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The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou
Jinzhou

Jinzhou , is a prefecture-level city of Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city in the "Liaoxi Corridor" , which connects the land transportation between North China and Northeast China....
, Liaoning
Liaoning

is a Northeast China political divisions of China of the People's Republic of China. Its one-Chinese character abbreviation is Liao ."Li?o" is an ancient name for this region, which was adopted by the Liao Dynasty which ruled this area between 907 and 1125....
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
, that stems from the early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous Period . It began about 146 million years ago....
 period. It is known for its fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
s.

as initially recognized during the time the Japanese Empire controlled a large chunk of Manchuria
Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia....
 (Northern China) called "Jehol". During the occupation of Jehol, many Japanese scientists had noticed fossil remains of extinct fish and reptiles, possibly the champsosaurs.






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The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou
Jinzhou

Jinzhou , is a prefecture-level city of Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city in the "Liaoxi Corridor" , which connects the land transportation between North China and Northeast China....
, Liaoning
Liaoning

is a Northeast China political divisions of China of the People's Republic of China. Its one-Chinese character abbreviation is Liao ."Li?o" is an ancient name for this region, which was adopted by the Liao Dynasty which ruled this area between 907 and 1125....
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
, that stems from the early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous Period . It began about 146 million years ago....
 period. It is known for its fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
s.

History


Japanese occupation

It was initially recognized during the time the Japanese Empire controlled a large chunk of Manchuria
Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia....
 (Northern China) called "Jehol". During the occupation of Jehol, many Japanese scientists had noticed fossil remains of extinct fish and reptiles, possibly the champsosaurs. These initial fossil discoveries made by Japanese scientists vanished from history once World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 ended in 1945.

Chinese rediscovery

By 1949, when administration of the area passed to the Communist Party and its leader Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong was a China military and politics dictator. Mao led the Communist Party of China to victory against the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People?s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976....
, the fossils of Yixian were studied only by Chinese scientists. It was not until the 1990s when remarkable fossils of birds and dinosaurs were excavated. Since 1996, a number of dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
 fossils that have revolutionized knowledge of these animals have been found at Yixian; among them are the first known non-avian
Avian

Avian may refer to:* Bird* Avian , an American metal band* Avians, a fantasy race in several fantasy settings...
 theropods
Theropoda

Theropods are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. Although they were primarily carnivorous, a number of theropod families evolved herbivore during the Cretaceous Period ....
 with feather
Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates....
s. 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....
.

Dating

For some time, the formation was believed to be from the Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic

The Late Jurassic Epoch of the Jurassic Period is the unit of geologic time scale from 161.2 ? 4.0 to 145.5 ? 4.0 million years ago, which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum....
-Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous Period . It began about 146 million years ago....
 boundary, some 145 mya
Mya (unit)

In astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case....
 (million years ago). Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating

Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates....
 has since resolved it to be younger; it is now considered to have been deposited in the Barremian
Barremian

The Barremian faunal stage was a period of geological time between 130.0 ? 1.5 mya and 125.0 ? 1.0 mya). It is considered to be of the Early Cretaceous epoch , in which it constituted the earliest part of the obsolete Gallic epoch....
 to early Aptian
Aptian

Aptian stage is a faunal stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch in the geologic timescale, that extends from 125.0 ? 1.0 annum to 112.0 ? 1.0 Ma , approximately....
, some 125-121 mya.

The Yixian Formation forms the lowest part of the Jehol group, defined by Gu (1962 and 1983) as a group of geological formations including the Jehol Coal-bearing Beds, the Jehol Oil Shale Beds, and the Jehol Volcanic Rocks. The Yixian Formation is preceded by the older Daohugou Beds
Daohugou Beds

The Daohugou Beds are a series of fossil-bearing rock deposits located in northeastern China, south of Chifeng, around Daohugou village of Ningcheng county....
, of uncertain Jurassic or Early Cretaceous age, which are sometimes considered part of the Jehol group. The Yixian Formation (including the Jingangshan, Tuhulu, Jianchang, Lower Volcanic and Volcanic Rock formations) is followed stratigraphically by the slightly younger Jiufotang Formation
Jiufotang Formation

The Jiufotang Formation is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms....
 and the Fuxin Formation. Chiappe et al. argued in 1999 that the oldest beds of the Yixian (those bearing a fauna dominated by confuciusornithid birds
Confuciusornithidae

Confuciusornithidae is a Family of primitive birds from the early Cretaceous Period of China. Recognized species include Confuciusornis , Confuciusornis, Changchengornis , Jinzhouornis, Jinzhouornis, and Eoconfuciusornis, the last of which predated the other confuciusornithids by 11 million years....
) were best separated as a distinct formation, called the Chaomidianzi Formation, with a type locality at the village of Sihetun, approximately 25 km south of Beipiao City. However, this classification has fallen out of favor, and the Chaomidianzi Formation is disused as a synonym of the Jianshangou Bed of the Yixian Formation.

Vertebrate fauna of the Yixian Formation


Amphibians

Amphibian
Amphibian

Amphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians, are cold-blooded animals that metamorphose from a juvenile, water-breathing form to an adult, air-breathing form....
s of the Yixian Formation
Taxa Presence Notes Images
Genus:
  • Callobatrachus
    Callobatrachus

    is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibian.See also* Prehistoric amphibian* List of prehistoric amphibians...
  1. Callobatrachus sanyanensis
  A frog. 
Genus:
  • Jeholotriton
    Jeholotriton

    Jeholotriton is an extinct genus of amphibian.References* Fins into Limbs: Evolution, Development, and Transformation by Brian K. Hall...
  1. Jeholotriton paradoxus
  A gilled salamander.
Genus:
  • Liaobatrachus
    Liaobatrachus

    is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibian.See also* Prehistoric amphibian* List of prehistoric amphibians...
  1. Liaobatrachus grabaui
  A frog.
Genus:
  • Liaoxitriton
    Liaoxitriton

    is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibian.See also* Prehistoric amphibian* List of prehistoric amphibians...
  1. Liaoxitriton zhongjiani
  A salamander related to the earlier L. daohugouensis of the Daohugou Beds
Daohugou Beds

The Daohugou Beds are a series of fossil-bearing rock deposits located in northeastern China, south of Chifeng, around Daohugou village of Ningcheng county....
.
Genus:
  • Mesophryne
    Mesophryne

    Mesophryne is an extinct genus of frog from Cretaceous Period from Liaoning Province, China....
  1. Mesophryne beipiaoensis
  A frog with no known living relatives.


Birds and other theropods

>
Theropod dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
s of the Yixian Formation
Taxa Presence Notes Images
Genus:
  • Archaeorhynchus
    Archaeorhynchus

    Archaeorhynchus is a prehistoric bird genus from the Early Cretaceous. The single known species, Archaeorhynchus spathula lived about 122 million years ago, in the Aptian....
  1. Archaeorhynchus spathula
  An early, advanced short-tailed bird (ornithuran
Ornithurae

Ornithurae is the name of a natural group of birds coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866.Haeckel included in the group all "true birds" with the "characteristic tail morphology of all extant birds" ....
).
Genus:
  • Beipiaosaurus
    Beipiaosaurus

    Beipiaosaurus is a genus of Therizinosauroidea theropod dinosaur. The discovery of Beipiaosaurus , which translates as "Beipiao lizard" after a city in China near the location of its discovery, was announced in the May 27, 1999, issue of the journal Nature ....
  1. Beipiaosaurus inexpectus
 From the Jianshangou Beds. A therizinosaur
Therizinosaur

Therizinosaurs are Theropoda dinosaurs belonging to the clade Therizinosauroidea. Therizinosaur fossils have been found in Early through Late Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia, the People's Republic of China and Western North America....
.
Genus:
  • Caudipteryx
    Caudipteryx

    Caudipteryx is a genus of peacock-sized theropod dinosaurs that lived in the Barremian age of the early Cretaceous Period . They were feathered and remarkably birdlike in their overall appearance....
  1. Caudipteryx dongi
  2. Caudipteryx zoui
  • From the Jianshangou Beds.
  • Common, but only over a small region of the Jianshangou Beds.
    		•
    • An oviraptorosaur.
    Genus:
    • Confuciusornis
      Confuciusornis

