Cretaceous Research最新文献

{"title":"A new euornithine from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) of China reveals the first radiation of fish-eating birds","authors":"Jiandong Huang ,&nbsp;Xuri Wang ,&nbsp;Andrea Cau ,&nbsp;Lei Mao ,&nbsp;Yichuan Liu ,&nbsp;Yang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106244","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106244","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A new euornithine bird, <em>Kunpengornis anhuimusei</em> gen. et sp. nov., is described based on a nearly complete skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, China. The new taxon is characterized by possessing the unique combination of reduced maxillary ramus of premaxilla shorter than half the buccal margin of premaxilla, coracoid having a trapezoidal procoracoid process not expanded craniocaudally at its medial margin, sternum with blunt craniolateral process, drop-shaped distal end of lateral trabecula and reduced intermediate trabecula not enclosing a caudal fenestra, pubis lacking ossified distal symphysis and with gradually expanding distal end, resulting twice longer craniocaudally than at mid-shaft, but lacking an abrupt distinction between shaft and distal foot. The macerated fish bones preserved in the abdominal cavity provides direct evidence that <em>Kunpengornis</em> was piscivorous. Despite overall similarity with some yanornithids and other piscivorous euornithines, the phylogenetic analysis places <em>Kunpengornis</em> as sister taxon of <em>Piscivoravis</em> and closer to the \"ornithuromorph-gansuid\" clade than Yanornithidae, a result which supports the hypothesis that a piscivorous \"<em>Yanornis</em>-like\" <em>bauplan</em> was a grade along the evolutionary sequence leading to the precursors of the modern avians. The acquisition of the fish-eating ecology and the exploitation of the aquatic environments represented key innovations for the successful radiation of the euornithine birds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106244"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145270468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lower Cretaceous palynoflora from the Binggou Formation of Jianchang Basin, western Liaoning, NE China and its U–Pb zircon age","authors":"Xiao Tan ,&nbsp;Yuhui Feng ,&nbsp;Fei Liang ,&nbsp;Yunfeng Li ,&nbsp;Chunlin Sun ,&nbsp;Ge Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106247","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106247","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Jianchang Basin of western Liaoning, NE China is one of the important Mesozoic non-marine sedimentary basins in China. The Lower Cretaceous Binggou Formation is well exposed in this basin yielding abundant coal and fossils. Lately research on the invertebrate and plant fossils from this formation indicates this biota chronologically corresponding to the famous Fuxin biota. The present work uncovers a palynoflora in the Formation composed of 153 species of 59 genera which are represented by the assemblage of <em>Cicatricosisporites-Osmundacidites-Concentrisporites</em>. The assemblage is dominated by gymnospermous pollen and is evidenced of the upper Lower Cretaceous by the characters of its composition and the occurrence of such age-diagnostic elements as <em>Cicatricosisporite</em>s, <em>Appendicisporites</em>, <em>Erlianpollis</em> and <em>Jiaohepollis</em>. New U–Pb zircon dating made by the authors from the middle of the coal seam of the formation, indicates a 106.5 ± 1.9 Ma age, and confirms the Binggou Formation and palynoflora belonging to the Albian of the Lower Cretaceous, for the first time. The paleoecological and paleoenvironmental characteristics based on the palynoflora are also reconstructed by using the Sporopollen EcoGroup (SEG) model and the Plant Ecological Model (Eco-plant model). It suggests that the flora flourished in an environment characterized by the coexistence of both highland and lowland river systems. During the period when this flora existed, humidity levels increased slightly, and the environment remained stable, showing no evidence of large-scale climatic disturbances.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106247"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145270467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A remarkable new genus of Symphrasinae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) from mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar, and the problem of the phylogenetic affinities of Rhachiberothidae","authors":"Vladimir N. Makarkin ,&nbsp;Arnold H. Staniczek","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106243","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106243","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Rhachisymphrasis raehlei</em> gen. et sp. nov. (Neuroptera: Mantispidae: Symphrasinae) is described from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. The genus