Omnisaura

Footprint type

Yangtzepus

Young 1960

Yangtzepus is a footprint type: the name is for the fossil footprints themselves. The animal that made them is not known for certain. Its footprints are found in rocks 137.1–100.5 million years old in Australia and China.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?0 high8 medium2 lowHow we rate confidence

Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.

At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026
137.1–100.5 Ma
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114366

The last non-bird dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. That's as far from us as the end of this bar.

Named by
Young 1960
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Described in
C.-C. Young (1960). Fossil footprints from China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 4(2): 53–66.
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Young 1960).
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.

Type species
Yangtzepus yipingensis
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Dated to
Valanginian to Albian, 137.1–100.5 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation137.1–100.5 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
mediummedium: Omnisaura's calculation from 3 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Found in
Australia
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
China
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
mixedmixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).

Rock formations
Broome Sandstone
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Jiaguan
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
mixedmixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.

Parent group
Theropoda
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Species named in its records
Yangtzepus clarkei, Yangtzepus yipingensis
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).

Known from
Footprints and traces
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).

Made by
Not known for certain. Footprints rarely show which animal made them.
Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0)Confidence levels and gaps are Omnisaura's own assessment.

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

  • The animal that made them: not known for certain, as for most footprint types.
  • Order: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Family: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
  • What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): name (PBDB); authority (PBDB); type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB).

Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.

Where sources disagree

None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.

Did it meet…?

?

No. Yangtzepus had gone at least 16.9 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record.

Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.

Connections

Genera linked to Yangtzepus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

YangtzepusFound in the same rocksSame parent groupSame naming authorAlso found in AustraliaCaririchniumBrontopodusEubrontesMegalosauropusand 6 moreAgeroolithusAnteavisBoutakioutichniumByakudansauropusand 29 moreChangpeipusLufengosaurusMamenchisaurusOmeisaurusand 5 moreGarbinaWalmadanyichnusWintonopusAustralovenatorand 3 more

Found in the same rocks 10

Genera and other fossil types from the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.

CaririchniumBrontopodusEubrontesMegalosauropusGarbinaWalmadanyichnusWintonopusGrallatorMinisauripusVelociraptorichnus

Named by Young 9

Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.

ChangpeipusLufengosaurusMamenchisaurusOmeisaurusSanpasaurusSinosaurusTienshanosaurusTsintaosaurusYunnanosaurus

Found in Australia 7

Other genera found in Australia, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.

MegalosauropusGarbinaWalmadanyichnusWintonopusAustralovenatorGalleonosaurusQantassaurus

Credits

Where this page comes from

  • Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
  • OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
  • PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
  • Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines