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pp. 187-200
gs. 1-5
第55卷 第2期
2017年4月
古 脊 椎 动 物 学 报
VERTEBRATA PALASIATICA
Review of historical and current research
on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs
from Laiyang, Shandong
ZHANG Jia-Liang1,2 WANG Qiang1 JIANG Shun-Xing1 CHENG Xin1 LI Ning1
QIU Rui1,2 ZHANG Xin-Jun1,2 WANG Xiao-Lin1,2*
(1 Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate
Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100044
* Corresponding author: wangxiaolin@ivpp.ac.cn)
(2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049)
Abstract Here we briey review the history of research on the Laiyang dinosaur and dinosaur
egg faunas, summarize the contributions of C. C. Young and other elder paleontologists to the
discoveries of the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang, and introduce the
new discoveries and the advances in the research on the Laiyang faunas. The new investigations
in Laiyang from 2008 have found a series of valley developed in plain and more than ten
new dinosaur or dinosaur egg fossil beds. In 2010, we began the massive excavations at two
localities in Jingangkou and collected abundant dinosaurs and other vertebrate fossils, such as
a new saurolophine, some theropod material and a new taxon of turtle egg. The bone beds in
Locality 2 with the typical sedimentary and burial patterns of mudow, and these fossil deposits
are interpreted as having been carried and deposited by mudflow. The re-observation and the
CT scanning data of the crest of Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus (IVPP V 725) show that the crest
is fractured and solid. However, based on the re-observations of its cranial and postcranial
specimens, we consider that Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus is a valid taxon of lambeosaurines, which
have the hollow crest. Therefore, the crest of Tsintaosaurus might not belong to the skull of this
individual, and the true form of the crest needs to be conrmed in the future work. We reassess the
three species of Tanius, and obtain several results. 1) Tanius sinensis and Tanius chingkankouensis
are the valid species of Tanius; 2) Tanius laiyangensis is invalid.; 3) the sacrum and ilium of
Tanius chingkankouensis with typical hadrosaurid features should not be referred to Tanius.
Key words Laiyang, Shandong; Upper Cretaceous; Wangshi Group; Hadrosauroidea; dinosaur egg
Citation Zhang J L, Wang Q, Jiang S X et al., 2017. Review of historical and current research on
the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang, Shandong. Vertebrata
PalAsiatica, 55(2): 187–200
1 Introduction
Laiyang is located in the center of the Jiaodong Peninsula, and the well-developed
国家自然科学基金
(批准号：
41172018, 41572020)
、国家自然科学基金基础科学中心项目(
编号：
41688103)
、国家自
然科学基金重大项目(编号：91514302)、中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(B类) (编号：
XDB18000000)
、国家重点基础研究发展计
划项目(编号：
2012CB821900)
、国家杰出青年科学基金(编号：
40825005)
和
莱阳市政府合作项目资助。
收稿日期：2017-03-08
188 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 2
terrestrial strata around Laiyang belong to the Lower Cretaceous Laiyang and Qingshan groups
and the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group. The age of these strata ranges from 130 Ma to 70
Ma (Wang et al., 2010, 2012). The Laiyang Group consists primarily of grey and grey-green
shales that were deposited in lacustrine environments. Abundant fossils have been recovered
from the Laiyang Group, including plants, insects, conchostracans, various other invertebrates,
and dinosaur tracks (Chow, 1923; Grabau, 1923; Hong and Wang, 1990; Zhang, 1992; Young,
1960; Li and Zhang, 2000, 2001). The Qingshan Group consists mainly of volcanic rocks
interbedded with sedimentary rocks (Liu et al., 2011), and contains the ceratopsian dinosaur
Psittacosaurus (Young, 1958; Zhao, 1962), pterosaurs (Young, 1958; Zhou, 2010), and the
turtle Peishanemys (Chow, 1954a). The fossil assemblage in the Laiyang and Qingshan groups
is similar to the Jehol Biota, and forms the Laiyang Jehol Biota (Wang et al. 2010). The
Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group mainly comprises uvial and lacustrine red and gray-green
siltstones and mudstones interbedded with gray and gray-green glutenites and siltstones, and is
divided from bottom to top into the Xingezhuang, Jiangjunding, Jingangkou and Changwangpu
formations (Hu et al., 2001), the last of which was thought to occur only in Zhucheng and to
be absent in Laiyang (Wang et al. 2012). The Jiangjunding and Jingangkou formations contain
rich concentrations of hadrosauroid bones, coexisting with abundant other vertebrate bones and
dinosaur eggs. More recently, Yan and Chen (2005) obtained an isotope age of 73 Ma for the
Jingangkou Formation (which they called the Hongtuya Formation) based on a basalt sample
from the town of Daxizhuang in Jiaozhou City. The dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs in the Wangshi
Group form the Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna and Dinosaur Egg Fauna. Laiyang is also among
the relatively few areas worldwide that are rich in both dinosaur bones and dinosaur eggs.
The earliest discoveries on dinosaur bones and dinosaur eggs in Laiyang can be traced back
to the 1920s, and a golden age of exploration of the fauna took place in the 1950s. It was from
Laiyang that Chinese geologists and paleontologists rst reported a fossil assemblage containing
Chinese dinosaurs, dinosaur eggs, pterosaurs, insects and plants (Wang et al., 2010). Because
of these discoveries, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology of China was founded in 1984 in
Laiyang. In 1951, an IVPP expedition team led by C. C. Young undertook a series of massive
prospecting trips and excavations in Laiyang (Liu, 1951; Young, 1958) and found abundant
vertebrate fossils including multiple specimens of the lambeosaurine hadrosaurid Tsintaosaurus
spinorhinus, the first reasonably complete dinosaurian skeleton after the establishment of P.
R. China (Young, 1958). These discoveries turned Laiyang into a focal point for the study of
dinosaur and dinosaur egg fossils in China. Although dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs continued
to be found sporadically in Laiyang in the following decades, no large-scale excavations were
conducted. Since 2008, however, an IVPP-Laiyang team has carried out annual field activities
including massive excavations, at both Young’s old quarry (Locality 1) and a new quarry (Locality
2) in Laiyang. During these new eld surveys, we have discovered several dinosaur and dinosaur
egg localities, and found abundant fossils. Here we briefly review the history of research on
the dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs of Laiyang, including the contributions of Young and other
paleontologists, and also introduce the new nds and research advances in Laiyang.
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Zhang et al. - Review on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
2 History of discoveries of dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs in Laiyang
Laiyang is an important source of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs in China.
In the last century, C. C. Young, A. Grabau, H. C. Tan, D. S. Liu, M. C. Chow and other
geologists and paleontologists conducted a series of eld investigations and excavations, and
abundant fossils were found, especially of dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs. The history of research
on dinosaurs from Laiyang can be generally divided into three periods.
2.1 The rst period of dinosaur discovery in Laiyang (1920s–1930s)
Tan (1923) reported the presence of dinosaurs, shes, insects and plants in the Cretaceous
strata of Laiyang. Grabau (1923) studied the fishes and insects, while T. H. Chow (1923)
studied the plants. The dinosaur material, which had been collected by Tan, is now kept in the
palaeontological collections of the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Sweden (PMU).
Wiman (1929) described the hadrosauroid material and named it Tanius sinensis in Tan’s
honor. Buffetaut (1995) and Buffetaut and Tong (1995) referred the ankylosaurid material to
Pinacosaurus cf. grangeri. Poropat and Kear (2013) reassessed some theropod material. In
addition, H. S. Wang (1930) subsequently reported some dinosaurs from Jingangkou.
2.2 The second period of dinosaur discovery in Laiyang (1950s–1970s)
In 1950, L. H. Wang and K. Y. Kwan from the Department of Geology and Mineralogy,
University of Shandong collected some dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from the Upper
Cretaceous strata around Laiyang (Chow, 1951). These specimens are now kept in the Museum
of Geology at Jilin University and were reported on by Chow (1951), who identied them as
hadrosaurid with Young’s help.
