Oxygen isotopes of East Asian dinosaurs reveal exceptionally cold Early Cretaceous climates.

ABSTRACT: Early Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages from East Asia and particularly the Jehol Biota of northeastern China flourished during a period of highly debated climatic history. While the unique characters of these continental faunas have been the subject of various speculations about their biogeographic history, little attention has been paid to their possible climatic causes. Here we address this question using the oxygen isotope composition of apatite phosphate (δ ) from various reptile remains recovered from China, Thailand, and Japan. δ values indicate that cold terrestrial climates prevailed at least in this part of Asia during the Barremian-early Albian interval. Estimated mean air temperatures of about 10 ± 4 °C at midlatitudes (∼ 42 °N) correspond to present day cool temperate climatic

SUBMITTER: Amiot R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3069172 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature