Original paper
On the age of the Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing beds of southern Laos
Buffetaut, Eric
published: 4/25/1991
BibTeX file
RIS bibliography file
ArtNo.: ESP026002401004
Abstract (German)
Zusammenfassung. Die von J. H. HOFFET in den 30er Jahren in Laos entdeckte Dinosaurier-Fauna war aufgrund der vermuteten Ähnlichkeiten ihrer Sauropoden und Hadrosauridae in das Senon gestellt worden. Trotz einiger Zweifel wurde diese Einstufung in der Literatur akzeptiert. Obwohl die Funde HOFFET's nicht mehr zugänglich sind, läßt eine kritische Betrachtung seiner Beschreibungen folgende Schlüsse zu: - Die Reste der Sauropoden ermöglichen keine feinstratigraphische Einstufung; - die Reste der Hadrosauridae (vor allem die Ilia) deuten auf sehr primitive Formen hin, die an bestimmte höherentwickelte Iguanodonten und primitive Hadrosauridae erinnern. Daher sind die Fundschichten wahrscheinlich älter als bisher von HOFFET angenommen wurde. Außerdem lassen Satellitenaufnahmen erkennen, daß die Saurier-Fundschichten von Muong Phalane ein
Abstract
The dinosaur fauna discovered by J. H. HOFFET in southern Laos in the 1930s was considered by him as Senonian in age, on the basis of the supposed affinities of its sauropods and hadrosaurids. Although it was questioned by some geologists, this age assignment has been accepted by most subsequent workers. Although HOFFET's material is no longer available, a reexamination of HOFFET's description leads to the following conclusions: the sauropod material is useless for biostratigraphic purposes, and the hadrosaurid material (especially the ilia) indicates a very primitive form, reminiscent of some advanced iguanodontids and of early hadrosaurids. This suggests an earlier age than that accepted by HOFFET. Moreover, correlations based on satellite imagery suggest that the dinosaur-bearing beds of Muong Phalane are the equivalent of the Khok Kruat Formation of the Khorat Plateau in northeastern Thailand, which is dated as late Early Cretaceous by fossil vertebrates. The dinosaur-bearing beds of southern Laos are thus likely to be late Early Cretaceous to basal Late Cretaceous in age.