Young attached great importance to these discoveries. In 1951, he led a eld expedition
to Laiyang in which D. S. Liu and C. Y. Wang also participated. This team carried out massive
excavations at Jingangkou (Wangshi Group) and Doushan (Qingshan Group), digging out
abundant dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs (Liu, 1951; Young, 1958). Liu (1951) reported in detail
on the field investigations and excavations. Young (1954) studied the dinosaur eggs and
divided them into two categories: short eggs (Oolithes spheroides) and long eggs (Oolithes
elongates), proposed the preliminary classification of dinosaur eggs based on this scheme.
Chow (1954b) described the microstructure of dinosaur eggshell. These early studies helped
to lay the methodological and nomenclatural foundation for subsequent research on dinosaur
eggs. In addition, Chow (1954a) studied the turtle fossils collected in 1951.
Young established the species Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus based on a complete composite
skeleton and additional bones from the Wangshi Group in a monograph entitled “The
Dinosaurian Remains of Laiyang, Shantung”, which was an important monograph about
dinosaurs produced in the early stages of P. R. China. (Young, 1958) (Fig. 1). The book also
reported other dinosaurs collected from the Wangshi Group, including a new species of Tanius
(Tanius chingkankouensis), theropods (cf. Szechuanosaurus campi and Chinkankousaurus
fragilis), and some fractured bones referred to stegosaurs and sauropods (Young, 1958). These
190 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 2
dinosaur nds revealed the basic contours of the Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna (Young, 1958).
Young also reported Psittacosaurus sinensis and some pterosaur bones from the Qingshan
Group (Young, 1958), and it was the rst report of pterosaurs from China.
Fig. 1 Restoration of Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus
Dinosaurs reported from Laiyang after this publication included another species of
Tanius, T. laiyangensis (Zhen, 1976) and a pachycephalosaurid, Micropachycephalosaurus
hongtuyanensis (Dong, 1978). In addition, there was another hadrosaurid, Shantungosaurus
giganteus found from Zhucheng and Laiyang (Hu, 1973; Hu et al., 2001).
In the 1970s, Z. K. Zhao further studied the microstructure of dinosaur eggs, erecting the
two oofamilies Elongatoolithidae and Spheroolithidae based on Young and Chow’s work (Zhao
and Jiang, 1974; Zhao, 1975, 1979), he was also the rst to propose the current international
classication of dinosaur eggs (Zhao and Jiang, 1974; Zhao, 1979).
2.3 The third period of dinosaur discovery in Laiyang (from 2008)
Since 2008, the IVPP-Laiyang expedition team has carried out a series of field
investigations in Laiyang. These investigations have revealed sets of valleys that interrupt the
plains that dominate the landscape and more than ten dinosaur bone and egg sites have been
found in the valleys. In 2010, the team undertook massive excavations at Locality 1 (Young’s
old Tsintaosaurus quarry) and Locality 2 (a new quarry), and collected abundant dinosaur
bones. Abundant science bases and geoparks have been founded in the eld area, such as the
Laiyang National Geopark, a National Key Protected Fossil Locality, a Field Observation Base
of the Ministry of Land and Resources, etc.
3 Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna and Dinosaur Egg Fauna
Since the 1920s, abundant dinosaur bones and other fossils have been found in
Cretaceous strata around Laiyang form three important Cretaceous faunas: the Laiyang Jehol
Fauna, the Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna, and the Laiyang Dinosaur Egg Fauna.
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Zhang et al. - Review on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
3.1 Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna
The Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna represented by Tsintaosaurus and Tanius is one of the
most important and famous Late Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in China. Up to now, members of
seven major reptile clades have been reported (Wiman, 1929; Young, 1958; Hu, 1973; Zhen, 1976;
Dong, 1978; Buffetaut and Tong, 1995; Poropat and Kear, 2013). Of the seven clades, nine species
in eight genera have been named (Wang et al., 2010) (Table 1), and other unnamed members
represent stegosaurs, sauropods and theropods (Young, 1958; Poropat and Kear, 2013).
