Early Cretaceous

Riojavenatrix: "La Rioja huntress" Early Cretaceous, Europe

Closeup of the camellate pneumaticity inside the vertebrae of Vectiraptor greeni, from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, UK. Photo by Nick Longrich.

Ornithischian dinosaur Stenopelix valdensis Meyer, 1857, holotype (GZG 741/2, formerly GPI Gö 741−2), from the Obernkirchen Sandstone (Early Cretaceous: Berriasian), near Bückeburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. A. Large sandstone slab. B. Interpretative outline drawing of large latex cast (prepared from large sandstone slab), showing majority of postcranial skeleton in dorsal view. C. Small sandstone slab. D. Interpretative outline drawing of small la− tex cast (prepared from small sandstone slab), showing sacrum and caudals, pelvic region and partial hindlimbs in ventral view. For clarity elements in and around the sacral region have not been labelled—these areas are shown in greater detail in Fig. 3. Roman numerals II–IV correspond to respective digits. Abbreviations: mt, metatarsals; f, femur; ?, unidentified element.

Restoration of Dongbeititan dongi from the Early Cretaceous of China

Garumbatitan is a sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Spain. It is classified as a basal somphospondylan - a Titanosauriform, but not a true Titanosaur.

Psittacosaurus skeletal mount (Early Cretaceous, Jiufotang Formation) and unidentified Late Cretaceous dinosaur egg from Xixia, Hennan, on display in the Li Siguang Memorial Museum in Huangzhou.

Diagram depicting the currently named Dinosauria from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Dinosaur taxa: Cedarosaurus weiskopfae → Grand County locality.[1] Length = 15 meters.[2] Cedrorestes crichtoni → Dave's Camp Site locality.[3] Length = 6 meters.[4] Falcarius utahensis → Crystal Geyser Quarry & Suarez Site/Quarry localities.[5] Length = 5 meters.[5] Gastonia burgei → Gaston Quarry, Dalton Wells, Doelling's Bowl localities.[6] Length = 5 meters.[2] Geminiraptor suarezarum → Suarez Site/Quarry locality.[7] Length = 1.5 meters.[4] Hippodraco scutodens → Andrew's Site locality.[8] Length = 4.5 meters.[8] Iguanacolossus fortis → Don's Ridge & Doelling's Bowl localities.[8][6] Length = 9 meters.[8] Martharaptor greenriverensis → Hayden-Corbett Site.[9] Length = Extrapolated after relatives. Mierasaurus bobyoungi → Doelling’s Bowl locality.[10] Length = ∼9 meters.[10][11] Moabosaurus utahensis → Dalton Wells locality.[12] Length = 9.75 meters.[12] Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni → Dalton Wells & Gaston Quarry localities.[13] Length = ∼3 meters.[13] Utahraptor ostrommaysi → Dalton Wells, Gaston Quarry, Stikes Quarry, Utahraptor Ridge localities.[14][6] Length = 5.5 meters.[2] Yurgovuchia doellingi → Don’s Place - Doelling’s Bowl locality.[15] Length = 2.5 meters.[15] References ↑ (1999). "New sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, USA". Oryctos 2: 21–37. ↑ a b c (2016) The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd ed.), Princeton: Princeton University Press ISBN: 9780691167664. ↑ "A possible new basal hadrosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Eastern Utah" in (2007) Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 79–89 DOI: 10.2307/j.ctt1zxz1md.10. ISBN: 0-253-34817-X. ↑ a b (2007) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Random House ISBN: 9780375824197. Genus List for Holtz 2012 Weight Information ↑ a b (2010). "Osteology of Falcarius utahensis (Dinosauria: Theropoda): characterizing the anatomy of basal therizinosaurs". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 (1): 196–230. DOI:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00464.x. ↑ a b c (2016). "The Lower Cretaceous in East-Central Utah—The Cedar Mountain Formation and its Bounding Strata". Geology of the Intermoutain West 3: 1-130. ↑ (2010). "A New Troodontid Theropod Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah". PLOS ONE 5 (12): e14329. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0014329. PMID 21179513. PMC: 3002269. ↑ a b c d (2010). "New Basal Iguanodonts from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah and the Evolution of Thumb-Spiked Dinosaurs". PLOS ONE 5 (11): e14075. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0014075. PMID 21124919. PMC: 2989904. ↑ (2012). "Martharaptor greenriverensis, a New Theropod Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah". PLOS ONE 7 (8): e43911. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0043911. PMID 22952806. PMC: 3430620. ↑ a b (2017). "Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in the Early Cretaceous of western USA". Scientific Reports 7 (1): 14311. DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-14677-2. PMID 29085006. PMC: 5662694. ↑ (2020) Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Sauropods and Other Sauropodomorphs, Princeton: Princeton University Press ISBN: 9780691202976. ↑ a b (2017). "Moabosaurus Utahensis, N. Gen., N. SP., A New Sauropod From The Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of North America". Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan 32 (11): 189–243. ↑ a b (1998). "A small coelurosaurian theropod from the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of eastern Utah". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 14: 239–248. ↑ (1993). "A large dromaeosaurid (Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Eastern Utah". Hunteria 2 (10): 1–16. ↑ a b (2012). "New Dromaeosaurids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, and the Evolution of the Dromaeosaurid Tail". PLOS ONE 7 (5): e36790. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0036790. PMID 22615813. PMC: 3352940.

World map showing Late Cretaceous metatherian locales. Europe 1. Font-de-Benon quarry, Archingeay-Les Nouillers (Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous), Charente-Maritime, southwestern France (Vullo et al. 2009) 2. Valkenburg Member, Maastricht Formation (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous), southern Limburg, The Netherlands (Martin et al. 2005) Asia 3. Yixian Formation, China (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) 4. Bissekty Formation, Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan (Turonian, Late Cretaceous) 5. Darbasa Formation, southern Kazakhstan (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 6. Grey Mesa locality (Averianov 1997) 7. Barun Goyot Formation, Umuni Gobi, Mongolia (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 8. Nemegt Formation, Omnogov, Mongolia (Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 9. Djadokhta Formation, Mongolia (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) North America Alaska 9. Prince Creek Formation, Alaska (early Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada 10. Milk River Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (late Santonian, Late Cretaceous) 11. Oldman Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 12. Dinosaur Park Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 13. Horseshoe Canyon Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (early Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 14. St. Mary River Formation, Alberta and northwestern Montana (early Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 15. Scollard Formation, Alberta (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 16. Frenchman Formation, Saskatchewan (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Montana and North Dakota 17. Judith River Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 18. Two Medicine Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 19. Hell Creek Formation, Montana and North Dakota (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) South Dakota 20. Fox Hills Formation, South Dakota (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 21. Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Wyoming 22. “Mesa Verde Formation” (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 23. Lance Formation, Wyoming (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 24. Ferris Formation, Wyoming (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Utah 25. Cedar Mountain Formation (Albian-Cenomanian) 26. Dakota Formation fauna (late Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous) 27. Smoky Hollow Member, Straight Cliffs Formation (Turonian, Late Cretaceous) 28. John Henry Member, Straight Cliffs Formation (Coniacian-Santonian, Late Cretaceous) 29. Wahweap Formation (early-middle Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 30. Kaiparowits Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 31. Iron Springs Formation fauna, southern Utah (Turonian – Santonian, Late Cretaceous) 32. North Horn Formation, Utah (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Colorado 33. Williams Fork Formation, Colorado (late Campanian-early Maastrichtian) 34. Laramie Formation, northeastern Colorado (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Baja California Del Norte, Mexico 35. El Gallo Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) (Clemens 1980; Lillegraven 1972; Lillegraven 1976) New Mexico 36. Fruitland and lower Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 37. Naashoibito Member, Kirtland Formation, New Mexico (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Oklahoma 38. Antlers Formation, Texas and Oklahoma (Aptian-Albian, Early Cretaceous) Texas 39. Aguja Formation, West Texas (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) New Jersey 40. Marshalltown Formation, New Jersey (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) Szalay 1994)

World map showing Late Cretaceous metatherian locales. Europe 1. Font-de-Benon quarry, Archingeay-Les Nouillers (Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous), Charente-Maritime, southwestern France (Vullo et al. 2009) 2. Valkenburg Member, Maastricht Formation (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous), southern Limburg, The Netherlands (Martin et al. 2005) Asia 3. Yixian Formation, China (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) 4. Bissekty Formation, Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan (Turonian, Late Cretaceous) 5. Darbasa Formation, southern Kazakhstan (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 6. Grey Mesa locality (Averianov 1997) 7. Barun Goyot Formation, Umuni Gobi, Mongolia (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 8. Nemegt Formation, Omnogov, Mongolia (Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 9. Djadokhta Formation, Mongolia (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) North America Alaska 9. Prince Creek Formation, Alaska (early Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada 10. Milk River Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (late Santonian, Late Cretaceous) 11. Oldman Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 12. Dinosaur Park Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 13. Horseshoe Canyon Formation, southern Alberta, Canada (early Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 14. St. Mary River Formation, Alberta and northwestern Montana (early Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 15. Scollard Formation, Alberta (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 16. Frenchman Formation, Saskatchewan (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Montana and North Dakota 17. Judith River Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 18. Two Medicine Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 19. Hell Creek Formation, Montana and North Dakota (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) South Dakota 20. Fox Hills Formation, South Dakota (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 21. Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Wyoming 22. “Mesa Verde Formation” (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 23. Lance Formation, Wyoming (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) 24. Ferris Formation, Wyoming (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Utah 25. Cedar Mountain Formation (Albian-Cenomanian) 26. Dakota Formation fauna (late Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous) 27. Smoky Hollow Member, Straight Cliffs Formation (Turonian, Late Cretaceous) 28. John Henry Member, Straight Cliffs Formation (Coniacian-Santonian, Late Cretaceous) 29. Wahweap Formation (early-middle Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 30. Kaiparowits Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 31. Iron Springs Formation fauna, southern Utah (Turonian – Santonian, Late Cretaceous) 32. North Horn Formation, Utah (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Colorado 33. Williams Fork Formation, Colorado (late Campanian-early Maastrichtian) 34. Laramie Formation, northeastern Colorado (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Baja California Del Norte, Mexico 35. El Gallo Formation (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) (Clemens 1980; Lillegraven 1972; Lillegraven 1976) New Mexico 36. Fruitland and lower Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) 37. Naashoibito Member, Kirtland Formation, New Mexico (late Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous) Oklahoma 38. Antlers Formation, Texas and Oklahoma (Aptian-Albian, Early Cretaceous) Texas 39. Aguja Formation, West Texas (late Campanian, Late Cretaceous) New Jersey 40. Marshalltown Formation, New Jersey (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) Szalay 1994)

Map of Cretaceous-aged dinosaur fossil localities of Mongolia. Gobihadros mongoliensis was collected from Bayshin Tsav in Area C. Open squares indicate Late Cretaceous sites, solid squares represent Early Cretaceous localities. Abbreviations: A, Localities of Western Gobi Desert in Mongolia, mainly group of localities of Nemegtian age (early Maastrichtian), Late Cretaceous; B, Localities of Central Gobi Desert in Mongolia, mainly Djadokhtian age (Campanian), Late Cretaceous; C & D- Localities of Eastern Gobi Desert in Mongolia, mainly Baynshirenian age (Cenomanian-Santonian), Late Cretaceous. Figure has been modified from Tsogtbaatar et al. 2014, Figure 1 [24].

Fossil specimen of early Cretaceous pterosaur Sinopterus dongi, which is collected from Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The specimen (BMNHC Ph773) is a collection of Beijing Museum of Natural History and was on display in the National Museum of Natural Science (Taichung, Taiwan) during a special exhibition.

Fossil specimen of early Cretaceous pterosaur Sinopterus dongi, which is collected from Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. The specimen (BMNHC Ph773) is a collection of Beijing Museum of Natural History and was on display in the National Museum of Natural Science (Taichung, Taiwan) during a special exhibition.

Glen Rose Sauropod Footprint (Brontopodus birdi) Early Cretaceous, 115-112 million years ago. Collecdted Somervell County, Texas