石花形恐龙幻迹：中国重庆綦江区下白垩统夹关组的罕见遗迹化石

Stone flowers explained as dinosaur undertracks: unusual ichnites from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation, Qijiang District, Chongqing, China

摘要: 在中国重庆綦江区虎山足迹点发现了2个大型恐龙天然足模化石，化石赋存于砂质富集的夹关组的一悬崖底面。它们属于罕见的幻迹，同类足迹也发现于韩国和北美白垩系足迹点。放射状、同心及半脆性形变使这些幻迹具有切断状或网状外观，有时呈现出类似裂断花或菜花的形态。这正是当地“石头开花”民间传说的来源。这些特征表明，造迹者必然是恐龙，同时也清晰地展现了其外形态学特征。

Abstract: Two large footprint features preserved as natural casts on the underside of an overhang in the sand-rich Jiaguan Formation of the Tiger tracksite, Qijiang District, Chongqing, China, are shown to be unusual undertrack features of the type reported from other Cretaceous sites in Korea and North America. A combination of radial and concentric, semi-brittle deformation gives these undertracks a "chopped up" or reticulate appearance which sometimes resembles a segmented flower or cauliflower-like morphology. This has given rise to local folklore references to stone flowers. Such features while of undisputed dinosaurian origin clearly demonstrate extramorphological characteristics.