#cloud forest

Result from the Tiaojishan Formation stream, or rather Yanliao biota stream. This incredible assemblage was on my mind from the very start of doing these pieces, not just because it has tons of fascinating critters but because a big portion of the vertebrates here appear...

to have been at least partially arboreal. Tons of small pterosaurs, feathered dinosaurs, mammals and even a few lizard show adaptations for living in the canopy. With weirdos like Yi or at least two lineages of gliding mammals. Few formations offer a glimpse into this world...

that is usually omitted from the fossil record. The outcrops of the Tiaojishan Formation and the rest of the Yanliao biota are known from Northern China, especially Liaoning but also Hebei and Inner Mongolia. These incredibly well preserved fossils were preserved in lakes in...

which fine volcanic ash quickly covered up carcasses. The surrounding forests have been assumed to be subtropical for a while but a new publication actually even compares them with tropical moist montane forests. The flora was dominated not by conifers but Bennettitales which...

made up more than 30% of the flora. These plants, that were probably close to angiosperms, had flower like organs and give this forest a little more color. Besides that we have ginkgos, ferns and other gymnosperms. But the true diversity lies with the inverts...

Over 700 species have been described so far (here only a selection), often with color preservation articulated bodies. We also have bizarre leaf mimics, giant fleas and the largest mesozoic spider, Mongolarachne. When it comes to the vertebrates an interesting aspect is the very small fish...

assemblage, with two lampreys and one or two ray-finned fishes. Instead a large diversity of salamanders filled many aquatic niches and a docodont with beaver tail joined them too. On land, small dinosaurs and mammals can be found. So far missing are any really large animals probably due to a taphonomic bias for small animals to be preserved more easily. The vertebrate size chart is a collaboration between me and Discord member Avery, who also did the inverts. Plants where assembled by JW.

// nebelwald //

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Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.