      Confuciusornis is a genus of crow-sized, primitive, birds from the Early Cretaceous of China, approximately 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, Confuciusornis had a toothless beak, but close relatives of modern birds such as Hesperornis and Ichthyornis were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently...
    1. Confuciusornis sanctus
  • From the Jianshangou Beds, where it is extremely common (several hundred specimens).
    		•  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"....
    n).
    Genus:
    • Dilong
      Dilong

      Dilong Ward is one of the sixteen wards of Mokokchung town. It is located in the lower slope of the town and forms the Northern part of Mokokchung....
    1. Dilong paradoxus
    		 Rare in both the Lujiatun and Jianshangou Beds. A tyrannosauroid.
    Genus:
    • Graciliraptor
      Graciliraptor

      Graciliraptor is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period . It was a microraptorian dromaeosaurid first described in 2004....
    1. Graciliraptor lujiatunensis
  • Rare in the Lujiatun Beds.
    		•  A dromaeosaurid
    Dromaeosauridae

    Dromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They were small to medium-sized, feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period ....
    .
    Genus:
    • Huaxiagnathus
      Huaxiagnathus

      Huaxiagnathus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. It was a Compsognathidae, large for that family at about half a meter longer than Compsognathus and larger specimens of Sinosauropteryx, with the largest specimen about 1.8 meters in length....
    1. Huaxiagnathus orientalis
    		  A compsognathid.
    Genus:
    • Incisivosaurus
      Incisivosaurus

      Incisivosaurus is a genus of small, probably herbivorous theropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period of what is now the People's Republic of China....
    1. Incisivosaurus gauthieri
    		 Rare in the Lujiatun Beds. An oviraptorosaur.
    Genus:
    • Jinzhouornis
      Jinzhouornis

      Jinzhouornis is a doubtfully valid genus of prehistoric birds. Their fossils have found in rocks of the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province , dating from the Early Cretaceous ....
    1. Jinzhouornis yixianensis
    2. Jinzhouornis zhangjiyingia
    		 
    • A pygostylian, possibly a junior synonym of Confuciusornis
    1. (Placeholder).
    2. Possible synonym of J. yixianensis.
    Genus:
    • Liaoningornis
      Liaoningornis

      Liaoningornis is a genus of bird from Lower Cretaceous China. It was collected from the dinosaur - bearing beds of the Sihetun locality, of the Yixian Formation, Shangyuan, near the city of Beipiao in Liaoning province....
    1. Liaoningornis longidigitris
    		  A liaoningornithiform ornithuran.
    Genus:
    • Liaoxiornis
      Liaoxiornis

      "Liaoxiornis" is a putative genus of enantiornithine bird. It may be the smallest bird known from the Mesozoic. The only known species is Liaoxiornis delicatus....
    1. Liaoxiornis delicatus
    		  An entantiornithine
    Enantiornithes

    Enantiornithes is an extinct group of primitive birds. They were the most abundant and diverse Avialae of the Mesozoic. Almost all retained teeth and clawed hands, like other primitive birds....
    .
    Genus:
    • Mei
      Mei (dinosaur)

      Mei is a genus of duck-sized troodontid dinosaur first unearthed by paleontology in Liaoning, China in 2004. Mei lived during the Early Cretaceous Period....
    1. Mei long
    		 From the Lujiatun Beds. A small troodontid fossilized in a sleeping position.
    Genus:
    • Paraprotopteryx
      Paraprotopteryx

      Paraprotopteryx is a genus of enantiornithine bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in the Yixian Formation of China, along with other early birds and feathered dinosaurs....
    1. Paraprotopteryx gracilis
    		  An enantiornithine.
    Genus:
    • Protarchaeopteryx
      Protarchaeopteryx

      Protarchaeopteryx is a genus of Turkey -sized feathered theropod dinosaur from China. Well-developed, vaned feathers extended from the short, stubby tail; the hands were long and slender, and had three-fingered clawed hands....
    1. Protarchaeopteryx robusta
    		 From the Jianshangou Beds. A possible relative of Incisivosaurus.
    Genus:
    • Shenzhousaurus
      Shenzhousaurus

