Lufeng Formation

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title: "Lufeng Formation" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lufeng-formation", "jurassic-system-of-asia", "jurassic-china", "hettangian-stage", "pliensbachian-stage", "sinemurian-stage", "mudstone-formations-of-china", "sandstone-formations", "siltstone-formations", "fluvial-deposits", "lacustrine-deposits", "paleontology-in-yunnan"] description: "Geological Formation in China" topic_path: "science/earth-science" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufeng_Formation" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Geological Formation in China ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rockunit"]

Field	Value
name	Lufeng Formation
period	Sinemurian
age	Hettangian-Pliensbachian
~
type	Geological formation
prilithology	Siltstone
otherlithology	Sandstone
subunits	Shawan & Zhangjia'ao Members
underlies	Chuanjie Formation
overlies	Precambrian slate basement
thickness	over 300 m
map	{{Location map+
relief	1
width	250
float	center
lat_deg	25.1
lon_deg	102.1
mark	Blue pog.svg
marksize	12
coordinates
paleocoordinates
region	Yunnan
country	China
extent	Yunnan Basin
namedfor
namedby
year_ts
location_ts
region_ts
country_ts
thickness_ts
::

| name = Lufeng Formation | period = Sinemurian | age = Hettangian-Pliensbachian ~ | image = | imagesize = | caption = | type = Geological formation | prilithology = Siltstone | otherlithology = Sandstone | unitof = | subunits = Shawan & Zhangjia'ao Members | underlies = Chuanjie Formation | overlies = Precambrian slate basement | thickness = over 300 m | area = | map = {{Location map+ | China#Yunnan | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = | lat_deg = 25.1 | lon_deg = 102.1 | mark = Blue pog.svg | marksize = 12 | map_caption = | location = | coordinates = | paleocoordinates = | region = Yunnan | country = China | extent = Yunnan Basin | namedfor = | namedby = | year_ts = | location_ts = | coordinates_ts = | paleocoordinates_ts = | region_ts = | country_ts = | thickness_ts = The Lufeng Formation (formerly Lower Lufeng Series) is a Lower Jurassic sedimentary rock formation found in Yunnan, China. It has two units: the lower Dull Purplish Beds/Shawan Member are of Hettangian age, and Dark Red Beds/Zhangjia'ao Member are of Sinemurian age. It is known for its fossils of early dinosaurs. The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible therizinosaur Eshanosaurus, the possible theropod Lukousaurus, and the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus" sinensis, Lufengosaurus, Jingshanosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod Sinosaurus triassicus, the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", Lufengosaurus, and Yunnanosaurus, indeterminate remains of sauropods, and the early armored dinosaurs Bienosaurus and Tatisaurus.

Paleofauna

Rhynchocephalians

::data[format=table]

Rhynchocephalians reported from the Lufeng Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes
				Partial skulls and jaws.	The three named species do not display any autapomorphic characters and should be considered indeterminate within the genus. Only record of rhynchocephalians from Asia.
::

Crurotarsans

::data[format=table]

Crurotarsans reported from the Lufeng Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes
Dianosuchus	D. changchiawaensis	Lufeng, Yunnan	Dark Red Beds
Microchampsa	M. scutata	Dahuangtian locality	Lower Red Beds	iIncomplete skeleton consisting of cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae as well as ribs and three rows of dorsal osteoderms
Phyllodontosuchus	P. lufengensis	Dawa, Yunnan	Dark Red Beds	BVP568-L12, a crushed skull	A potential non-carnivorous crocodrylomorph
last1=Wang	first1=Lihua	last2=Clark	first2=James M	last3=Li	first3=Hongqing	last4=Ruebenstahl
last=Simmons	first=D.J.	year=1965	title=The non-therapsid reptiles of the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan, China	journal=Fieldiana Geology	volume=15	pages=1–93
::

Ornithischians

Indeterminate ornithopod remains Yunnan. Dark Red Beds.

