Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Laiming Zhang, Yitian Yin, Chengshan Wang
Summary: The study investigates the impact of significant tectonic regime transformation in East China during the Early Cretaceous on regional topography and climates, and its possible influence on the unique characteristics of feathered dinosaurs within the Jehol Biota. Results suggest a high altitude and cold habitat with frozen winters for the Jehol Biota in the Sihetun area, implying a potential climate-influenced evolution of the feathered characteristic of the dinosaurs.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geology
Daran Zheng, Xin Zhang, Haichun Zhang, Andre Nel
Summary: This study reviews the fossil records of aeshnopteran dragonflies from the Mesozoic era in China and describes three new fossil species from western Liaoning, China. These new fossils provide further evidence for the diversity of aeshnopteran dragonflies in the Jehol Biota.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chen Hou, Yuxin Tian, Yingli Wang, Huiming Lian, Dongcheng Liang, Shengqing Shi, Nan Deng, Boxiang He
Summary: The study identified a total of 3138 transcription factors and 466 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) from G. luofuense male strobili at three developmental stages, showing dynamic expression patterns. MADS-box and Aux/IAA transcription factors were differentially expressed during development, indicating their important roles. Results of weighted gene co-expression network analysis and transcript annotation suggest that male strobilus development in G. luofuense is closely associated with plant hormone changes, photosynthesis, pollination drop secretion, and reproductive organ defense, providing valuable insights into organ evolution and pollination biology in Gnetum.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Tiehui Wang, Enpu Gong, Yue Liang, Ying Cui, Wentao Huang
Summary: This study reconstructed the paleo-lake environment and paleoclimate of the Early Cretaceous based on sedimentology of the Dakangpu Layer in western Liaoning, China. Petrography, facies associations, varves components, and geochemistry were used to understand the living conditions of the Jehol Biota. The varves in the Dakangpu Bed revealed a deep lake environment with stratified water and oxygen-depleted bottom layers, showing fluctuations towards warmer and drier climate in the middle to later periods.
GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Geology
Rui Fang, Daran Zheng
Summary: A new species of well-preserved dragonfly, Turanophlebia liaoningensis sp. nov., has been described from the Yixian Formation in Huangbanjigou Village, western Liaoning, China. This is the second known species of Turanophlebia in China, although it had a wide distribution in Eurasia during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. The distinguishing features of Turanophlebia liaoningensis sp. nov. include the hindwing pterostigma covering 6-8 cells and the cubito-anal area with five rows of cells between CuA and the posterior wing margin. This discovery provides new insights into the biodiversity and evolution of Tarsophlebiidae.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geology
Miaoyan Wang, Lida Xing, Kecheng Niu, Qingqing Liang, Susan E. Evans
Summary: Although the Hyphalosaurus, a highly specialized long-necked choristodere species from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in China, has been well studied, the integumentary features of this genus have only been partially described. A new specimen from Liaoning Province, China provides additional details about the scale shapes and arrangement, as well as the presence of webbed limbs. These new findings enhance our understanding of the appearance and adaptation of Hyphalosaurus in its aquatic habitat.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biology
Masanori Ozeki, David M. Unwin, Phil R. Bell, Daqing Li, Lida Xing
Summary: This paragraph introduces a newly discovered ornithocheiroid pterosaur from the Yixian Formation of China, representing the oldest occurrence of its group and providing new information on its anatomy and paleobiology.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geology
Xin Wang, Chungkun Shih, Zhong-Jian Liu, Longbiao Lin, Kamal Jeet Singh
Summary: This study reports new materials of Callianthus from the Yixian Formation in northeastern China, revealing its characteristics as an aquatic plant and providing important information for the study of early angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Geology
Xinjun Zhang, Shunxing Jiang, Alexander W. A. Kellner, Xin Cheng, Fabiana R. Costa, Xiaolin Wang
Summary: Eopteranodon yixianensis is a unique tapejarid pterosaur from China, with distinct characteristics such as larger rostral value, shorter nasoantorbital fenestra, and longer downward rostrum. These newly discovered fossils provide new insights into the evolution of tapejarid species.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geology
Jinyou Mo, Feimin Ma, Yilun Yu, Xing Xu
Summary: A new titanosauriform sauropod, Ruixinia zhangi gen. et sp. nov., was discovered in the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, northeastern China. It exhibits unique characteristics, including distinct foramina at the mid-posterior dorsals, bifid anterior caudal neural spines, grooves on the lateral surface of neural arches, and a transition point between caudals. Phylogenetic analysis places Ruixinia within the Titanosauriformes, increasing the diversity of early-branching Titanosauriformes in China and highlighting tail morphological diversity within this clade.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Juan Benito, Pei-Chen Kuo, Klara E. Widrig, John W. M. Jagt, Daniel J. Field
Summary: The bony palate helps distinguish between the two deepest clades of extant birds: Neognathae and Palaeognathae. The discovery of the new Late Cretaceous ornithurine Janavis finalidens provides evidence supporting the presence of an anatomically neognathous palate in some Mesozoic non-crown ornithurines, suggesting that pterygoids similar to those of extant Galloanserae may be ancestral for crown birds. This challenges previous assumptions about the ancestral palate of crown birds and calls for a reevaluation of the purported galloanseran affinities of early Cenozoic groups.
Article
Entomology
Anderson Lepeco, Diego N. Barbosa, Gabriel A. R. Melo
Summary: Burmese amber is an important source of fossil insects from the Cretaceous period, with stinging wasps being the most common group. In this study, new aculeate families and genera are described and a fossil genus from China is reinterpreted. The discovery of a new aculeate family adds to the understanding of insect diversity during the Cretaceous.
JOURNAL OF HYMENOPTERA RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Min Wang, Jingmai K. O'Connor, Tao Zhao, Yanhong Pan, Xiaoting Zheng, Xiaoli Wang, Zhonghe Zhou
Summary: Enantiornithes, the most successful group of Mesozoic birds, may have evolved their extravagant tail plumage through sexual selection, resembling those in neornithines. The contrasting tail morphotypes between Enantiornithes and early Ornithuromorpha suggest unique pressures from sexual and natural selections. Early avialans repeatedly evolved extravagant structures, showcasing the importance of sexual selection in shaping feathered dinosaurs' plumage early in their evolutionary history.
Article
Biology
Min Wang, Thomas A. Stidham, Jingmai K. O'Connor, Zhonghe Zhou
Summary: Cranial kinesis, the independent movements and flexibility of different parts of the skull, is an evolutionary innovation found in some squamates and crown birds. It plays a major role in the phenotypic and ecological diversity of birds. However, the understanding of the evolutionary development of cranial kinesis in early avialans is hindered by sparse fossil records. A detailed reconstruction of the skull of the Early Cretaceous enantiornithine Yuanchuavis kompsosoura provides insights into the mosaic assembly of features required for modern cranial kinesis in birds.
Article
Plant Sciences
Raees Khan, Robert S. Hill, Veit M. Dorken, Ed Biffin
Summary: This study presents a detailed analysis of seed cone morphology in the Prumnopityoid clade, focusing on the evolution of fleshy structures. The results show a diverse range of structures and complex evolutionary patterns in this clade, with fleshiness as an ancestral trait. The clade can be categorized into four distinct types of seed cones based on morphological structures and traits.