Advanced Search

Indexed by SCI、CA、РЖ、PA、CSA、ZR、etc .

Volume 35 Issue 3
Jun 2024
Turn off MathJax
Article Contents
Journal of Earth Science  > 2024  >  35(3): 737-746.
Zhongwu Lan, Rong Cao, Shujing Zhang. Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Lycoptera: A Case Study from the Lower Jehol Group in Western Liaoning, Northeastern China. Journal of Earth Science, 2024, 35(3): 737-746. doi: 10.1007/s12583-023-1922-1
Citation: Zhongwu Lan, Rong Cao, Shujing Zhang. Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Lycoptera: A Case Study from the Lower Jehol Group in Western Liaoning, Northeastern China. Journal of Earth Science, 2024, 35(3): 737-746. doi: 10.1007/s12583-023-1922-1
shu

Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Lycoptera: A Case Study from the Lower Jehol Group in Western Liaoning, Northeastern China

doi: 10.1007/s12583-023-1922-1
  • 1.

    State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

  • 2.

    State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

  • 3.

    State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430078, China

  • 4.

    College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

  • 5.

    Department of Geology, Trinity College, Dublin 999015, Ireland

More Information
  • Corresponding author: Zhongwu Lan, lzw1981@126.com
  • Received Date: 07 Feb 2023
  • Accepted Date: 10 Aug 2023
  • Issue Publish Date: 30 Jun 2024
    Abstract

  • Taphonomy and paleoecology (biological behavior) of the Early Cretaceous fish fossils are poorly described. This study reports for the first time a detailed taphonomical and paleoecological study on Lycoptera in the Mesozoic strata of western Liaoning Province, NE China. The XRD analysis shows that gismondine is the dominant clay minerals that could have contributed to the preservation of Lycoptera fossils and microbial mat fragments in the fossil-bearing horizon. Gismondine may have formed under volcanism-related hydrothermal regime that was transformed from crystal and lithic fragments. The μ-XRF imaging analysis shows a dominant chemical composition of Al, Si, P, S, Rh, K, Ca, Ti, C, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, among which P, Ca, C and S are enriched in the fish skeleton in comparison to the matrix. This suggests a dominant apatite composition for the fish skeleton. Hydrothermal influence did not smear off these organic signals probably because of protection of gismondine. The coexistance of C and S with Ni is assumed to represent recovered primary productivity following volcanic explosions and toxic gas emissions. The head of juvenile fish stays close to the body of adult fish. Pending further discoveries, such phenomenon is interpreted to suggest that adult fish actively protected juvenile fish in the presence of environmental pressures such as anoxia and deterioration of water quality induced by volcanism. Ocean acidification and hypoxia in association with volcanism created a harmful environment causing mass extinction of fish. The adult Lycoptera protected their juveniles by its body at the moment before death. Such biological behavior will be increasingly reported given the wide occurrence of Lycoptera in Mesozoic strata.

     