::data[format=table]

Ornithischians reported from the Lufeng Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes
::

Sauropodomorphs

::data[format=table]

Sauropodomorphs reported from the Lufeng Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
last1=Zhang	first1=Q.	last2=Jia	first2=L.	last3=Wang	first3=T.	last4=Zhang	first4=Y.
Xingxiulong	X. chengi	Yunnan
X. yueorum	Yunnan		LF2015-NO01, an articulated postcranial skeleton
Yizhousaurus	Y. sunae	Yunnan		Partial skeleton with skull
::

Theropods

::data[format=table]

Theropods reported from the Lower Lufeng Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
last1=You	first1=Hai-Lu	last2=Azuma	first2=Yoichi	last3=Wang	first3=Tao	last4=Wang	first4=Ya-Ming
::

Cynodonts

::data[format=table]

Cynodonts reported from the Lufeng Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Bienotherium					A tritylodontid	[[File:Morganucodon.svg	thumb
Dianzhongia	D. longirostrata				A tritylodontid
last1=Luo	first1=Zhe-Xi	last2=Crompton	first2=Alfred W.	last3=Sun	first3=Ai-Lin	title=A New Mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and Evolution of Mammalian Characteristics (Supplementary Information (Hadrocodium wui IVPP8275))	year=2001
Lufengia	L. delicata				A tritylodontid
Morganucodon			Zhangjiawa Member (M. heikuopengensis)		A morganucodontan
Sinoconodon	S. rigneyi		Zhangjiawa Member		A mammaliamorph closely related to Mammaliaformes
last=Cui	first=G. H.	year=1976	title=Yunnania, a new tritylodont genus from Lufeng, Yunnan.	journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica	volume=25	pages=1–7}}
::

References

Bibliography

• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. .

References

1. Luo, Z., and X.-C. Wu. 1994. The small tetrapods of the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China; pp. 251–270 in N. C. Fraser and H.-D.Sues (eds.), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, New York
2. Weishampel, et al. 2004.
3. Jones MEH. 2006 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230865919_The_Early_Jurassic_clevosaurs_from_China_Diapsida_Lepidosauria The Early Jurassic clevosaurs from China (Diapsida: Lepidosauria).] ''New Mex. Museum Nat. Hist. Sci. Bull''. 37, 548–562.
4. "48.3 Yunnan, People's Republic of China; 2. Dark Red Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 534.
5. Young, C.-C. (1982). On a primitive crocodile from Lufeng, Yunnnan. ''Selected Works on Yang Zhungijang. Science Press, Beijing'' pp. 26–28.
6. Young, C.C., 1951, "The Lufeng saurischian fauna in China", ''Palaeontologia Sinica, New Series C'', '''13''': 1-96
7. (2000-01-10). "A new and unusual sphenosuchian (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha) from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation, People's Republic of China". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen.
8. (2025-06-02). "A new specimen of the early branching crocodyliform ''Platyognathus hsui'' extends the record of gobiosuchids back 67 million years". [[Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society]].
9. Simmons, D.J.. (1965). "The non-therapsid reptiles of the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan, China". Fieldiana Geology.
10. (2019). "A reassessment of the purported ankylosaurian dinosaur ''Bienosaurus lufengensis'' from the Lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
11. "Table 15.1," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 336.
12. (2010). "A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Lufeng Basin, Yunnan Province, Southwestern China". Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition).
13. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 234.
14. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 236.
15. (2024). "The largest sauropodomorph skull from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of China". PeerJ.
16. (2025). "A new species of Xingxiulong (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) from the lower Jurassic Lufeng formation of Yunnan Province, China". Historical Biology.
17. (2018-09-07). "A new sauropodiform dinosaur with a 'sauropodan' skull from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan Province, China". Scientific Reports.
18. "48.3 Yunnan, People's Republic of China; 1. Dull Purplish Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 534.
19. "Table 7.1," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 152.
20. "48.3 Yunnan, People's Republic of China; 1. Dull Purplish Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series and 2. Dark Red Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series" in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 534.
21. Young, C.C.. (1948). "Further notes on ''Gyposaurus sinensis'' Young". Bulletin of the Geological Society of China.
22. M. N. Bien. 1940. Discovery of Triassic saurischian and primitive mammalian remains at Lufeng, Yunnan. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 20(3/4):225-234
23. Irmis, R. B.. (2004). "First report of Megapnosaurus (Theropoda: Coelophysoidea) from China.". PaleoBios.
24. (2014). "The first well-preserved coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from Asia". Zootaxa.
25. (2001). "A New Mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and Evolution of Mammalian Characteristics (Supplementary Information (''Hadrocodium wui'' IVPP8275))". Science.
26. (2001). "A New Mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and Evolution of Mammalian Characteristics". Science.
27. Cui, G. H.. (1976). "''Yunnania'', a new tritylodont genus from Lufeng, Yunnan.". Vertebrata PalAsiatica.
28. Cui, G. H.. (1986). "''Yunnanodon'', a replacement name for ''Yunnania'' Cui, 1976.". Gu Jizhui Dongwu Yu Gu Renlei Vertebr. PalAsiatica.

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