      Shenzhousaurus is a genus of basal ornithomimosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. The holotype was collected from near the bottom of the Yixian Formation at the Sihetun fossil site, Beipiao, western Liaoning Province....
    1. Shenzhousaurus orientalis
    		 From the Lujiatun Beds. A primitive ornithomimosaur.
    Genus:
    • Sinocalliopteryx
      Sinocalliopteryx

      'Sinocalliopteryx' is a genus of compsognathid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China. While similar to the related Huaxiagnathus, Sinocalliopteryx is larger, and at 2.37 meters in length, it is the largest known compsognathid genus, and the large size of this "giant compsognathid" lent Sinocallioptery...
    1. Sinocalliopteryx gigas
    		  A large compsognathid.
    Genus:
    • Sinornithosaurus
      Sinornithosaurus

      Sinornithosaurus is a genus of Feathered dinosaurs dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Period of the Yixian Formation in what is now China....
    1. Sinornithosaurus haoiana
    2. Sinornithosaurus millenii
  • (Placeholder)
  • From the Jianshangou Beds.
    		•
    • A dromaeosaurid, the first ever found with feather impressions.
    Genus:
    • Sinosauropteryx
      Sinosauropteryx

      Sinosauropteryx is the first and most primitive genus of dinosaur found with the fossilized impressions of feathers. It lived in China during the early Cretaceous period and may have been a close relative of Compsognathus....
    1. Sinosauropteryx prima
    		 From the Jianshangou and Dawangzhangzi Beds. The first feathered non-avian dinosaur found, a compsognathid.
    Genus:
    • Sinovenator
      Sinovenator

      Sinovenator is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period . Two fossils were found in the older portion of the Yixian Formation in China, 128.2 million years ago during the Barremian age....
    1. Sinovenator changii
    		 Extremely common in the Lujiatun Beds, where literally hundreds of specimens have been recovered. A troodontid.
    Genus:
    • Sinusonasus
      Sinusonasus

      Sinusonasus is a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period , recovered from the Yixian Formation. These dinosaurs lived in what is now the Liaoning Province of China....
    1. Sinusonasus magnodens
    		 From the Lujiatun Beds. A troodontid.
    Genus:
    • Yixianosaurus
      Yixianosaurus

      Yixianosaurus was a maniraptoran dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous of People's Republic of China. It is known only from a pair of fossilized arms complete with fossilized feathers....
    1. Yixianosaurus longimanus
    		 From the Dawangzhangzi Beds. A basal maniraptora
    Maniraptora

    Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to Ornithomimus velox....
    n.
    Genus:
    • Zhongornis
      Zhongornis

      Zhongornis is a genus of primitive birds that lived during the Early Cretaceous. It was found in rocks of the Yixian Formation in Lingyuan City , and described by Gao et al....
    1. Zhongornis haoae
    		  A primitive avian with a short but non-pygostylian tail.


    Choristoderans

    Choristodera
    Choristodera

    Choristodera is an Order of semi-aquatic diapsid reptiles which ranged from the Middle Jurassic, or possibly Late Triassic, to at least the early Miocene....
    ns of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Hyphalosaurus
      Hyphalosaurus

      'Hyphalosaurus' is an extinct genus from the Order Choristodera, found in the Early Cretaceous Jehol group in China . It contains two species, H....
    1. Hyphalosaurus lingyuanensis
    		  
    Genus:
    • Monjurosuchus
    1. Monjurosuchus splendens
    		  


    Fish

    Fish
    Fish

    A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
     of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Lycoptera
      Lycoptera

      Lycoptera, Lycoptera davidi, was a fish that lived in the Late Jurassic 157 - 136 Ma mainly around present day China....
    1. Lycoptera davidi
    		  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....
    .
    Genus:
    • Mesomyzon
    1. Mesomyzon mengae
    		  A lamprey
    Lamprey

    A lamprey is a parasitic marine animal with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. While lampreys are well known for those species which bore into the flesh of other fish to hematophagy, these species make up the minority....
    .
    Genus:
    • Peipiaosteus
    1. 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 genus Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus....
    s.
    Genus:
    • Sinamia
    1. Sinamia zdanskyi
    		  A Bowfin
    Bowfin

    Bowfins are an order of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, exists today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils....
    .


