Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Palaeoworld 22 (2013) 42–51 Research paper Dinosaur, bird and pterosaur footprints from the Lower Cretaceous of Wuerhe asphaltite area, Xinjiang, China, with notes on overlapping track relationships Li-Da Xing a,b,∗ , Martin G. Lockley c , Hendrik Klein d , Jian-Ping Zhang b , Qing He b , Julien D. Divay e , Li-Qi Qi f , Cheng-Kai Jia f a Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China b School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China c Dinosaur Tracks Museum, University of Colorado at Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA d Saurierwelt Paläontologisches Museum, Alte Richt 7, D-92318 Neumarkt, Germany e Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada f Laboratory Center of Research Institute of Experiment and Detection, Karamay, Xinjiang 834000, China Received 17 December 2012; received in revised form 5 March 2013; accepted 13 March 2013 Available online 26 March 2013 Abstract An assemblage with well-preserved dinosaur, bird and pterosaur footprints has been found in deposits of the upper Tugulu Group (Lower Cretaceous) of the Wuerhe asphaltite area (Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, northwestern China). The dinosaur footprints are similar to the theropod ichnogenus Jialingpus, and the bird footprints to shorebird-like footprints. The isolated tridactyl imprint of a pterosaur manus resembles the ichnogenus Pteraichnus. All morphotypes are also known from another locality in the Junggar Basin, the Huangyangquan tracksite. The different size-classes of theropod footprints are inferred to indicate adult and juvenile individuals. The paleoenvironment was clearly favorable for the co-existence of mixed-age theropod communities, shorebird-like birds, and pterosaurs. An interesting feature is the unusual preservational mode and overlap of footprints that show plastic deformation without fracturing. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. All rights reserved. Keywords: Wuerhe district; Upper Layer of the Tugulu Group; Lower Cretaceous; Shorebird tracks; Theropod tracks; Pterosaur tracks 1. Introduction The Wuerhe district is located at the northwestern border of the Junggar Basin. A number of mostly isolated bird and non-avian dinosaur footprints have been found in the Lower Cretaceous Tugulu Group at the Huangyangquan tracksite in this area. The bird footprints are referred to Koreanaornis dod- soni, Goseongornipes isp., Aquatilavipes isp., and Moguiornipes robusta. The non-avian dinosaur footprints pertain to cf. Jial- ingpus isp., Asianopodus isp., and Kayentapus isp. (Xing et al., 2011a). Recent discoveries include Deltapodus trackways that ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 139 107 33464. E-mail address: xinglida@gmail.com (L.-D. Xing). can be assigned to thyreophorans (Xing et al., 2013) as well as turtle and pterosaur tracks. During the subsequent exploration, Mr. Jianfu An, the curator of Moguicheng Dinosaur and Bizarre Stone Museum, discov- ered another tracksite at an asphaltite mining area approximately 14 km east of the Huangyangquan tracksite. This assemblage also includes dinosaur and bird footprints. Although few in number, the tracks exhibit unusual overlapping phenomena and differ significantly in size from those previously found in the Huangyangquan tracksite. 2. Institutional abbreviations MGCM = Moguicheng Dinosaur and Bizarre Stone Museum, Xinjiang, China. MGUH = Geological Museum, 1871-174X/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2013.03.001