The Jiufotang Formation is an Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s, primitive birds, pterosaur

Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...

s, and other organisms. (see Jehol Biota

Jehol Biota

The Jehol Biota includes all the living organisms - the ecosystem - of northeastern China between 133 to 120 million years ago. This is the Lower Cretaceous ecosystem which left fossils in the Yixian Formation and Jiufotang Formation. It is also believed to have left fossils in the Sinuiju series...

). It is a member of the Jehol group. The exact age of the Jiufotang has been debated for years, with estimates ranging from the Late Jurassic

Late Jurassic

The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago , which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age...

 to the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

. He et al. (2004) used argon - isotope radiometry to confirm biostratigraphic age estimates. They confirmed an Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

, Aptian

Aptian

The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

 age for the Jiufotang Formation, 120.3 +/-0.7 million years ago. Fossils of Microraptor

Microraptor

Microraptor is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China...

and Jeholornis are from the Jiufotang.

Choristoderans

Genus	Species	County	Member	Abundance	Notes
Philydrosaurus Philydrosaurus Philydrosaurus is an extinct genus of choristoderan which existed in China during the Early Cretaceous. The type species P. proseilus was named in 2005. Philydrosaurus is closely related to the choristodere Monjurosuchus, and both have been placed in the same family Monjurosuchidae...	Philydrosaurus proseilus				Monjurosuchid
Ikechosaurus Ikechosaurus Ikechosaurus is an extinct genus of choristoderan which existed in China and Mongolia during the Cretaceous period. It contains the species Ikechosaurus sunailinae and Ikechosaurus gaoi....	Ikechosaurus pijiagouensis				Simoedosaurid
Liaoxisaurus Liaoxisaurus Liaoxisaurus is a genus of simodeosaurid choristodere, a type of crocodile-like aquatic reptile. It is known from a partial specimen found in Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous rocks of the Jiufotang Formation, Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Liaoxisaurus was named in 2005 by Gao Chunling and colleagues. ...	Liaoxisaurus chaoyangensis				Simoedosaurid

Fish

Genus	Species	County	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Jinanichthys Jinanichthys Jinanichthys is an extinct genus of osteoglossiform which existed in China during the early Cretaceous period. It contains the species Jinanichthys longicephalus....	Jinanichthys longicephalus				An osteoglossiform Osteoglossiformes Osteoglossiformes is a relatively primitive order of ray-finned fish that contains two sub-orders, the Osteoglossoidei and the Notopteroidei. All of the living species inhabit freshwater... .
Lycoptera Lycoptera Lycoptera is a genus of fish that lived from the late Jurassic to Cretaceous periods in present-day China, Korea, Mongolia and Siberia. It is known from abundant fossils representing sixteen species, and is an important index fossil used to date geologic formations in China...	Lycoptera davidi				An osteoglossiform.
Peipiaosteus Peipiaosteus Peipiaosteus is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish. This is a very rare species of sturgeon from Jiufotang Formation, Pani Lake, Liaoning Province, China. -See also:* Prehistoric fish* List of prehistoric bony fish...	Peipiaosteus pani				A fish related to Sturgeon Sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common... s.
Protosephurus Protosephurus Protopsephurus is an extinct genus of paddlefish which existed in China during the Barremian age to the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous period. It contains the species Protopsephurus liui....	Protosephurus liui				A Paddlefish Paddlefish Paddlefish are primitive Chondrostean ray-finned fishes. The paddlefish can be distinguished by its large mouth and its elongated, spatula-like snout, called a rostrum, which is longer than the rest of the head... .
Sinamia Sinamia Sinamia is an extinct genus of bowfin fish which existed in China during the early Cretaceous period. It contains the species Sinamia zdanskyi....	Sinamia zdanskyi				A Bowfin Bowfin The Bowfin, Amia calva, is the last surviving member of the order Amiiformes , and of the family Amiidae... .

Mammals

Several mammal specimens have been found from the Jiufotang, but only one has been formally described and named.

Genus	Species	County	Member	Abundance	Notes
Liaoconodon Liaoconodon Liaoconodon is an extinct genus of early mammal from the early Cretaceous . It is a eutriconodont which lived in what is now the Jianchang of Liaoning Province, eastern China. It is known from the holotype IVPP V 16051, which consists of nearly complete skeleton and skull...	Liaoconodon hui			Nearly complete skeleton	A eutriconodont
Unnamed mammal	Unnamed			Partial remains including a foot and fragments of the skull	A mammal similar to Eomaia Eomaia Eomaia is an extinct fossil mammal, discovered in rocks that were found in the Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China, and dated to the Barremian Age of the Lower Cretaceous about . The fossil is in length and virtually complete. An estimate of the body weight is between . It is exceptionally... and Sinodelphys Sinodelphys Sinodelphys is an extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous. To date, it is the oldest metatherian fossil known, estimated to be 125 million years old... from the Yixian Formation Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans 11 million years during the early Cretaceous period... . Found as stomach contents of Microraptor zhaoianus.

