Fossil coniferous wood from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in western Liaoning,NE China: New material and palaeoclimate implications |
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| Institution: | 1. Université Lyon 1 and CNRS UMR 5276, 7 rue Dubois, F69622 Villeurbanne, France;2. Jagiellonian University, Institute of Botany, Department of Palaeobotany and Palaeoherbarium, ul. Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland;3. Faculty of Earth Science, University of Silesia, Będzińska 60 St, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland;4. Hungarian Natural History Museum, Department of Botany, 1476 Budapest, pf. 222, Hungary;5. W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland;6. Department of Plant Anatomy, Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary;7. Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany;8. Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;1. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina;2. IGEBA, UBA-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina;3. Instituto Antártico Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, one of the most important Mesozoic lagerstätten in East Asia, is especially well-known for occurrences of fossil feathered dinosaurs and early angiosperms. However, the terrestrial biodiversity, especially the fossil wood record, is poorly known. In this study, several structurally preserved coniferous wood specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation are investigated, based on collections from the Heichengzi Basin in Beipiao of western Liaoning, Northeast China. Four species referred to four genera of fossil wood are described, including Taxodioxylon heichengziense sp. nov., Thujoxylon beipiaoense sp. nov., Sciadopityoxylon liaoningense Ding and Protocedroxylon shengjinbeigouense sp. nov. These new records enlarge the fossil wood diversity of the Yixian Formation up to 10 species in 9 genera, and provide further insights into the forest vegetation composition of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Systematic analysis of the floral constitution indicates that the petrified forests of the Yixian Formation are dominated by conifers, represented by Araucariaceae, Podocarpaceae, Sciadopityaceae, Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in the western Liaoning region. Palaeoclimatical analysis of the fossil wood assemblage implies that the western Liaoning region was dominated by a cool temperate, wet and seasonal climate with variable interannual water supply in the western Liaoning region during the Early Cretaceous. |
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| Keywords: | Petrified wood Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota Palaeoclimate Beipiao Western Liaoning |
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