Genus
Ichnogenus Formal taxon Extinct

Minisauripus

Zhen et al. 1994

Minisauripus is an ichnogenus of theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of East Asia. The trackmaker of Minisauripus would have been among the smallest known non-avian dinosaurs. This ichnogenus contains two named ichnospecies from China, M. chuanzhuensis and M. zhenshuonani, with several indeterminate ichnospecies known from China, South Korea and Japan.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
6
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Minisauripus
click to enlarge
A, Four consecutive track casts of Minisauripus isp.; B, Natural impression slab of second left and right feet tracks; C, Isolated fifth track of Minisauripus isp. © The original author of this work is Kim et al. (2019). · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
Minisauripus
Minisauripus
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Minisauripus Genus
Fossil sites 6 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
3
🇰🇷 South Korea
3
Geological formations
Haman
2
Feitianshan
1
Jiaguan
1
Tianjialou
1
Jinju
1
Temporal distribution
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
5
Hauterivian (132.6–125.77 Ma)
1
Species (2)
Minisauripus chuanzhuensis 126 Ma
Minisauripus zhenshuonani 143 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
S. Zhen, J. Li, and B. Zhang, W. Chen, S. Zhu. 1994. Dinosaur and bird footprints from the Lower Cretaceous of Emei County, Sichuan, China. Memoirs of Beijing Natural History Museum 54:105-120
Bibliography (4)
K. S. Kim, J. D. Lim, and M. G. Lockley, L. Xing, D. H. Kim, L. Piñuela, A. Romilio, J. S. Yoo, J. H. Kim, J. Ahn. 2018. Smallest known raptor tracks suggest microraptorine activity in lakeshore setting. Scientific Reports 8:16908:1-10 DOI ↗
L. Xing, M. G. Lockley, and G. Yang, J. Cao, M. Benton, X. Xu, J. Zhang, H. Klein, W. S. Persons, J. Y. Kim, G. Peng, Y. Ye, H. Ran. 2016. A new Minisauripus site from the Lower Cretaceous of China: tracks of small adults or juveniles?. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 452:28-39 DOI ↗
M. G. Lockley, J. Y. Kim, and K. S. Kim, S. H. kim, M. Matsukawa, R. Li, J. Li, S.-Y. Yang. 2008. Minisauripus—the track of a diminutive dinosaur from the Cretaceous of China and South Korea: implications for stratigraphic correlation and theropod foot morphodynamics. Cretaceous Research 29(1):115-130 DOI ↗
S. Zhen, J. Li, and B. Zhang, W. Chen, S. Zhu. 1994. Dinosaur and bird footprints from the Lower Cretaceous of Emei County, Sichuan, China. Memoirs of Beijing Natural History Museum 54:105-120