• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.458-472
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• 2018

Pterosaur tracks were discovered recently in the Daegok-ri dinosaur tracksite (Ulsan Metropolitan City Cultural Properties No. 13), Ulju-gun, Ulsan. Those tracks were reported as being the first in the Cretaceous deposits of Ulsan area. This tracksite is located relatively far from the Gyeongsangnam-do coastal area where pterosaur tracks were reported intensively, and there are stratigraphic differences. This study described the pterosaur tracks and trackway of the Daegok-ri tracksite and discussed the spatio-temporal distribution of the Cretaceous pterosaurs in the Korean Peninsula. The pterosaur footprints founded in Daegok-ri can be classified as Pteraichnus ichnosp., followed by the morphological characteristics. Based on the distribution of the pterosaur tracks on the Korean Peninsula including the Daegok-ri pterosaur tracks, it was estimated that the Cretaceous pterosaurs on the Korean Peninsula had survived approximately for 40 million years from 120 Ma (i.e., Early Cretaceous) to 80 Ma (i.e., Late Cretaceous) and inhabited in various sedimentary environments regardless of the basin size and the specific sedimentary environments. Furthermore, the occurrence of the sauropod, ornithopod, theropod, pterosaurs, birds, and crocodyliforms tracks/trackways in the Daegok-ri area represented that the Cretaceous vertebrate ichnodiversity was fairly high.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.36-46
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• 2023

In this study, small bird tracks from the Cretaceous Sanbukdong Formation in Gunsan City, South Korea, were briefly described. Detrital zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating was conducted of the tuffaceous sandstone from the formation to determine the depositional age of the vertebrate track-bearing strata. Small bird tracks are not well-preserved but divided into two types: two consecutive tracks and three isolated tracks. They are small, asymmetric, slender, functionally-tridactyl tracks, which lack a web between digits. The consecutive and isolated tracks were identified as Koreanaornis dodsoni? and Koreanaornis ichnosp., respectively. This study adds avian tracks to the Sanbukdong tetrapod track assemblage composed of theropods, ornithopods, and pterosaur tracks. According to the U-Pb dating, the estimated age of the Sanbukdong Formation is 112.5±5.8 Ma, regard as the Aptian Stage, representing the maximum depositional age for the Sanbukdong Formation. The Sanbukdong Formation can be correlated with the lower part of the Jinju Formation in the Gyeongsang Basin. Thus, small avian tracks may represent the oldest Korean occurrence of Koreanaornis.