is remarkable for possessing many character states which do not occur in other Symphrasinae: the profemur is slender; the protibia is very short; the lanceolate process of the probasitarsus arises from its tip and is relatively thin; the mesotibia is strongly expanded; and the forewing CuP is shallowly forked. The protarsus of <em>Rhachisymphrasis</em> gen. nov. is rather similar to that of Rhachiberothidae. However, it is unclear whether Rhachiberothidae is phylogenetically closer to Mantispidae or Berothidae. The most plausible hypothesis is that Rhachiberothidae constitute an ancient branch of Mantispoidea leading to Mantispidae (including Symphrasinae), but retaining many character states of Berothidae. The symphrasine affinity of <em>Sinomesomantispa</em> <span><span>Jepson et al., 2013</span></span> from the Lower Cretaceous of China is confirmed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106243"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145242356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paleoclimate variation during the Cretaceous revealed by geochemical and mineralogical analyses from continental sediments in northern Vietnam","authors":"Pham Thi Nga ,&nbsp;Taro Higuchi ,&nbsp;Kentaro Oe ,&nbsp;Nguyen Quoc Dinh ,&nbsp;Rajat Mazumder ,&nbsp;Tohru Ohta","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106246","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106246","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Severe aridification has been recognized in low-latitude areas of Southeast Asia during the mid-Cretaceous; however, previous studies mainly focused on continental interior basins. Here, we investigate Cretaceous continental sediments from northern Vietnam, located in the Southeast Asian continental margin, where a precise study has not been conducted. The geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of mudstones collected from the Ban Hang and Yen Chau formations revealed fluctuations in climate conditions in northern Vietnam, including a slight humidification from the Early to mid-Cretaceous and aridification in the Late Cretaceous. Northern Vietnam is considered to have experienced a temperate semi-arid climate in the Early Cretaceous but shifted to a hot and sub-humid environment in the mid-Cretaceous and then returned to arid conditions in the late Period. The results indicate that the coastal area of Southeast Asia was more humid than the inland due to its proximity to the proto-Pacific Ocean. We also detected an increase in humidity in the coastal area during the mid-Cretaceous, contrasting with the inland regions where extreme aridification progressed. This contrasting paleoclimate regime was probably established by the isolation of coastal and inland areas by the tectonic re-configuration of the Southeast Asian continent. During the Cretaceous, closure of the Meso-Tethys Ocean and collisional tectonics generated a coastal mountain range, which caused the orogenic rain-shadow effects, i.e., increased precipitation in the coastal area and intensified desertification in the inland area. The present contribution indicates that the Cretaceous paleoclimate conditions in Southeast Asia were primarily constrained by the regional geographical background rather than the global climate system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106246"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145242355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revisiting the taxonomic status of three Araripeneurinae (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae) genera from the lower Cretaceous Crato formation using geometric morphometrics as a complementary tool","authors":"Gabriel M. Bueno ,&nbsp;Renato J.P. Machado ,&nbsp;Diego Almeida-Silva ,&nbsp;Guilherme C. Ribeiro","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Brazil) preserves a highly diverse fossil insect fauna, including 10 genera of Araripeneurinae (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), whose taxonomy has long been hampered by limited access to type specimens and ambiguous original descriptions. Here, we revisit the taxonomic status of three genera—<em>Cratopteryx</em> Martins-Neto &amp; Vulcano, <em>Caririneura</em> Martins-Neto &amp; Vulcano, and <em>Paracaririneura</em> Martins-Neto &amp; Vulcano—by integrating traditional morphological examination and redescriptions of holotypes with geometric morphometric analysis of forewing shape. Our results provide updated and objective diagnoses for these genera, clarify their distinctiveness based on robust morphometric separation in morphospace, and support the designation of a neotype for <em>Cratopteryx nemopteroides</em> Martins-Neto. We demonstrate the utility of geometric morphometrics as a complementary tool for fossil insect taxonomy, providing support for the validity of the studied genera. This revision, by restoring access and providing redescriptions of previously inaccessible holotypes, restores