Ukureyskaya Formation Explained
The Ukureyskaya Formation, also referred to as the Ukurey Formation, is a geological formation in Zabaykalsky Krai, part of the Russian Far East. It is made up of Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic layers.[1] It covers large areas around Kulinda.[2]
History
The Ukureyskaya Formation was mentioned by Sinitsa & Starukhina (1986),[3] and was first discovered by Sofia M. Sinitsa and her team from the Russian Academy of Sciences before being excavated in 2010 by a group of Russian and Belgian palaeontologists;[4] during this time, the holotype of Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus was discovered.[5] Excavations wrapped up in 2013 or 2014.[6]
Description
The volcanic ash layers of the Ukureyskaya Formation form a Konservat-Lagerstätte with an exceptional preservation, and it likely represents a nearshore lacustrine or estuarine-deltaic environment similar to the Yixian Formation.
In total, two bone beds were identified during the excavations that took place between 2010 and 2013/14; Bonebed 4 is older than Bonebed 3.
Age
Sinitsa & Starukhina (1986) and Sinitsa (2011) suggested that the Ukureyskaya Formation dated to the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous.
Godefroit et al. (2014) and Alivanov & Saveliev (2014) have suggested that as a whole, the Ukureyskaya Formation dates to the Bajocian-Tithonian,[7] while more recent dating work by Cincotta et al. (2019) suggests that the layers containing the remains of Kulindadromeus are Bathonian in age.[8]
Paleofauna
Paleofauna of the Ukureyska Formation!Genus!Species!Location!Stratigraphic position!Material!Notes!Image| Crustacea | Indeterminate | Kulinda | "Indeterminate remains" | | |
| Insecta | Indeterminate | Kulinda | | | Represented by multiple species. | |
| Kulindadromeus' | K. zabaikalicus | Kulinda | "Base of the Ukureyska Formation" | "Hundreds of disarticulated skeletons including six skulls" | Synonyms include Daurosaurus olovus and Lepidocheirosaurus natalis.[9] | |
| Ornithopoda | Indeterminate | Kulinda | | "Indeterminate remains" | Represents an unnamed genus that is distinct from Kulindadromeus. | |
| Theropoda | Indeterminate | Kulinda | | "Single tooth" | Based on undiagnostic remains. | | |
Notes and References
- Sinitsa. S.. Reshetova. S.. Vilmova. E.. 2017. Hypostratotypes of Ukureyskaya Formation of Novoberezovka and Olov Depressions of Transbaikalia (Part 1. Hypostratotype-1 of Ukureyskaya Formation of Novoberezovka Depression). Transbaikal State University Journal. ru. 23. 6. 52–62. 10.21209/2227-9245-2017-23-6-52-62. 2024-06-12 . 2227-9245.
- "The Kulinda fossil site", University of Bristol Palaeobiology Research Group. Retrieved 4 April 2015
- Sinitsa S.M., Starukhina S. (1986) New data and problems in stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Upper Meso�zoic in East Transbaikalia. In: Novye Dannye po Geologii Zabaikal’ya. Min. Geol. RSFSR, Moscow, pp 46–51
- Sinitsa S.M. (2011). Jurassic dinosaurs of Transbaikalia. In: Sinitsa SM (ed) Environmental cooperative studies in the cross-border ecological region: Russia, China, and Mongolia. Inst. Min. Res., Ecol. Cryol. SB RAS, Chita, pp 173–176
- Godefroit . P. . Sinitsa . S.M. . Dhouailly . D. . Bolotsky . Y.L. . Sizov . A.V. . McNamara . M.E. . Benton . M.J. . Spagna . P. . 2014 . A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales . dead . Science . 345 . 6195 . 451–455 . 2014Sci...345..451G . 10.1126/science.1253351 . 25061209 . 206556907 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232112/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Benton/reprints/2014Kulinda.pdf . 2019-02-09 . 2016-07-27 . free . 1983/a7ae6dfb-55bf-4ca4-bd8b-a5ea5f323103.
- Dan Vergano, 2014, "Siberian Discovery Suggests Almost All Dinosaurs Were Feathered", National Geographic Daily News https://web.archive.org/web/20140724183210/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140724-feathered-siberia-dinosaur-scales-science/
- Alifanov . V.R. . Saveliev . S.V. . 2014 . Two new ornithischian dinosaurs (Hypsilophodontia, Ornithopoda) from the Late Jurassic of Russia . PDF . Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal . 48 . 4 . 72–82. 10.1134/S0031030114040029 . 2014PalJ...48..414A . (in Russian; English translation published in Alifanov . V. R. . 2014 . Two new ornithischian dinosaurs (Hypsilophodontia, Ornithopoda) from the Late Jurassic of Russia . Paleontological Journal . 48 . 4 . 414–425 . 10.1134/S0031030114040029 . 2014PalJ...48..414A . 85539844.)
- Cincotta . Aude . Pestchevitskaya . Ekaterina B. . Sinitsa . Sofia M. . Markevich . Valentina S. . Debaille . Vinciane . Reshetova . Svetlana A. . Mashchuk . Irina M. . Frolov . Andrei O. . Gerdes . Axel . Yans . Johan . Godefroit . Pascal . 2019-02-01 . The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with 'feather-like' structures . PeerJ . en . 7 . e6239 . 10.7717/peerj.6239 . 2167-8359 . 6361000 . 30723614 . free.
- Andrea Cau (November 24, 2015). "Cosa è Lepidocheirosaurus?". Theropoda. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
