主要记述了山东临沭地区早白垩世晚期(大盛群沉积时期)、生活于干旱炎热气候条件下滨浅湖环境的恐龙所留下的大规模足迹化石群。初步研究表明,这些足迹以蜥脚类恐龙足迹占绝大多数,见少量鸟脚类、兽脚类和疑似甲龙类足迹(甲龙类足迹在中国罕见),足迹总体行进方向以向西和南西为主。通过对其中的2条蜥脚类和1条鸟脚类行迹及其行为学的分析认为其均处于慢行状态,而鸟脚类行迹的运动速度极慢,可能处于一种特殊的慢行状态。临沫地区早白垩世晚期大盛期如此大规模足迹化石群的发现,说明中国乃至东亚地区早白垩世普遍存在着以恐龙为代表的(包括鸟类在内)陆生脊椎动物群。足迹化石的研究将对进一步了解晚中生代陆地生物群的演化有着重要意义。对比其他地区早自垩世晚期地层中发现的恐龙足迹化石特征后认为,足迹的保存与当时的沉积环境有密切的关系,因此对恐龙足迹的研究又能进一步为恢复古生态、古地理环境等提供更丰富的信息。
A large scale of dinosaur footprints, which were related to the dinosaur movements in a shoreshallow lake environment under hot drought climate of the Dasheng Group of the late Early Creta ceous were discovered in Linshu area, Shandong Province. In the research area, sauropod footprints were dominant, as well as a small number of ornithopod footprints, ropod footprints and the ankylosaurlike foot prints. The ankylosaur footprints were very scarce in China. The main directions of these footprints were west and southwest. Based on the features of ornithopod and sauropod tracks, we can conclude that these dinosaurs were in a slowly walking state, especially the ornithopod. The discovery of the footprints in the research area suggested that the vertebrate animals such as dinosaurs (including birds) were survival in China and even in East Asia in the late Early Cretaceous, which had great significance to reveal the terres trial biotas evolution in the Late Mesozoic. Footprints preservation has a close relationship with the different sedimentary environment by comparing with the dinosaur footprints fossil in the strata of the late Early Cre taceous. Therefore, research on dinosaur footprints can provide much more information for recovering palaeoecology and palaeogeographic environment.