taxonomic stability and lays a foundation for future systematic and evolutionary studies on fossil Myrmeleontidae from the Crato Formation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106245"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145270466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Depositional system transitions and sequence stratigraphic evolution of the Tuscaloosa Group in the Mississippi Embayment, USA: Accommodation space and sediment supply controls","authors":"Husamaldeen Zubi ,&nbsp;Brian F. Platt ,&nbsp;Muneer Abdalla ,&nbsp;Jennifer Gifford ,&nbsp;Belkasim Khameiss","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Tuscaloosa Group (Grp), the basal unit of Upper Cretaceous strata in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM), formed during the late Cenomanian transgression across the southeastern United States. Despite its significance, comprehensive sequence stratigraphic analyses of the Tuscaloosa Grp within the south-central Mississippi Embayment (MSE) are limited. This study integrates core data, wireline logs, and field observations to characterize its depositional evolution and sequence stratigraphic architecture, delineating stratigraphic surfaces, systems tracts, and depositional sequences, and examining controlling factors. Four third-order sequences were identified from four sequence boundaries, two transgressive surfaces, and three maximum flooding surfaces. Sequence 1 (S1) includes a lowstand systems tract (LST), transgressive systems tract (TST), and highstand systems tract (HST); Sequence 2 (S2) has a TST and HST; Sequence 3 (S3) contains a LST, TST, and HST; and Sequence 4 (S4) includes a LST and TST. S1 comprises fluvial and incised valley deposits (LST), transitioned to deltaic TST during rising sea levels, and culminated in barrier island and shelf HST. S2 features distal shelf TST deposits followed by a prograding deltaic HST. S3 records a full cycle: fluvial LST, retrograding deltaic TST, and progradational deltaic HST. S4 is less developed, with fluvial LST and localized retrograding deltaic TST deposits. The Tuscaloosa's evolution was driven by accommodation space changes and sediment supply. Subsidence of the MSE in the Late Cretaceous may have increased accommodation and facilitated TST formation in the Upper Tuscaloosa. The Appalachian Highlands supplied most sediments, with the Ouachita Highlands as a secondary source.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106241"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145221744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paleoenvironmental evolution and sequence stratigraphic reconstruction during the Late Cretaceous in southern Egypt: Implications for palynological and geochemical proxy data","authors":"Abdallah Rabea ,&nbsp;Omar Mohamed ,&nbsp;Ahmed Mansour ,&nbsp;Ramadan S. Mohamed ,&nbsp;Ahmed Ali","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During the Campanian-Maastrichtian, long-term cooling drove eustatic sea-level fall, promoting carbonate platform deposition at mid-to-high paleolatitudes. Here, 85 rock samples were collected from the Campanian-Maastrichtian uppermost Qusseir, Duwi, and lowermost Dakhla formations at three sections in the El-Sebaiya area of the Nile Valley (Egypt). A comprehensive approach, including palynological, whole rock geochemistry, and total organic carbon (TOC) analyses, was performed. Four palynofacies assemblages (PFA) were identified in the three sections. PFA-A shows high abundances of amorphous organic matter (AOM), suggesting deposition in a shallow marine environment, whereas PFA-B exhibits moderate abundances of phytoclasts and AOM, indicative of deposition in fluvio-deltaic to marginal shallow marine conditions. PFA-C is dominated by phytoclasts, mainly of opaque equidimensional particles, characterizing a fluvio-deltaic environment, while PFA-D is characterized by moderate levels of AOM and dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) with low phytoclasts, pointing to a shallow marine shelf environment. Dinocysts are dominated by peridinioid forms combined with the common distribution of phosphorite belts, reflecting that the southern Tethys was controlled by upwelling-driven elevated productivity settings under varying redox conditions. Data further allowed the reconstruction of three third-order transgressive-regressive sequences. The transgressive systems tract (TST) sediments are characterized by an increase in AOM, coincided with elevated carbonate content, Mn, and Mn/Al ratios, with maxima corresponding to the maximum flooding surface (MFS) within most sequences. Conversely, the regressive systems tract (RST) sediments show an increase in phytoclasts and elevated SiO₂, Zr, Zr/Al, Ti, Ti/Al, and Sr/Ca ratios, with their highest values corresponding to the maximum regressive surface (MRS).