    Lepidosaurians

    Lepidosaurian lizard
    Lizard

    Lizards are a large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains....
    s of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Dalinghosaurus
      Dalinghosaurus

      Dalinghosaurus is an extinct genus of lizards....
    1. Dalinghosaurus longidigitus
    		  A lizard.
    Genus:
    • Xianglong
      Xianglong

      Xianglong is a genus of Cretaceous lizard discovered in the Liaoning Province of People's Republic of China. It is known from Liaoning Paleontological Museum 000666, a single complete skeleton with skin impressions....
    1. Xianglong zhaoi
    		  A gliding lizard.
    Genus:
    • Yabeinosaurus
      Yabeinosaurus

      Yabeinosaurus is an extinct genus of basal lizard thought to be about 30 cm long. It is known from China....
    1. Yabeinosaurus tenuis
    		  A lizard related to gecko
    Gecko

    Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae which are found in warm climates throughout the world. Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos....
    s and skink
    Skink

    Skinks are the most diverse group of lizards. They comprise the family Scincidae which shares the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae ....
    s.


    Mammals

    Mammal
    Mammal

    Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
    s of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Akidolestes
      Akidolestes

      Akidolestes cifellii is an extinct mammal which dates to the early Cretaceous period, 124.6 million years ago. It is part of the Yixian formation in Liaoning, China....
    1. Akidolestes cifellii
    		  A symmetrodont.
    Genus:
    • Eomaia
      Eomaia

      Eomaia scansoria 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 ....
    1. Eomaia scansoria
    		  An early placental
    Eutheria

    Eutheria are a group of mammals consisting of placental mammals plus all extinct mammals that are more closely related to living placentals than to living marsupials ....
     mammal.
    Genus:
    • Gobiconodon
      Gobiconodon

      Gobiconodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal. It weighed 10?12 pounds and measured 18-20 inches, and might have resembled a large and robust opossum....
    1. Gobiconodon zofiae
    		  A triconodont.
    Genus:
    • Jeholodens
      Jeholodens

      Jeholodens was a primitive mammal belonging to the Triconodonta family, and which lived in present-day China during the Middle Cretaceous about 125 million years ago....
    1. Jeholodens jenkinsi
    		  A triconodont.
    Genus:
    • Maotherium
      Maotherium

      Maotherium was discovered in Early Cretaceous rocks in Liaoning Province, China, in 2003. Its full scientific name, Maotherium sinensis, means "Mao's Chinese beast" after the Chinese politician Mao Zedong....
    1. Maotherium sinensis
    		  A symmetrodont.
    Genus:
    • Meemannodon
    1. Meemannodon lujiatunensis
    		  A multituberculate. 
    Genus:
    • Repenomamus
      Repenomamus

      Repenomamus is the largest mammal known from the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic, and it is the mammal for which there is the best evidence that it fed on dinosaurs....
    1. Repenomamus giganticus
    2. Repenomamus robustus
    		 
    • A tricondodont.
    1. (Placeholder).
    2. A tricondodont, which ate small dinosaurs.
    Genus:
    • Sinobaatar
      Sinobaatar

      Sinobaatar is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of China. It is categorized within the also extinct order Multituberculata and among these it belongs to the plagiaulacid lineage ....
    1. Sinobaatar lingyuanensis
    		  A multituberculate.
    Genus:
    • Sinodelphys
      Sinodelphys

      Sinodelphys or "Chinese opossum" is an extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous. To date it is the oldest marsupial fossil known, estimated to be 125 million years old....
    1. Sinodelphys szalayi
    		  A marsupial
    Marsupial

    Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
    .
    Genus:
    • Yanoconodon
      Yanoconodon

      Yanoconodon is a monotypic genus of Extinction early mammal whose representative species Yanoconodon allini lived 125 million years ago during the Mesozoic in what is now China....
    1. Yanoconodon allini
    		  A tricondodont.
    Genus:
    • Zhangheotherium
      Zhangheotherium

      Zhangheotherium is a genus of symmetrodont, an extinct order of mammals. Previously known from only the tall pointed crowned teeth, Zhangheotherium, described from Liaoning Province, China, fossils in 1997, is the first symmetrodont known from a complete skeleton....
    1. Zhangheotherium quinquecuspidens
    		  A symmetrodont.


