Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shundong Bi, Romain Amiot, Claire Peyre de Fabregues, Michael Pittman, Matthew C. Lamanna, Yilun Yu, Congyu Yu, Tzuruei Yang, Shukang Zhang, Qi Zhao, Xing Xu
Summary: Recent studies show that bird-like brooding behaviors exist in non-avialan dinosaurs, with new fossil evidence providing strong support for this hypothesis and showcasing the complexity of reproductive biology in these dinosaurs.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chase Doran Brownstein
Summary: During the Cretaceous period, terrestrial vertebrates experienced diversifications and turnovers due to global geographical change, although the poor fossil record from the early Late Cretaceous has concealed how dinosaurs and other terrestrial vertebrates responded to these events. This study describes two dinosaurs from the North American paleolandmass Appalachia, shedding light on the timing of important anatomical innovations in two widespread dinosaur lineages. The phylogenetic positions of the dinosaurs show similarities between Appalachian and Eurasian dinosaur faunas, indicating a degree of endemism in Appalachian dinosaur assemblages due to episodes of vicariance.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Romain Vullo, Eberhard Frey, Christina Ifrim, Margarito A. Gonzalez Gonzalez, Eva S. Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
Summary: The newly described Aquilolamna is a bizarre probable planktivorous shark from early Late Cretaceous open marine deposits in Mexico that shows an unexpected evolutionary experimentation with underwater flight among sharks. This long-winged shark with unique body plan belongs to a newly described group (Aquilolamnidae) and may have occupied the ecological niche filled by mobulids and other batoids after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Taia Wyenberg-Henzler
Summary: After the Late Jurassic, there were significant changes in the megaherbivore communities in North America. The number of sauropods declined and became minor components of ecosystems, stegosaurs became extinct, and hadrosaurids, ceratopsids, and ankylosaurs increased in diversity and abundance. Previous studies dismissed the competitive replacement hypothesis of sauropods by hadrosauroids due to morphological differences, but this study found that there was overlap in ecomorphospace occupation between these two groups, suggesting that morphological differences were not enough to explain the niche partitioning. Further research is needed to determine the cause of the decline of sauropods and extinction of stegosaurs in North America.
Article
Plant Sciences
Hirotoshi Sato
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the driving mechanism of evolutionary diversification in the fungal class Agaricomycetes, specifically focusing on the evolution of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) symbiosis. The results revealed that the evolution of EcM symbiosis in the Late Cretaceous, in conjunction with the rapid diversification of EcM angiosperms, played a key role in the explosive diversification of Agaricomycetes.
Article
Paleontology
Tai Kubo, Mugino O. Kubo, Manabu Sakamoto, Daniela E. Winkler, Masateru Shibata, Wenjie Zheng, Xingsheng Jin, Hai-Lu You
Summary: By analyzing the dental microwear texture of ornithopods, researchers found that late Cretaceous ornithopods had rougher tooth surfaces compared to pre-Late Cretaceous ornithopods, indicating a possible dietary shift towards more abrasive food, possibly due to increased ingestion of phytoliths in plants.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Baoxia Du, Mingzhen Zhang, Bainian Sun, Aijing Li, Jing Zhang, Defei Yan, Sanping Xie, Jingyu Wu
Summary: Gansufructus saligna gen. et sp. nov. is a fossil eudicot plant discovered in the Early Cretaceous of Gansu Province, Northwest China, with alternate leaves, short petioles, linear-lanceolate shape, and carpels containing three to five seeds. Its leaf and axis characteristics suggest a terrestrial herbaceous habit.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jian Zhang, Yonggang Liu, Sascha Flogel, Tao Zhang, Chengshan Wang, Xiaomin Fang
Summary: Research indicates that the altitude of the coastal mountains significantly influences the Asian climate. If the altitude exceeds 2 kilometers, extensive deserts would develop over the eastern part of East Asia, which is more consistent with Asian paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thomas A. Neubauer, Mathias Harzhauser
Summary: The Mesozoic rise of the European freshwater gastropod fauna is still poorly understood. This study suggests that the increase in speciation rate during the Santonian is likely related to a global sea level rise and the formation of brackish-water ecosystems. The decline in speciation rate coincides with increasing interspecific competition and a rise in diversity. The peak in speciation rate postdates the Cenomanian-Turonian Thermal Maximum and coincides with the end phase of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and the radiation of angiosperms, which may have provided a necessary basis for gastropod diversification.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jian Zhang, Sascha Floegel, Yongyun Hu, Anni Zhao, Runjian Chu, Chenguang Zhu, Chengshan Wang
Summary: The East Asian coastal mountains played a significant role in amplifying the influence of orbital forcing and solar insolation on East Asian climate during the Cretaceous period.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lindsay E. Zanno, Terry A. Gates, Haviv M. Avrahami, Ryan T. Tucker, Peter J. Makovicky
Summary: Intensifying macrovertebrate reconnaissance and age-dating techniques in recent decades have provided a more detailed understanding of the impact of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum on terrestrial ecosystems. A new early-diverging ornithopod, Iani smithi gen. et sp. nov., has been discovered in Utah, USA, adding to the knowledge of Cretaceous fauna. This finding confirms the coexistence of at least five neornithischian clades in the earliest Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems of North America.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Diandian Peng, Lijun Liu, Yaoyi Wang
Summary: The study evaluates the presence of a flat slab beneath East Asia during the Late Cretaceous, showing its correlation with the pre-Cretaceous subduction history along the western Pacific and Tethyan trenches. The physical model explains the thinning of the East Asian lithosphere.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2021)
Article
Biology
Ashu Khosla
Summary: The Infra- and Intertrappean deposits in India have yielded diverse vertebrates, including dinosaurs and mammals, with affinities to both Gondwanan and Laurasian regions. There are complex biogeographical implications for the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs in India, with a proposed migratory route through the Kohistan-Dras volcanic arc system connecting India to Asia.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geology
F. Suazo Lara, R. O. Gomez
Summary: Frogs have been important since the Cretaceous period, but their incomplete fossils and challenging identification have marginalized them in research. Recent studies in Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia reveal the identities of frogs from three geological periods, providing valuable information on Cretaceous frogs.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jianping Zhou, Istvan Dunkl, Yongjiang Liu, Weimin Li, Hilmar von Eynatten
Summary: This study evaluates and investigates the thermal evolution of basins and basement horsts in the eastern area of the Songliao basin, NE China. By utilizing low-T thermochronology and thermal modelling, the research reveals the post Jurassic thermal history of the basement highs and the basin remnants. The results show that the basement highs are younger than the Early Cretaceous sedimentary record in the satellite basins, and the major basin inversion caused significant erosion. Additionally, the study suggests the formation of a single down-warped basin in the Early Cretaceous, followed by gradual exhumation and erosion of the sedimentary cover.