Ornithischians

Genus	Species	County	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Psittacosaurus Psittacosaurus Psittacosaurus is a genus of psittacosaurid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Asia, about 130 to 100 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich dinosaur genus...	Psittacosaurus meileyingensis		Meileyingzi Bed	"[Four] individuals, [two] complete skulls."	A ceratopsia Ceratopsia Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7... n.
	Psittacosaurus mongoliensis		Shangheshou and Meileyingzi Beds

Pterosaurs

Genus	Species	County	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Chaoyangopterus Chaoyangopterus Chaoyangopterus is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur known from a partial skeleton found in Liaoning, China. It was found in rocks of the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Dapingfang, Chaoyang....	Chaoyangopterus zhangi				A chaoyangopterid Chaoyangopteridae The Chaoyangopteridae are a family of pterosaurs within the Azhdarchoidea.The clade Chaoyangopteridae was first defined in 2008 by Lü Junchang and David Unwin as: "Chaoyangopterus, Shenzhoupterus, their most recent common ancestor and all taxa more closely related to this clade than to Tapejara,... .
Eoazhdarcho Eoazhdarcho Eoazhdarcho is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur named in 2005 by Chinese paleontologists Lü Junchang and Ji Qiang. The type species is Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis. The genus name combines a Greek eos, "dawn" with the name of the genus Azhdarcho, with the implication it was an early...	Eoazhdarcho liaoxiensis				A chaoyangopterid.
Eopteranodon Eopteranodon Eopteranodon is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipaio City, Liaoning, China....	Eopteranodon lii				A chaoyangopterid.
Huaxiapterus Huaxiapterus "Huaxiapterus" is a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. It is the second genus of tapejarid from this formation, after Sinopterus, and may be more derived. Two species are known.The type species of...	Huaxiapterus benxiensis				A tapejarid Tapejaridae Tapejaridae are a family of pterodactyloid pterosaurs from the early Cretaceous period. Members are currently known from Brazil and China, where the most primitive genera are found, indicating that the family has an Asian origin.... .
	Huaxiapterus corollatus
	Huaxiapterus jii
Jidapterus Jidapterus Jidapterus is a genus of azhdarchoid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China....	Jidapterus edentus				A chaoyangopterid.
Liaoningopterus Liaoningopterus Liaoningopterus, sometimes misspelled "Liaoningopteryx", was a genus of ornithocheirid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China....	Liaoningopterus gui				An ornithocheirid Ornithocheiridae Ornithocheiridae is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. They were among the last pterosaurs to possess teeth.-Classification:Listing of genera after Unwin , except where noted.* Family Ornithocheiridae** ?Aetodactylus... .
Liaoxipterus Liaoxipterus Liaoxipterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China....	Liaoxipterus brachyognathus				An istiodactylid Istiodactylidae Istiodactylidae is a small family of pterosaurs. This family was named in 2001 after the type genus Istiodactylus was discovered not to be a member of the genus Ornithodesmus.... .
Nemicolopterus Nemicolopterus Nemicolopterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur, described in 2008. The type and only known species is N. crypticus. It lived in the Jehol Biota 120 million years ago. Its wingspan of slightly under 25 centimeters makes it smaller than any but a few specimens of hatchling...	Nemicolopterus crypticus				A dsungaripteroid Dsungaripteroidea Dsungaripteroidea is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea.-Classification:Listing of families and genera after Unwin 2006 unless otherwise noted.* Superfamily Dsungaripteroidea** Herbstosaurus** Kepodactylus... .
Nurhachius Nurhachius Nurhachius was a genus of istiodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China....	Nurhachius ignaciobritoi				An istiodactylid.
Sinopterus Sinopterus Sinopterus was a genus of tapejarid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Three species have been classified in this genus, though only two are generally considered to be valid...	Sinopterus dongi				A tapejarid.
	Sinopterus gui

Enantiornithines

Genus	Species	County	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Aberratiodontus	Aberratiodontus wui				An enantiornithine Enantiornithes Enantiornithes is an extinct group of primitive birds. They were the most abundant and diverse avialans of the Mesozoic. Almost all retained teeth and clawed fingers on each wing, but otherwise looked much like modern birds externally. Over 50 species of Enantiornithines have been named, but some...
Alethoalaornis	Alethoalaornis agitornis				An enantiornithine
Boluochia Boluochia Boluochia zhengi was an enantiornithine bird. It lived during the Early Cretaceous in the time span 121.6-110.6 mya and is known from fossils found in the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning province, People's Republic of China. Boluochia was first described by Zhou in 1995...	Boluochia zhengi			"Partial skull [and] partial postcranium."	An enantiornithine
Cathayornis Cathayornis Cathayornis is a genus of enantiornithine bird from the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, People's Republic of China and, in the case of the possible species C...	Cathayornis aberransis				An entantiornithine
	Cathayornis caudatus
	Cathayornis yandica			"Partial skeleton."	An enantiornithine
Cuspirostrisornis Cuspirostrisornis Cuspirostrisornis is a Genus of enantiornithine bird. Only one species is known, Cuspirostrisornis houi. It is known from one fossil found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China. The Jiufotang Formation is dated to the Early Cretaceous period, Aptian age, 120.3...	Cuspirostrisornis houi				An enantirontihine
Dapingfangornis Dapingfangornis Dapingfangornis was an enantiornithine bird. It lived during the Early Cretaceous and is known from fossils—including a complete skeleton—found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China. Small to medium-sized, it had a sternum with both long and short lateral...	Dapingfangornis sentisorhinus				An enantiornithine
Eocathayornis Eocathayornis Eocathayornis was an enantiornithine bird that was probably more primitive than its relative Sinornis . It lived during the Early Cretaceous in today's People's Republic of China....	Eocathayornis walkeri			"Partial skeleton."	An enantirontihine
Huoshanornis Huoshanornis Huoshanornis is an extinct genus of enantiornithine which existed in what is now Jiufotang Formation of Western Liaoning Province, China during the early Cretaceous period. Its fossil remains were found at Chaoyang City. It was first named by Xia Wang, Zihui Zhang, Chunling Gao, Lianhai Hou,...	Huoshanornis huji				An enantirontihine
Largirostrornis Largirostrornis Largirostrornis is a Genus of enantiornithine bird. One species is known, Largirostornis sexdentoris. It lived during the Early Cretaceous and is known from fossils found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China....	Largirostrornis sexdentoris				An enantirontihine
Longchengornis Longchengornis Longchengornis was an enantiornithine bird. It lived during the Early Cretaceous about 120 mya and is known from fossils found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China....	Longchengornis sanyanensis				An enantirontihine
Longipteryx Longipteryx Longipteryx is a genus of prehistoric bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous . It contains a single species, Longipteryx chaoyangensis. Its remains have been recovered from the Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China...	Longipteryx chaoyangensis				A possible enantiornithine
Rapaxavis Rapaxavis Rapaxavis a genus of enantiornithine bird. Fossils were recovered from the Jiufotang Formation at Liaoning, People's Republic of China....	Rapaxavis pani				An enantiornithine
Sinornis	Sinornis santensis			"Partial skull [and] many nearly complete postcranial skeletons."	An enantiornithine

Ornithurans

Genus	Species	County	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Chaoyangia Chaoyangia Chaoyangia is an extinct ornithuran bird genus from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Only one species is described to date, Chaoyangia beishanensis....	Chaoyangia beishanensis			"Partial skeleton."	An ornithuran Ornithurae Ornithurae is the name of a natural group which includes all modern birds as well as their extinct relatives with plough-shaped pygostyles, a bone at the end of the tail which allows the tail feathers to fan and retract....
Jianchangornis Jianchangornis Jianchangornis a genus of basal ornithurine bird. Fossils were recovered from the Jiufotang Formation at Liaoning, People's Republic of China....	Jianchangornis microdonta	Jianchang Jianchang County Jianchang County is an administrative division within Huludao City in the southwest of Liaoning Province, in Northeast China. It is the largest division of Huludao, with an area of , and is located in mountainous terrain west of that city....			An ornithuran
Parahongshanornis Parahongshanornis Parahongshanornis is an extinct genus of early bird from the lower Cretaceous of what is now Liaoning Province, north-eastern China....	Parahongshanornis chaoyangensis				A Hongshanornithid Hongshanornithidae Hongshanornithidae is an extinct family of basal ornithuromorph birds from the Early Cretaceous of China. The family includes the genera Hongshanornis and Longicrusavis, from the Yixian Formation, in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning Province, respectively, and possibly Parahongshanornis from the...
Songlingornis Songlingornis Songlingornis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning . The age of these rocks is somewhat disputed, but probably around the early Aptian, 125-120 million years ago...	Songlingornis linghensis				An ornithuran.
Yanornis Yanornis Yanornis is an extinct genus of omnivorous Early Cretaceous birds, thought to be closely related to the common ancestor of all modern birds. One species, Yanornis martini,...	Yanornis martini				An ornithuran.
Yixianornis Yixianornis Yixianornis is a bird genus from the early Cretaceous period. Its remains have been found in the Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang dated to the early Aptian age, around 120 million years ago. Only one species, Yixianornis grabaui, is known at present...	Yixianornis grabaui				An ornithuran.