Hadrosauroids consist of some basal forms, known as non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroids,
and the monophyletic Hadrosauridae (Prieto-Márquez, 2010). Many hadrosaurid species have
hypertrophied nasal passages associated with cranial crests, which vary widely in morphology
and are important in hadrosaurid taxonomy (Ostrom, 1962, Hopson, 1975). Hadrosauridae is
divided into two main clades: the at-headed or solid-crested Saurolophinae, and the hollow-
crested Lambeosaurinae (Horner et al. 2004). In recent phylogenetic analyses, Tanius has been
recovered as a non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid, whereas Tsintaosaurus and Shantungosaurus
have been placed in Hadrosauridae as a lambeosaurine and a saurolophine respectively (Prieto-
Márquez, 2010; Zhang and Wang, 2012).
Table 1 Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna
Hadrosauroidea Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus Young, 1958
Tanius sinensis Wiman, 1929
Tanius chingkankouensis Young, 1958
Tanius laiyangensis Zhen, 1976
Shantungosaurus giganteus Hu, 1973
Ankylosauridae Pinacosaurus cf. P. grangeri Buffetaut & Tong, 1995
Pachycephalosauridae Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis Dong, 1978
Theropoda cf. Szechuanosaurus campi Young, 1958
Chinkankousaurus fragilis Young, 1958
Testudines Glyptops sp. Chow, 1954a
3.2 Laiyang Dinosaur Egg Fauna
Abundant dinosaur eggs were collected at the same time with the dinosaur body fossils.
To date, four oofamilies, ve oogenera, and eleven oospecies have been reported, forming the
Laiyang Dinosaur Egg Fauna (Wang et al., 2010) (Table 2).
Table 2 Laiyang Dinosaur Egg Fauna
Elongatoolithidae Elongatoolithus elongatus Young, 1965
Elongatoolithus andrewi Zhao, 1975
Ovaloolithidae Ovaloolithus chinkangkouensis Zhao, 1979
Ovaloolithus monostriatus Zhao, 1979
Ovaloolithus tristriatus Zhao, 1979
Ovaloolithus mixtistriatus Zhao, 1979
Ovaloolithus laminadermus Zhao, 1979
Spheroolithidae Spheroolithus chiangchiungtingensis Zhao, 1979
?Spheroolithus megadermus Zhao, 1979
Paraspheroolithus irenensis Zhao, 1979
Dictyoolithidae Protodictyoolithus jiangi Liu & Zhao, 2004
192 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 2
4 New fossil discoveries in Laiyang
During the recent fieldwork in the Wangshi Group, several valleys were discovered
in Jingangkou and Jiangjunding, and are considered to form “the Laiyang Dinosaur Valley
Series”, where more than ten dinosaur bone and egg sites have been found (Fig. 2). The
dinosaur valleys generally trend nearly SN or EW, and some intersect.
Fig. 2 Dinosaur valley interrupting the topography of the plains in Laiyang
4.1 Re-excavation of Young’s old Tsintaosaurus quarry (Locality 1) and the discovery of
a new turtle egg
In 2010, the IVPP-Laiyang expedition team conrmed the location of the quarry where
Young found Tsintaosaurus in 1951 (Locality 1), and also reopened the quarry for further
excavation. The bone-bearing beds were identied, and several isolated bones of hadrosauroids
and other vertebrates were found in this site. Among these fossils, a single elongated egg is the
most noteworthy. The microstructure of the egg shell is different from which seen in the egg
shell of dinosaurs, birds or crocodiles. This specimen was identied as a new type of turtle egg
and named Emydoolithus laiyangensis (Wang et al., 2013a).
4.2 Excavations and new discoveries in Locality 2
Locality 2 is in the east part of Jingangkou Village, 1 km
east of Locality 1, and represents
an exposure of the middle part of the Wangshi Group (Wang et al., 2012). Eight layers bearing
dinosaur bones occur in a thickness of 100 m, five of them have been excavated in recently
years. An on-site museum has been built in the western part of the excavation area.
