Recent Advances in Korean Vertebrate Ichnology: The KCDC Comes of Age

Vertebrate tracks were first reported from the Cretaceous of South Korea in 1969 by B. K. Kim. His discovery of bird tracks, appropriately named Koreanaornis hamanensis, not only signaled the first bird tracks discovered in Asia and the second formally named avian ichnogenus from the Mesozoic, but it also was an indication of the vast wealth of vertebrate tracks that would be discovered a generation later in the Haman Formation and other Cretaceous formations of Korea, particularly in the large Gyeongsang Basin. This landslide of discovery has resulted in a proliferation of papers on vertebrate tracks from the Cretaceous of South Korea and the growing recognition that as a region it reveals multiple track-rich sequences of unique quality and scientific utility. Because of the outstanding ichnological resources in this region, it has been dubbed the Korean Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast (KCDC). Many sites of national and international significance have been designated as national natural landmarks, and the best of these have been nominated for World Heritage Inscription. In this editorial introduction, we attempt to summarize the present state of tetrapod ichnology after four decades of vertebrate track research. This synopsis serves as an introduction to a dozen short papers that focus attention on new discoveries at key sites. These reports, in turn, provide a promise of abundant material for future decades of research. At the present time, there are at least five ichnological research groups working on vertebrate tracks from the Cretaceous of Korea, both independently and collaboratively. Almost all researchers from these groups have contributed to this volume. The result has been the naming of five new tetrapod ichnospecies (Fig. 1), adding to the ten previously named.