia," said Xing. "Additionally, it offers tangible evidence for reconstructing ancient environments, climates and ecosystems." ■