The first and second fossil-bearing layers are composed of gray-green silty mudstone
containing black bones. They are actually parts of a single original layer, but movement along
a fault separated them. The fossils in the rst layer are mainly big theropod and hadrosauroid
193
Zhang et al. - Review on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
bones, and are similar to those found at the bottom of the second layer. In the middle of the
second layer, big complete bones and small rounded bone fragments are mixed together,
whereas the fossils in the upper part of the layer are all fractured and rounded small bones. The
third, fourth and fth layers mainly consist of siltstones, and the fossils in these layers are white
in color. The excavations carried out in recent years have targeted the third layer, which is 1.5–1.8
m thick, and contains abundant hadrosauroid bones in a normally graded vertical sequence.
Near the top of this layer are small vertebrae and fractured bones, and near the bottom are big
isolated bones, some of which are articulated. Abundant hadrosauroid and other vertebrate
bones are found in the fourth layer, and several complete large turtle fossils in the fth layer.
The strata at Locality 2 are interpreted to have been mainly formed by mudflow events,
because they show the typical sedimentary and taphonomic characteristics expected for mudow
deposits: mudstones and siltstones with some poorly-sorted gravel, most of the bones are isolate,
the large and small complete bones are mixed in the bottom of the layers, the long axes of the
bones lack a consistent orientation, and a few bones are oblique or vertical in orientation. The
taphonomy of the bones shows that a group of live hadrosauroids was engulfed and torn apart
by a sudden flood and mudflow, and the carcasses were carried a short distance, and rapidly
buried. However, abundant fractured and rounded small bones and plant fragments indicate these
fossils were reworked before the nal bury. Thousands of hadrosauriod bones exposed in recent
years represent at least 20–30 individuals. These can be divided into three size classes, which
are tentatively assumed to adult, subadult, and late juvenile individuals, according to the studies
of ontogenetic changes in the hadrosaurid Maiasaura peeblesorum by Horner et al. (2000).
Some of the hadrosauroid bones are referred to Saurolophinae on the basis of the maxilla with
a anterodorsal process, the jugal with a long anteroposteriorly rostral process and a shallow
embayment, and the distal end of the ischial shaft without the “foot-like” process (Prieto-
Márquez, 2008, 2010). These saurolophine material are belong to a new genus and species,
Laiyangosaurus youngi in Young’s honor, based on the following autapomorphies: a prominent
and narrow ridge on the lateral side of the nasal, a slightly posteriorly deected primary ridge of
the maxillary tooth, a dorsolateroposteriorlly recurved retroarticular process of the surangular,
a relatively shallow and rostrodorsally directed caudal margin of the lacrimal process of the
jugal, the posterior margin of the maxilla facet limited by a rostrodorsally-oriented narrow
ridge, and orbital margins that are wider than the infratemporal margins of the jugal (Zhang et
al. 2017). In addition, other hadrosauroid bones would be referred to Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus
(Lambeosaurinae) on the basis of the humerus with a long and wide deltopectoral crest, and the
ilium with a deep central plate (Young, 1958; Prieto-Márquez, 2008, 2010; Zhang, 2013).
5 Recent advances in the study of dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
5.1 Validity of Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus and CT scanning of its crest
Young (1958) described Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus based on a nearly complete composite
skeleton (IVPP V 725), a separate incomplete skull (IVPP V 818), and additional postcranial
194 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 2
materials from the Wangshi Group west of Jingangkou Village, Laiyang. T. spinorhinus
has a rodlike, anterodorsally projected cranial crest, which consists of the nasal bones and
terminates in two branches (Fig. 3). This feature differs from the posterodorsally projected
crests of other lambeosaurines, which incorporate both the nasals and the premaxillae (Ostrom,
1960; Hopson, 1975; Horner, 2004; Evans et al., 2009). Since T. spinorhinus was reported in
1958, it has been the subject of considerable controversy, especially with regard to its crest.