    Ornithischians

    Ornithischia
    Ornithischia

    Ornithischia or Predentata is an extinct order of beaked, herbivore dinosaurs. The name ornithischia is derived from the Ancient Greek ornitheos meaning 'of a bird' and ischion meaning 'hip joint'....
    n dinosaur
    Dinosaur

    Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
    s of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Hongshanosaurus
      Hongshanosaurus

      Hongshanosaurus is a genus of psittacosaurid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of eastern Asia. Although two skulls are the only fossil material known, comparisons with close relatives suggest it was a small, bipedal herbivore with a bony beak on the end of both upper and lower jaws....
    1. Hongshanosaurus houi
    		  A ceratopsia
    Ceratopsia

    Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivore, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period , although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic....
    n.
    Jeholosaurus 2
    Genus:
    • Jeholosaurus
      Jeholosaurus

      Jeholosaurus is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period . It lived in what is now China and its fossils have been found in the Yixian Formation....
    1. Jeholosaurus shangyuanensis
  • From the Lujiatun Beds.
    		•  An ornithopod
    Ornithopod

    Ornithopods are a group of ornithischia dinosaurs that started out as small, bipedal cursorial grazers, and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, and dominated the North American landscape....
    .
    Genus:
    • Jinzhousaurus
      Jinzhousaurus

      Jinzhousaurus is a genus of Hadrosauroidea dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils were found in China. A nearly complete skeleton has been found....
    1. Jinzhousaurus yangi
  • From the Dawangzhangzi Beds.
    		• An ornithopod.
    Genus:
    • Liaoceratops
      Liaoceratops

      Liaoceratops, meaning "Liao Horned Face", is a newly discovered dinosaur believed to be an early cousin to the horned ceratopsians. It lived in the early Cretaceous, some 130 million years ago....
    1. Liaoceratops yanzigouensis
  • From the Lujiatun Beds.
    		•  A ceratopsian.
    Genus:
    • Liaoningosaurus
      Liaoningosaurus

      Liaoningosaurus is a very unusual ankylosaur from the Lower Cretaceous. The holotype , an essentially complete juvenile skeleton, was collected from the Yixian Formation of Liaoxi, Yixian County, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China....
    1. Liaoningosaurus paradoxus
  • From the Dawangzhangzi Beds.
    		•  A small ankylosaur
    Ankylosauria

    Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with Armour in the form of bony osteoderms....
    .
    Genus:
    • 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....
    1. Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis
      Species of Psittacosaurus

      Seventeen species have been assigned to the extinct ceratopsian dinosaur genus Psittacosaurus, although only nine to eleven are considered valid....
    2. Psittacosaurus major
      Species of Psittacosaurus

      Seventeen species have been assigned to the extinct ceratopsian dinosaur genus Psittacosaurus, although only nine to eleven are considered valid....
    3. Psittacosaurus
      Species of Psittacosaurus

      Seventeen species have been assigned to the extinct ceratopsian dinosaur genus Psittacosaurus, although only nine to eleven are considered valid....
       sp.
    • Literally thousands of specimens have been recovered from the Lujiatun Beds. Psittacosaurus is also abundant, although somewhat less common, in the Jianshangou Beds.
    		 A ceratopsian.


    Pterosaurs

    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 of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Beipiaopterus
      Beipiaopterus

      Beipiaopterus chenianus was a pterosaur of the family Ctenochasmatidae of the Yixian formation of Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.The type and only species is known from a large part of the vertebrae, a complete wing and two hind limbs....
    1. Beipiaopterus chenianus
    		  A ctenochasmatid. 
    Genus:
    • Boreopterus
      Boreopterus

      Boreopterus is a genus of ornithocheiridae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Dalian, Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
    1. Boreopterus cuiae
    		  A boreopterid.
    Genus:
    • Cathayopterus
      Cathayopterus

      "Cathayopterus" is the nomen nudum for a pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous-age Yixian Formation of Liaoning, People's Republic of China. It is described as a ctenochasmatidae, a member of the group of pterosaurian filter-feeders....
    1. Cathayopterus grabaui
    		  A ctenochasmatid.
    Genus:
    • Dendrorhynchoides
      Dendrorhynchoides

