First report of the ichnogenus Magnoavipes from China: New discovery from the Lower Cretaceous inter-mountain basin of Shangzhou, Shaanxi Province, central China

Large, slender probable ornithomimid theropod tracks and robust theropod tracks occur in the Lower Cretaceous Fenjiashan Formation in Shaojian Village located southwest of Shangzhou City, Shaanxi Province, China. The large, slender tridactyl tracks of a biped are identified as Magnoavipes asiaticus ichnosp. nov. This is the first discovery of the ichnogenus Magnoavipes, a probable ornithomimid theropod track, in China. Co-occurrence of both Magnoavipes asiaticus and robust theropod tracks assigned to Megalosauripus ichnosp. indicates that two distinct trackmaking dinosaurs inhabited Early Cretaceous inter-montane basins. The Magnoavipes track-maker evidently expanded its habitat from inter-montane basins in the Early Cretaceous to fluvio-lacustrine and coastal plain environments in the Late Cretaceous.