Some scholars have even doubted the validity of the taxon (Rozhdestvensky, 1977; Taquet,
1991; Horner and Weisharnpel, 1990). while some researchers believed that T. spinorhinus
was assignable to Lambeosaurinae and most likely hollow crested, based on the presence of
lambeosaurine features in the skull and postcranial bones (Maryańska and Osmólska, 1981;
Brett-Surman, 1989; Buffetaut and Tong, 1993, 1995). Horner et al. (2004) conrmed that T.
spinorhinus was a basal lambeosaurine through phylogenetic analysis. Prieto-Márquez and
Wagner (2013) restored T. spinorhinus with a hollow posterodorsally projected crest as in
typical lambeosaurines, based on the skull and some additional bone fragments.
Recently, we used the CT scanner to scan the crest of Tsintaosaurus (IVPP V 725), and to
reconstruct its internal structure (Zhang and Wang, 2012). Notably, the fracture on the root of the
crest is severe. There are only several small bone fragments between the crest and the skull. The
fracture surfaces on the root of the crest do not match those of the skull (Fig. 3D, E) (Zhang and
Wang, 2012). Therefore, it is doubtful that the morphology of the crest of Tsintaosaurus is real.
The cross-section of the crest shows that there are three parts along the sagittal plane (Fig.
3C). The middle part is a rectangular, long strip in our 3D-reconstruction. The two lateral parts do
not enclose a cavity around the middle part, but instead sandwich the middle part between them.
Therefore, the crest of Tsintaosaurus could not enclose a nasal cavity, which is divided into a pair
of hollow passage in the crest of all the other lambeosaurines. In addition, the middle part of the
crest of Tsintaosaurus is also part of the skeleton, and the crest would be solid, not hollow.
However, based on our observations of the skull and postcranial bones of Tsintaosaurus,
we consider the descriptions of the other parts of Tsintaosaurus by Young and other researchers
to be reliable and accurate (Young, 1958; Buffetaut and Tong, 1993, 1995). Tsintaosaurus
exhibits a series of characteristics of Lambeosaurinae, including the frontal being completely
excluded from the orbital margin, the upward doming on the dorsal part of the frontal, the
width being greater than the length of the supratemporal fenestra, the parietal sagittal crest
being relatively short and down-curved, the anterodorsal process absent in the anterior of the
maxilla, the dorsal process of the maxilla being posterodorsally extended, the symphyseal
process of the dentary being medioventrally extended, the quadrate being relatively curved,
and the distal region of the ischial shaft being ventrally expanded, forming a large “boot-like”
process (Horner et al., 2004; Prieto-Márquez, 2008, 2010).
In conclusion, Tsintaosaurus is a valid lambeosaurine taxon, but the crest we examined
does not appear to be the real one of Tsintaosaurus, or even the material might possibly not
belong to the skull of this individual. However, the anterior part of its frontal and prefrontal
195
Zhang et al. - Review on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
Fig. 3 Photographs and CT scan of the crest of
Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus (IVPP V 725)
A–B. skull roof in anterior (A) and lateral (B) view; C. cross
section through the crest (at the position indicated by a line in A,
B); D. sagittal section through the crest (the part in the frame in
A, B, and the white arrow in D shows the fracture on the root of
the crest); E. 3D reconstruction of the morphology of the hollow
within the crest (the part in the frame in A, B)
(modied from Zhang and Wang., 2012)
both extend dorsally to support
the crest. Given that morphology,
Tsintaosaurus should have a hollow
up-extended crest, as the other
lambeosaurines. However, future
work will have to confirm the true
form of the crest.
5.2 Validity of three species of
Tanius
Three species have been placed
in the genus Tanius (T. sinensis, T.
chingkankouensis, and T. laiyangensis).
Only the type species, T. sinensis,
has a
partial skull (Wiman, 1929), and the
other two species are known only
from postcranial skeletons (Young,
1958, Zhen, 1976). Therefore, the
validity of T. chingkankouensis and
T. laiyangensis was doubted by
Buffetaut and Tong (1993, 1995).
Horner et al. (2004) suggested
that T. chingkankouensis is a valid
taxon, and that T. laiyangensis is a
synonym of T. chingkankouensis.
