Dinosaur bonebed amber from an original swamp forest soil

Autor(en)

Sergio Álvarez-Parra, Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, Enrique Peñalver, Eduardo Barrón, Luis Alcalá, Jordi Pérez-Cano, Carles Martín-Closas, Khaled Trabelsi, Nieves Meléndez, Rafael López Del Valle, Rafael P Lozano, David Peris, Ana Rodrigo, Víctor Sarto i Monteys, Carlos A Bueno-Cebollada, César Menor-Salván, Marc Philippe, Alba Sánchez-García, Constanza Peña-Kairath, Antonio Arillo, Eduardo Espílez, Luis Mampel, Xavier Delclòs

Abstrakt

Dinosaur bonebeds with amber content, yet scarce, offer a superior wealth and quality
of data on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. However, the preserved palaeodiversity and/or taphonomic characteristics of these exceptional localities had hitherto limited their palaeobiological
potential. Here, we describe the amber from the Lower Cretaceous dinosaur bonebed of Ariño
(Teruel, Spain) using a multidisciplinary approach. Amber is found in both a root layer with amber
strictly in situ and a litter layer mainly composed of aerial pieces unusually rich in bioinclusions,
encompassing 11 insect orders, arachnids, and a few plant and vertebrate remains, including a
feather. Additional palaeontological data—charophytes, palynomorphs, ostracods— are provided.
Ariño arguably represents the most prolific and palaeobiologically diverse locality in which fossiliferous amber and a dinosaur bonebed have been found in association, and the only one knownwhere the vast majority of the palaeontological assemblage suffered no or low-grade pre-burial
transport. This has unlocked unprecedentedly complete and reliable palaeoecological data out of
two complementary windows of preservation—the bonebed and the amber—from the same site.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Geologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Universitat de Barcelona, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Université de Sfax, Université de Tunis - El Manar, Universidad Complutense De Madrid, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Alava, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona , Georgia Institute of Technology, Universidad de Alcalá, Université Claude-Bernard-Lyon-I, Universitat de València, American Museum of Natural History

Journal

eLife

Band

10

Anzahl der Seiten

26

ISSN

2050-084X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.72477

Publikationsdatum

11-2021

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

105117 Paläobotanik

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemeine Erdkunde und Planetologie

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 15 – Leben an Land

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/cc7015e3-8318-4b5c-abfa-255a892d9af0