Misc theropods

Genus	Species	County	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Confuciusornis Confuciusornis Confuciusornis is a genus of primitive crow-sized birds from the Early Cretaceous Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago...	Confuciusornis sanctus				A primitive short-tailed bird (pygostylia Pygostylia Pygostylia is a group of birds which includes Confuciusornis and all of the more derived birds; the Ornithothoraces. Chiappe defined the Pygostylia as "the common ancestor of the Confuciusornithidae and Neornithes plus all its descendants". This is a node-based definition.Chiappe united the... n). Also present in the Yixian Formation Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans 11 million years during the early Cretaceous period...
	Confuciusornis jianchangensis	Liaoning Liaoning ' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
Cryptovolans	Cryptovolans pauli				A dromaeosaurid, probably synonymous with Microraptor
Dalianraptor Dalianraptor Dalianraptor is a genus of prehistoric bird that lived in China about 120 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous Period. It is very similar to the contemporary avialian Jeholornis, though it has a longer digit I and shorter forelimbs, which suggests it may have been flightless...	Dalianraptor cuhe				A basal avialan Avialae Avialae is a clade of dinosaurs containing their only living representatives, birds , and the most immediate extinct relatives of birds.-Competing definitions:...
Didactylornis	Didactylornis jii				Junior synonym of Sapeornis chaoyangensis
Jeholornis	Jeholornis prima				A basal avialan, also present in the Yixian Formation Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans 11 million years during the early Cretaceous period...
Microraptor Microraptor Microraptor is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China...	Microraptor gui		Shangheshou Bed	Extremely common	A dromaeosaurid
	Microraptor zhaoianus		Shangheshou Bed	"At least [three] partial semiarticulated postcrania and several skulls." Feathered integument is also preserved.
Omnivoropteryx Omnivoropteryx Omnivoropteryx is a genus of primitive flying bird from the early Cretaceous Upper Jiufotang Formation of China...	Omnivoropteryx sinousaorum				An omnivoropterygiform
Sapeornis Sapeornis Sapeornis is a genus of primitive bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous . The genus contains only the species Sapeornis chaoyangensis which is known from fossils found in Jiufotang Formation rocks near Chaoyang, PRC...	Sapeornis angustis			"Nearly complete skeleton without skull."	An omnivoropterygiform, a primitive short-tailed bird
	Sapeornis chaoyangensis
Shenshiornis Shenshiornis Shenshiornis is a genus of primitive bird which existed in China during the early Cretaceous period. It is known from one partial skeleton recovered from he Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning province, dating to . The type species is Shenshiornis primita...	Shenshiornis primita				An omnivoropterygiform
Similicaudipteryx Similicaudipteryx Similicaudipteryx, meaning "similar to Caudipteryx" , is a genus of theropod dinosaur of the family Caudipteridae. Its fossil remains were recovered from the Jiufotang and Yixian Formations of northeastern China, dating to the early Cretaceous Period between 124 and 120 million years ago...	Similicaudipteryx yixianensis				An oviraptorosaur
Sinotyrannus Sinotyrannus Sinotyrannus is a genus of large basal proceratosaurid dinosaur, a relative of tyrannosaurids which flourished in North America and Asia during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. Sinotyrannus is known from a single incomplete fossil specimen including a partial skull, from the Early...	Sinotyrannus kazuoensis				A tyrannosauroid Tyrannosauroidea Tyrannosauroidea is a superfamily of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent beginning in the Jurassic Period...
Shenzhouraptor Shenzhouraptor Jeholornis is a genus of Mesozoic birds that lived approximately 120 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous of China...	Shenzhouraptor orientalis				Junior synonym of Jeholornis prima
Zhongjianornis Zhongjianornis Zhongjianornis is a genus of long-beaked, pigeon-sized bird from the early Cretaceous period of China. It is known from one fossil found at Jianchang, Liaoning Province, in rocks of the Jiufotang Formation...	Zhongjianornis yangi				A primitive short-tailed bird