The Mazongshan Dinosaur Fauna (MDF) includes all dinosaurs recovered from the late Early Cretaceous Xiagou and Zhonggou formations in the Mazongshan area of Gansu Province in northwestern China. Currently, 11 distinctive dinosaur genera have been recovered in this fauna, representing three theropods, two sauropods, four hadrosauroids, and two neoceratopsians. Four features can be recognized for the MDF: (1) the presence of large herbivorous theropods, such as the therizinosaur Suzhousaurus and ornithomimosaur Beishanlong; (2) the presence of diverse basal hadrosauroids, represented by at least four genera; (3) an abundance of basal neoceratopsians, represented by numerous individuals of Auroraceratops; and (4) an apparent lack of psittacosaurids. The MDF is unique and different from any other known dinosaur faunas, including that from the Jehol Biota.
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15 July 2019
Introducing the Mazongshan Dinosaur Fauna
Hailu You,
Eric M. Morschhauser,
Daqing Li,
Peter Dodson
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