Tanius sinensis was collected in 1923 from the Jiangjunding Formation, Wangshi Group
stratigraphically below the Jingangkou Formation, where Tsintaosaurus were found (Tan,
1923; Wiman, 1929). T. sinensis was described as a at hadrosaurid based on a nearly complete
skull (Fig. 4) and some postcranial bones (Wiman, 1929). Recently, it was referred to a valid
taxon of basal hadrosauroid with a series of basal hadrosauroid features, such as the presence
of the rostral process of the jugal relatively shallow dorsoventrally, the posterodorsal border
of the rostral process bearing a remarkable horizontally oriented ridge and continuing to the
dorsal border of the rostral process (making a deep concave maxilla facet in the medial surface
of the rostral process), and the apex of the supraacetabular process located caudodorsal to the
caudal tuberosity of the ischial peduncle (Horner et al., 2004; Prieto-Márquez, 2008, 2010).
Young (1958) erected T. chingkankouensis based on a few postcranial bones collected in
the same excavation with Tsintaosaurus spinorhins at Jingangkou, Laiyang. Buffetaut and Tong
(1993, 1995) considered that the ilium of T. chingkankouensis shows advanced hadrosaurid
features. The ilium of T. chingkankouensis displays a characteristic of saurolophines (Prieto-
Márquez, 2008, 2010), in that the apex of the supraacetabular process is located anterodorsal
196 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 2
to the caudal tuberosity of the ischial peduncle (Fig. 5). In addition, whether the sacra with
a longitudinal ventral furrow belong to T. chingkankouensis is questionable, because the
recent research suggests that the presence or absence of that ventral sacral furrow varies
within species (Prieto-Márquez, 2008). Therefore, this character would not be diagnostic of
T. chingkankouensis. However, T. chingkankouensis has a slightly inflated distal end of the
ischium (Young, 1958), and that morphology is a characteristic of basal hadrosauroids (Prieto-
Márquez, 2008, 2010). In addition, T. chingkankouensis has the parallel dorsal and ventral
margins of the distal blade of the scapula, which is similar with T. sinensis, but the more
straight dorsal margins of the scapula is different from T. sinensis (Young, 1958). Therefore,
T. chingkankouensis is a valid taxon of Tanius, but the ilium would not belong to Tanius, and
there are some questions about its sacrum that will require further study.
T. laiyangensis was assigned to Tanius based on a broken ischium and a sacrum with a
ventral furrow, similar to T. chingkankouensis, collected from the same site as Tsintaosaurus
Fig. 4 Braincase and jugal of Tanius sinensis (PMU 24720)
A. braincase in dorsal view; B–C. left jugal in lateral (B) and dorsal (C) views
Fig. 5 Comparison between the ilia of Tanius sinensis and T. chingkankouensis in lateral view
A. left ilium of T. sinensis (PMU 24720);
B. right ilium of T. chingkankouensis (IVPP V 724)
197
Zhang et al. - Review on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
spinorhinus and T. chingkankouensis (Zhen, 1976). Zhen (1976) considered that the number
of the vertebrae of sacrum in T. laiyangensi is more than T. chingkankouensis. However, the
presence or absence of furrow and the number of the sacral are not diagnostic (Prieto-Márquez,
2008, 2010). Therefore, T. laiyangensis is likely not a valid taxon.
5.3 Advances in Shantungosaurus giganteus
Shantungosaurus giganteus was described as a giant at-head saurolophine, based on a
nearly complete composite skeleton collected from Wangshi Group, in Longgujian, Zhucheng,
Shandong (Hu, 1973; Hu et al., 2001). There are also a few specimens of S. giganteus found in
Laiyang (Hu et al., 2001). Another two large hadrosaurids, Zhuchengosaurus maximus (Zhao
et al., 2007) and Huaxiaosaurus aigahtens (Zhao et al., 2011), were reported from Zhucheng,
which were considered synonyms of S. giganteus (Ji et al., 2011; Hone et al., 2014).
5.4 Advances in dinosaur eggs from Laiyang
Liu et al. (2013) compared dinosaur eggs collected in Laiyang, Shandong Province and
Changtu, Liaoning Province, and referred the eggs in Changtu to Spheroolithus spheroides
(Young, 1954; Zhao, 1979) and S. megadermus (Young and Wang, 1959; Zhao, 1979), which
were known only from Laiyang in prior reports. The dictyoolithid eggs are widely distributed
in China, and they are the important members of the Laiyang Dinosaur Egg Fauna. Wang et al.
(2013b) re-examined the holotypes of the four oospecies of Dictyoolithidae, and determined
that only Dictyoolithus hongpoensis was valid in the oogenus Dictyoolithus. They established a
new oogenus Protodictyoolithus, and placed D. jiangi (Liu and Zhao, 2004) from the Laiyang
Basin in Protodictyoolithus (Wang et al., 2013b).
These new discoveries and advances in recent years have enriched the diversity of the
Laiyang Hadrosauroid Fauna and Dinosaur Egg Fauna. With further excavation and fossil
preparation, more discoveries will be made in the future.
Acknowledgements We thank Li Yan, Xiang Long, Gao Wei, Zhou Hongjiao, Wang
Ruijie, Meng Xi, Pan Rui, Xu Dan, Wang Wenhao, Shou Huaquan, Liu Xinzheng, Zhang
Jie and Wang Ping (IVPP) for excavating and preparing the specimens. We also thank Yang
Guoqiang, Li Shenggang, Zou Changhou, Lu Mengxuan, Gai Xinzhang, Lan Hong, Wang
Yan, Zhang Weihua, Sun Yu, Zhao Yuting, Li Wenbin, Li Jian and Wang Jianhua (Laiyang) for
supporting our excavations. We also thank Dr. Corwin Sullivan and Dr. Tom Stidham (IVPP)
and two reviewers for their valuable comments and English correction on the manuscript.
We thank Zhao Chuang for drawing the restoration of Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus. This study
was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41172018, 41572020,
41688103), the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(91514302), the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(XDB18030504), the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2012CB821900),
the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (40825005), and the Laiyang
Government Cooperation Dinosaur Project.
198 Vertebrata PalAsiatica, Vol. 55, No. 2
山东莱阳晚白垩世恐龙与恐龙蛋研究历史和新进展
张嘉良1,2 王 强1 蒋顺兴1 程 心1 李 宁1 裘 锐1,2 张鑫俊1,2 汪筱林1,2
(1 中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所，中国科学院脊椎动物演化与人类起源重点实验室 北京 100044)
(2 中国科学院大学 北京 100049)
摘要：简要回顾了莱阳恐龙和恐龙蛋化石群的研究历史和以杨钟健为代表的老一代地质古
生物学者对莱阳恐龙和恐龙蛋研究发现的杰出贡献，并介绍了莱阳恐龙和恐龙蛋的最新发
现和若干研究进展。在近年来对莱阳周边地层进行的大规模考察中，发现了一系列发育
在平原上的恐龙峡谷群，以及其中蕴含的十几个恐龙和恐龙蛋新地点和新层位。2010年开
始，在对莱阳金岗口村附近的2个化石地点的发掘中，发现了以鸭嘴龙科为主的大量脊椎
动物化石和蛋化石，包括一类新的栉龙亚科成员，一些大型兽脚类恐龙化石，以及一新的
龟鳖类蛋化石等。2号地点化石富集层具有典型的泥石流沉积特征和骨骼埋藏特征。对棘
鼻青岛龙的特殊头饰进行了CT扫描和三维重建，发现其头饰是实心结构，但其他骨骼特
征证明棘鼻青岛龙属于具有头饰的赖氏龙亚科是确定无疑的，所以目前发现的头饰应不是
其真实状态或根本不属于其头部骨骼。此外，对谭氏龙1属3种的重新观察研究得出以下结
论：中国谭氏龙和金刚口谭氏龙应是有效属种，但部分骨骼还有疑问，还需要进一步研
究，而莱阳谭氏龙为无效属种。
关键词：山东莱阳，上白垩统，王氏群，鸭嘴龙超科，恐龙蛋
中图法分类号：Q915.864 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1000-3118(2017)02-0187-14
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