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ABSTRACT
The Jehol Biota of Liaoning, Hebei and Inner Mongolia in NE China has proven to be an amazing source of spectacularly well-preserved fossils. The Jehol Biota consists of three main horizons, the Dabeigou, Yixian and Jiufotang formations, of Lower Cretaceous age. These units, principally lake sediments, are the source of literally thousands of specimens of plants, insects, aquatic invertebrates, fishes, frogs, salamanders, turtles, lizards, choristoderes, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, birds and mammals. Many specimens include soft-tissue preservation, ranging from clear impressions of the body outlines to traces of soft tissues (liver, teleost air sac, eye spots) and external body coverings (scales, feathers, hair); they include various taxa of dinosaurs with feathers, the color of which has been reconstructed. These discoveries have been critical to our understanding of the evolutionary biology of various different groups, in particular the birds and mammals; in a broader sense, they provide insight into the ecological structure and evolution of Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems, and the processes involved in fossilization in continental environments.
Dr. Patrick Orr
Dr Patrick Orr is currently a senior lecturer in UCD School of Geological Sciences. One of the principal areas of his research is on the taphonomy of non-biomineralised tissues - or put another way - he tries to identify the physical, chemical and biological processes responsible for the preservation of soft-tissues - muscles, internal organs etc in the fossil record. He is currently part of a team involved in a large-scale project of the taphonomy and evolutionary biology of the Jehol Biota, in particular its feathered dinosaurs and birds.
