DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF EASTERN MANCHURIA, NORTHEASTERN CHINA - IMPLICATIONS FOR THE RECOGNITION OF AN ORNITHOPOD ICHNOFACIES IN EAST-ASIA

Early Cretaceous theropod and iguanodontid footprints are reported fro m the eastern Manchuria area. They are similar to theropods from the T etori Group, Japan and the Gyeongsang Supergroup, South Korea, and cur rently are only identifiable at higher taxonomic levels as of theropod and iguanodontid affinity. Both theropod and iguanodontid trackmakers from NE China, South Korea and Japan evidently occur in the same pale obiogeographical province in which the psittacosaurid fauna is reporte d on the basis of skeletal remains. The ichnocoenosis is typical of th e broadly defined large ornithopod ichnofacies associated with fluvio- lacustrine environments in humid and temperate settings, and does not correspond closely to the Known skeletal fauna. Such disparity suggest s that trace and body fossil records often sample different animal com munities.