Turtle Cliff Fossil Site: Late/Upper Oxfordian - Kimmeridgian, China

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia - Testudines - Xinjiangchelyidae
Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. Rabi et al. 2013
recombined as Annemys wusu
see common names

Geography
Country:China State/province:Xingjiang
Coordinates: 42.9° North, 90.5° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:42.4° North, 96.6° East
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Jurassic Epoch:Late/Upper Jurassic
10 m.y. bin:Jurassic 5
Key time interval:Late/Upper Oxfordian - Kimmeridgian
Age range of interval:157.90000 - 149.20000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Qigu
Stratigraphy comments: The Flaming Mountains consist of Triassic to Paleogene sediments that were uplifted during the Neogene. Published reports on the geology and stratigraphy of the Flaming Mountains in particular and the Turpan Basin in general are rare and many uncertainties therefore exist regarding the absolute age of formations and their correlation with similar units in other Central Asian basins. Jurassic clastic strata in the Flaming Mountains were preliminarily divided into the Early Jurassic Sangonghe Formation, the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao, Sanjianfang, Qiketai, and Qigu Formations (the latter was recently dated in the Junggar Basin with 164.6 Ma ± 1.4 Ma), and the Late Jurassic Karaza Formation
See Fang et al. 2015
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:fine lithified sandstone
Lithology description: The turtle skeletons at the Turtle Cliff Fossil Site were found on the top of a low hill in a steeply inclined (65°), fine-grained and strongly cemented sandstone layer rich in lithoclasts. Above and below the turtle-bearing sandstone horizon follows a succession of predominately red silt-and mudstones.
Environment:fluvial indet.
Geology comments: The deposits that allegedly represent the Qigu Formation in the Turpan Basin are characterized by alternating coarse and fine-grained sediments that often contain unionid freshwater bivalves, reflecting changing depositional conditions typical of river systems. Temporary subaerial exposure is indicated by paleosols.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:selective quarrying,surface (in situ),mechanical,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: Our description of Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. is based on a sandstone slab with at least 3 individuals (Figure 2) that were excavated during the 2011 joint field season of the University of Tübingen, Shenyang Normal University, and Jilin University, that was lead and carried out by all coauthors at the Turtle Cliff Fossil Site (see Geological Settings). The quarried fossils are currently housed at the Paleontology Museum of Liaoning (PMOL) at Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, Liaoning but will eventually be integrated into the municipal museum of Shanshan, Xinjiang Autonomous Province that is currently under construction. All specimens have been assigned a combined PMOL-Sino-German Cooperation Project (SGP) number, which will be deposited with the specimens once the museum in Shanshan is operational. The detailed coordinates of the locality are archived at PMOL and will be disclosed to qualified researchers interested in studying the site.
Metadata
Database number:154095
Authorizer:D. Nicholson Enterer:D. Nicholson
Modifier:G. Varnham
Created:2014-01-27 06:51:51 Last modified:2022-04-29 06:21:57
Access level:the public Released:2014-01-27 06:51:51
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
49958. M. Rabi, C.-F. Zhou, O. Wings, S. Ge, and W. G. Joyce. 2013. A new xinjiangchelyid turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the evolution of the basipterygoid process in Mesozoic turtles. BMC Evolutionary Biology 13(203):1-28 [D. Nicholson/D. Nicholson]