      Dendrorhynchoides was a genus of anurognathid pterosaur from the Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Chaomidianzi Formation, near Beipiao, Chaoyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
    1. Dendrorhynchoides curvidentatus
    		  An anurognathid
    Anurognathid

    Anurognathids were a group of small pterosaurs, mostly tailess, that lived worldwide during the Jurassic Period. Some examples are Anurognathus and Batrachognathus....
    .
    Genus:
    • Eosipterus
      Eosipterus

      Eosipterus is an extinct genus of pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China.Its name is Greek for "dawn wing" or "east wing"....
    1. Eosipterus yangi
    		  A ctenochasmatid.
    Genus:
    • Feilongus
      Feilongus

      Feilongus is an extinct genus of Ctenochasmatoidea or Ornithocheiroidea pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao, Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
    1. Feilongus youngi
    		  A boreopterid.
    Genus:
    • Haopterus
      Haopterus

      Haopterus was a genus of Ornithocheiridae pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Barremian-Aptian-age Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, People's Republic of China....
    1. Haopterus gracilis
    		  An ornithocheirid.


    Sauropods

    Sauropod dinosaur
    Dinosaur

    Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
    s of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Unranked:
    • Titanosauria
    1. Titanosaur sp.
  • From the Lujiatun and Jianshangou Beds, fragmentary remains.
    		•
    • One or more species of titanosaur has been recovered from the Yixian Formation.


    Turtles

    Turtle
    Turtle

    Turtles are reptiles of the Order Testudines , most of whose body is shielded by a special bone or cartilage animal shell developed from their ribs....
    s of the Yixian Formation
    Taxa Presence Notes Images
    Genus:
    • Manchurochelys
      Manchurochelys

      Manchurochelys is an extinct genus of tortoise in the order Paracryptodira. It existed during the early Cretaceous of what is now northeast China....
    		  


    Invertebrate fauna of the Yixian Formation

    • giant water strider
      Water strider

      The family Gerridae contains insects commonly known as water striders, water bugs, magic bugs, pond skaters, skaters, skimmers, water scooters, water skaters, water skeeters, water skimmers or water skippers....
       bug
    • Jehol crayfish
      Crayfish

      Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads are fresh water crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related. They breathe through feather-like gills and are found in bodies of water that do not freeze to the bottom; they are also mostly found in brooks and streams where there is fresh water running, and which have shelter ag...
    • Orb-weaving spider
      Spider

      Spiders are air-breathing chelicerate arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae modified into fangs that inject venom. In their bodies the usual arthropod segments are fused into two Tagma , the cephalothorax and abdomen, joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel....
    • Ephemeropsis trisetalis (a mayfly)
    • Carrion-eating beetle
      Beetle

      Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
      s
    • Cicada
      Cicada

      A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings....
    • Dragonfly
      Dragonfly

      A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera....
    • Cockroach
      Cockroach

      Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta.There are about 4,000 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pest s....
    • Palaepangonius, an early pollinating fly


    Flora of the Yixian Formation

    • Archaefructus
      Archaefructus

      Archaefructus is an extinction genus of herbaceous aquatic seed plants with 3 known species. Fossil material assigned to this genus originates from the Yixian Formation in northeastern China, originally dated as late Jurassic but now thought to be approximately 125 million years old, or early Cretaceous in age....
    • Horsetail
      Horsetail

      Equisetum is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. They are commonly known as horsetails....
    • Ephedra
      Ephedra (genus)

      Ephedra is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs, the only genus in the family Ephedraceae and order Ephedrales. These plants occur in dry climates over a wide area mainly in the northern hemisphere, across southern Europe, north Africa, southwest and central Asia, southwestern North America, and, in the southern hemisphere, in South A...
    • Conifer trees
    • Ginkgo
      Ginkgo

      Ginkgo , frequently misspelled as "Gingko", and also known as the Maidenhair Tree after Adiantum, is a unique species of tree with no close living relatives....
       trees
    • Archaeamphora, the earliest known carnivorous plant


    See also

    • List of fossil sites
      List of fossil sites

      This is a worldwide list of important and/or well-known localities where fossils have been found. Such locations may either be a geological formation or a single site....
       (with link directory)
    • List of dinosaur-bearing fossil sites