Extremely rapid, yet noncatastrophic, preservation of the flattened-feathered and 3D dinosaurs of the Early Cretaceous of China.

ABSTRACT: Northeast China's Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation preserves spectacular fossils that have proved extraordinarily important in testing evolutionary hypotheses involving the origin of birds and the distribution of feathers among nonavian dinosaurs. These fossils occur either flattened with soft tissue preservation (including feathers and color) in laminated lacustrine strata or as three-dimensional (3D) skeletons in "life-like" postures in more massive deposits. The relationships of these deposits to each other, their absolute ages, and the origin of the extraordinary fossil preservation have been vigorously debated for nearly a half century, with the prevailing view being that preservation was linked to violent volcanic eruptions or lahars, similar to processes that preserved human remain

SUBMITTER: MacLennan SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11588062 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature