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Welcome back to #FossilFriday! We’re looking at Early Cretaceous Asia this time; namely, the environment represented by the Yixian and Jiufotang formations of Liaoning Province, China. This is the location of another set of thin-layered limestone beds formed within a series of lakes; the calm waters preserving not only bones and teeth but soft tissues as well. And what an interesting find of soft tissues it was, starting in 1996. Prior to this, it was thought that theropods gained feathers as part of their evolution into birds, but the variety of theropods preserved in Liaoning overturned this idea. Although these were members of previously-known groups of theropods that weren’t directly part of the bird lineage, they all sported feathers, from simple downy fuzz in some to complex wing feathers in others. This threw a lot of assumptions about dinosaur appearance out the window, and we could no longer assume they were all scaly, lizard-like beasts. Looking over the landscape from left to right, we see an ancestral tyrannosaur, Dilong, catching a Psittacosaurus in an ambush. The only non-theropod in this scene, Psittacosaurus was the most common dinosaur in the area. It was primarily a plant-eater that used its parrot-like bel to slice into tough fruits and stems. The Liaoning specimens showed that Psittacosaurus had a set of wiry quills along part of its back and tail. Behind those two, a Sinornithosaurus chases a Microraptor up a tree. These are both dromaeosaurs, small predators commonly known as “raptors,” distinguished by the large switchblade-like talons on their feet. Originally thought to be killing weapons, the claws seem to have functioned more like grappling hooks for climbing or restraining prey. The Microraptor may seem out of luck at the top of the tree, but it is actually preparing to leap from the upper branches and glide away. Microraptor had flight feathers on all four limbs and wind-tunnel tests show it was capable of parachute-gliding for short distances. In the middle, a Caudipteryx browses for pinecones which it can tear apart with its beak. The oviraptorosaurs like Caudipteryx were one group of theropods that started to experiment with being omnivores. Another was the therizinosaurs, sloth-like theropods with huge claws on their hands. Beipiaosaurus, in the right background, is an early member of this group. In the right foreground is Yutyrannus, another early tyrannosaur. At 25 feet long and weighing over a ton, it is the largest dinosaur currently known to have feathers and one of the first large tyrannosaurs known. Although it has part of the powerful jaw structure characterizing later tyrannosaurs, it has yet to evolve the giant jaws and tiny arms of its later cousins. This one is a juvenile at only 1/4 of adult size (read: everything here is 1:10 scale except for Yutyrannus which is 1:40). Picture 1: A cast of one of the Microraptor specimens showing feather imprints. Microraptor was actually the smallest dinosaur (aside from birds), barely the size of a cat. Picture 2: Psittacosaurus at the Arizona Museum of Natural History, cast of a specimen from the Palaeontological Institute in Moscow. Psittacosaurus looks similar to some of the smaller ornithopods, but is actually an early member of a different group called the ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs (e.g. Triceratops). Note the big beak, long pointed cheekbones, and the slight hint of a neck frill which all hint at this. Picture 3: There are some actual birds known from the Liaoning beds as well; this is Confuciusornis, roughly the size of a large grackle or small crow. Like modern birds (and unlike Archaeopteryx), they lacked bony tails, with the bony part reduced to a stump and the rest made entirely of feathers. Some of them had long display feathers on their tails while others didn’t; from what we know of modern birds, the former were probably males. Picture 4: Although birds were starting to take to the air, the skies were still ruled by large pterosaurs. Dsungaripterus here lived in Mongolia and northwestern China throughout the first half of the Cretaceous. -Jamie

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#FossilFridayへようこそ!今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境、これは、一連の湖の中に形成された薄層石灰岩のベッドの別のセットの場所です。骨や歯だけでなく柔らかいtiを保つ穏やかな水

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#FossilFridayへようこそ this time we are looking at Asia in the early Cretaceous. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province, this is the location of another set of thin-layer limestone beds formed in a series of lakes. calm water that keeps bones and teeth as well as soft ti

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖で形成された薄層石灰岩床の別のセットの場所です。骨や歯、柔らかいtiを保つ穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Gentle water that keeps bones, teeth and soft ti

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖によって形成された薄い石灰岩の床の別のセットの場所です。骨、歯、柔らかいティを保つ穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

Welcome to #FossilFriday This time we are looking at Asia in the early Cretaceous. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning Province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Gentle water that keeps bones, teeth and soft tees

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ 今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖によって形成された薄い石灰岩の床の別のセットの場所です。骨、歯、柔らかいティーを保つ穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

#FossilFridayへようこそ this time we are looking at Asia in the early Cretaceous. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Gentle water to keep bones, teeth and soft tees

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖によって形成された薄い石灰岩の床の別のセットの場所です。骨、歯、柔らかいティーを保つための穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Calm water to keep bones, teeth and soft tees

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖によって形成された薄い石灰岩の床の別のセットの場所です。骨、歯、柔らかいティーを保つために穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Gentle water to keep bones, teeth and soft tees

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖によって形成された薄い石灰岩の床の別のセットの場所です。骨、歯、柔らかいティーを保つための穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Calm water to keep bones, teeth and soft tees

INTO JAPANESE

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています。すなわち、遼寧省のYixianとJiufotangの形成に代表される環境は、一連の湖によって形成された薄い石灰岩の床の別のセットの場所です。骨、歯、柔らかいティーを保つために穏やかな水

BACK INTO ENGLISH

#FossilFridayへようこそ今回は白亜紀初期のアジアを見ています. That is, the environment represented by the formation of Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning province is the location of another set of thin limestone floors formed by a series of lakes. Gentle water to keep bones, teeth and soft tees