Zhou et al., 2003 (Jehol exceptional preservation)

Question 1

Fieldwork in the … … Jehol Group in northeastern China has revealed an abundance of exceptionally well-preserved fossils, including … … dinosaurs and early …, which provide additional, indisputable support for the dinosaurian ancestry of …, and new evidence on the evolution of … and ….

Answer 1

Early Cretaceous, feathered theropod, birds, birds, feathers, flight

Question 2

Specimens of putative … and primitive … are clarifying details of the early radiations of these major clades too.

Answer 2

angiosperms (proposed as the oldest flowering plants), mammals

Question 3

Detailed …-… preservation of the organisms from the Jehol … is providing palaeontology insights that would not normally be accessible from the fossil record

Answer 3

soft-tissue, Biota

Question 4

Soft tissues and associated … structures are exceptionally well-preserved in many of the theropod, bird and mammal specimens from the Jehol Biota

Answer 4

integumentary

Question 5

The Jehol Biota includes representatives of almost all major clades of … … … and … vertebrates, a wide variety of … and a diverse ….

Answer 5

lower cretaceous terrestrial, aquatic, invertebrates, flora

Question 6

The Jehol Biota provides a rare, incredibly detailed picture of an … Early Cretaceous terrestrial ….

Answer 6

intact, ecosystem

Question 7

Composed of deposits of weakly … to finely bedded … sediments, mainly low-energy … and …, intercalated with extrusive … and …. The deposits are associated with freshwater … rather than rivers or deltas, which are more laterally variable, or marine environments. There was increased … and … activity during the time of the Jehol formation.

Answer 7

laminated, siliciclastic, sandstones, shales, basalts, tuffs (volcanic), lake, tectonic, volcanic

Question 8

The regional …, in combination with the presence of numerous … …, provided ideal environments for the … … of the Jehol Biota.

Answer 8

volcanism, shallow lakes, exceptional preservation

Question 9

Preservation of complete … shells, arthropod …, vertebrate … and terrestrial plant stems with associated structures indicates that all of these specimens originated in … … to low-energy lacustrine depositional sites and were not … over extensive …. Individual elements are generally unbroken and display little or no abrasion.

Answer 9

articulated, exoskeletons, skeletons, close proximity, transported, distances

Question 10

Dead organisms entered the lakes, were buried … and encased in …-… sediments.

Answer 10

rapidly, fine-grained

Question 11

Tuff layers are strongly correlated with … … events, from pyroclastic flows and ash tuff falls. These conditions sealed the organisms and promoted … conditions ideal for preserving the detail and soft tissues of specimens. Additionally, these conditions prevent … from … organisms.

Answer 11

mass mortality, anoxic, bioturbation, burrowing

Question 12

These types of conditions are known as …-… conditions

Answer 12

Konzervat-Lagerstatten

Question 13

… structures (filaments, feathers and fur) are known from …, …, … and …

Answer 13

pterosaur, dinosaur, bird, mammal

Question 14

Other soft tissues commonly preserved include keratinous …, … impressions and cartilaginous elements…. contents is also common.

Answer 14

beaks, skin, stomach

Question 15

The three-dimensionally preserved whole specimens often lack … …, suggesting they were preserved in a single, catastrophic mass mortality event

Answer 15

bedding planes

Question 16

Jehol’s diverse theropod fauna spans the phylogenetic transition phylogenetic transition from basal … to … …

Answer 16

coelurosaurian, ornithurine birds

Question 17

The basal coelurosaur … possesses and extensive covering of filamentous integumentary structures, considered to be the precursors of true feathers

Answer 17

Sinosauropteryx

Question 18

The coelurosaur …, for example, bears feathers of modern appearance (central rachis supports a branching patten of barbs)

Answer 18

Protarchaeopteryx

Question 19

All of these animals lacked … specialisations and most were …-dwelling cursorial animals, indicating that the selective pressures responsible for initiating the development of feathers were imposed before the origin of …

Answer 19

flight, ground, flight

• e.g. sexual display, camouflage, species recognition, thrust generation during running/jumping, providing insulation due to evolution of endothermy

Question 20

… size and … differences between sympatric Jehol taxa indicate that a rapid … diversification of … taxa occurred during the early Cretaceous.

Answer 20

Body, locomotory, ecological, avian

Question 21

… possessed an advanced flight apparatus, including and elongated, deeply … … and a “modern” bird-like appearance - indicate … capability.

Answer 21

Yanornis, keeled sternum, flight

Question 22

… exhibits a mosaic of therian and non-therian character states

Answer 22

Jeholodens

Question 23

Differences in body size and locomotory features indicate that … had diversified into a number of … roles by the late Early Cretaceous.

Answer 23

mammals, ecological

Question 24

The discovery of brachycerna flies with …, … mouhparts suggests the presence of …-… angiosperms in the Jehol flora - provides support for the suggestion that … insects might have had an important role in the origin and early evolution of … plants.

Answer 24

long, tubular, nectar-producing, pollinating, flowering

Question 25

… are the most abundant elements of the biota, but much of the … material has yet to be described in detail and remains poorly known

Answer 25

invertebrates, invertebrate

Question 26

It is hypothesised that East Asia acted as a … fro some typically “…” taxa in the Lower Cretaceous (dating suggests from Early cretaceous but others suggest biota looks more similar to Jurassic biota. This would help explain this). East Asia seems to have been isolated from the rest of Laurasia during Mid-Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, which also supports this idea.

Answer 26

refugia, jurassic

Question 27

The region may also have been a centre for … of these taxa, as there are many … representatives of dinosaur clades more often associated with Upper Cretaceous biomes (e.g. Tyrannosauroids, oviraptorosaurian theropods)

Answer 27

diversification, basal