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106239"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145159476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"First reports of a probable ankylosaurian (Thyreophora) trackway from the Jindong Formation (Cenomanian) of Goseong County, South Korea","authors":"Han Sang Yoon ,&nbsp;Hyun Wook Kim ,&nbsp;Jin-Young Park ,&nbsp;Seung-Ho Jung ,&nbsp;Dal-Yong Kong ,&nbsp;Yuong-Nam Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106240","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106240","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A quadrupedal trackway (GS-BHG 2) reported from the Bonghwa-gol tracksite of the Upper Cretaceous Jindong Formation (Cenomanian) shows morphological differences from other dinosaur ichnotaxa from South Korea and other Asian countries. The trackway GS-BHG 2 is characterized by an elongated pes with three short, blunt, and straight digits and oval-to kidney-shaped manus without discernible digit traces showing low heteropody and wide trackway gauge. Based on its morphological characteristics and the temporal distribution of dinosaur fauna during the ‘mid’-Cretaceous, the trackmaker of GS-BHG 2 is tentatively assigned as an ankylosaurid dinosaur, and we refer this trackway as cf. <em>Ruopodosaurus</em>. Pes tracks of GS-BHG 2 show differential depth in their medial and lateral parts, implying that the pressure was focused on the medial part of the pedes during locomotion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106240"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145221736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence of large pliosaurids in the late Valanginian of Colombia","authors":"Javier García-Guerrero ,&nbsp;Fredy Parra Ruge ,&nbsp;German A. Prieto ,&nbsp;Edwin-Alberto Cadena","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106235","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106235","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fossil record of Lower Cretaceous pliosaurids, particularly from the Valanginian is still poorly known globally, hindering efforts to reconstruct their evolution and palaeogeographical distribution within a broader time frame. Here, we describe an isolated cervical centrum (14 cm maximum diameter) of a pliosaurid belonging to a Brachaucheniinae gen. et sp. indet., from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Valanginian) Rosa Blanca Formation in Zapatoca, Colombia. The presence of large brachaucheniines in the Rosa Blanca Formation suggests that these large pliosaurids were part of the abundant and diverse fauna that inhabited the northwestern margin of Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous and extends their record in northern South America from the Barremian to the late Valanginian. These pliosaurids potentially acted as top predators in the food chain of lower latitude shallow marine environments. This discovery contributes new data to the taxonomic and chronostratigraphic framework of Early Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Proto-Caribbean domain.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145159477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A new amber Lagerstätte from the Lower Cretaceous of Japan","authors":"Aya Kubota ,&nbsp;Ryo Taniguchi ,&nbsp;Yoshinori Hikida ,&nbsp;Yasuhiro Iba","doi":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106236","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106236","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During the Early Cretaceous, terrestrial ecosystems underwent a critical transition driven by the emergence and diversification of angiosperms. Amber-rich deposits from this period are crucial for understanding the diversity, interactions, and evolution of terrestrial biota. However, their occurrences are limited both geographically and stratigraphically. Here, we report a new amber Lagerstätte from the upper Aptian (116–114 Ma) in northern Hokkaido, Japan. The abundant amber occurs within deep-sea deposits and is rich in bio-inclusions: arthropods (hymenopterans, mites), fungi, and plant remains (tracheids, stellate hairs, pollen grains), with submicron-scale morphological details. This is the first report of fossiliferous amber-rich deposits from the Aptian in Asia. It is also recognized as one of the older amber-rich localities with bio-inclusions following those in northeastern Italy (Carnian, Upper Triassic), the Levantine area (Tithonian, Upper Jurassic; Barremian), Austria (Hauterivian), the United Kingdom (lower Barremian), and southern Congo (upper Aptian). This finding fills a paleobiogeographical gap in fossil record and provides anatomical and ecological insights into a critical interval marked by the rise of modern-type forest ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55207,"journal":{"name":"Cretaceous Research","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106236"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145159475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}