    • Conflict of Interest
    The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
    FullText(HTML)
  • loading
    • References(42)
  • Benton, M. J., Zhou, Z. H., Orr, P. J., et al., 2008. The Remarkable Fossils from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China and how They have Changed Our Knowledge of Mesozoic Life. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 119(3/4): 209–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0016-7878(08)80302-1
    Chang, M. M., Miao, D. S., 2004. An Overview of Mesozoic Fishes in Asia. In: Arratia, G., Tintori, A., eds., Mesozoic Fishes 3―Systematics, Paleo-environments and Biodiversity. Verlag Dr. F. Pfeil, Munchen. 535–563
    Chen, Y. Y., Li, X. B., Teng, F. F., et al., 2023. Micro-XRF Mapping Study on the Taphonomy of a Jurassic Larval Salamander Fossil from Inner Mongolia of China. Atomic Spectroscopy, 44: 24–31. https://doi.org/10.46770/as.2022.246
    Fan, Q. G., Liu, D., Papineau, D., et al., 2023. Precipitation of High Mg-Calcite and Protodolomite Using Dead Biomass of Aerobic Halophilic Bacteria. Journal of Earth Science, 34(2): 456–466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1108-1
    Fan, R. Y., Zong, R. W., Gong, Y. M., 2023. Fish Swimming Traces from the Upper Devonian of Wuhan, South China. Journal of Earth Science, 34(4): 1319–1322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-021-1509-9
    Ghobarkar, H., Schäf, O., 1999. Synthesis of Gismondine-Type Zeolites by the Hydrothermal Method. Materials Research Bulletin, 34(4): 517–525. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0025-5408(99)00052-5
    Guo, Z. F., Wang, X. L., 2002. A Study on the Relationship between Volcanic Activities and Mass Mortalities of the Jehol Vertebrate Fauna from Sihetun, Western Liaoning, China. Acta Petrologica Sinica, 18(1): 117–125 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
    Guo, Z. F., Liu, J. Q., Wang, X. L., 2003. Effect of Mesozoic Volcanic Eruptions in the Western Liaoning Province, China on Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 46(12): 1261–1272. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02883252
    Jiang, B. Y., Harlow, G. E., Wohletz, K., et al., 2014. New Evidence Suggests Pyroclastic Flows are Responsible for the Remarkable Preservation of the Jehol Biota. Nature Communications, 5: 3151. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4151
    Jiang, B. Y., Sha, J. G., 2007. Preliminary Analysis of the Depositional Environments of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in the Sihetun Area, Western Liaoning, China. Cretaceous Research, 28(2): 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2006.05.010
    Jin, F., Zhang, J. Y., Zhou, Z. H., 1995. Late Mesozoic Fish Fauna from Western Liaoning, China. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 33(3): 191–193. https://doi.org/10.19615/j.cnki.1000-3118.1995.03.002 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
    Konhauser, K. O., Pecoits, E., Lalonde, S. V., et al., 2009. Oceanic Nickel Depletion and a Methanogen Famine before the Great Oxidation Event. Nature, 458: 750–753. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07858
    Lan, Z. W., Li, X. H., Chu, X. L., et al., 2017. SIMS U-Pb Zircon Ages and Ni-Mo-PGE Geochemistry of the Lower Cambrian Niutitang Forma-tion in South China: Constraints on Ni-Mo-PGE Mineralization and Stratigraphic Correlations. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 137: 141–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.12.046
    Lan, Z. W., Chen, Z. Q., 2012. Possible Animal Body Fossils from the Late Neoproterozoic Interglacial Successions in the Kimberley Region, Northwestern Australia. Gondwana Research, 21(1): 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2011.05.014
    Lan, Z. W., Zhang, S. J., Tucker, M., et al., 2020. Evidence for Microbes in Early Neoproterozoic Stromatolites. Sedimentary Geology, 398: 105589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2020.105589
    Li, S., Zheng, D. R., Zhang, Q., et al., 2016. Discovery of the Jehol Biota from the Celaomiao Region and Discussion of the Lower Cretaceous of the Bayingebi Basin, Northwestern China. Palaeoworld, 25(1): 76–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2015.04.001
    Li, X. B., Reisz, R., 2020. The Stratigraphy and Paleoenvironment of a ‘Lycoptera Bed’ Site in Eastern Inner Mongolia, China: Correlation with the Fossiliferous Lower Cretaceous Strata in Western Liaoning. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 559: 109951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109951
    Li, Y. J., Jicha, B. R., Yu, Z. Q., et al., 2022. Rapid Preservation of Jehol Biota in Northeast China from High Precision 40Ar/39Ar Geochro-nology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 594: 117718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117718
    Moore, D. M., Reynolds, R. C., 1989. X-Ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 322
    Muyzer, G., Stams, A. J. M., 2008. The Ecology and Biotechnology of Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 6: 441–454. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1892
    Pan, Y. H., Fürsich, F. T., Zhang, J. Y., et al., 2015. Biostratinomic Analysis of Lycoptera Beds from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, Western Liaoning, China. Palaeontology, 58(3): 537–561. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12160
    Peng, S. Z., Hao, Q. Z., Oldfield, F., et al., 2014. Release of Iron from Chlorite Weathering and Links to Magnetic Enhancement in Chinese Loess Deposits. Catena, 117: 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2013.07.005
    Rogers, C. S., Hone, D. W. E., McNamara, M. E., et al., 2015. The Chinese Pompeii? Death and Destruction of Dinosaurs in the Early Cretaceous of Lujiatun, NE China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeo-ecology, 427: 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.03.037
    Sano, Y., Terada, K., 1999. Direct Ion Microprobe U-Pb Dating of Fossil Tooth of a Permian Shark. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 174(1/2): 75–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0012-821x(99)00253-8
    Sano, Y., Terada, K., 2001. In situ Ion Microprobe U-Pb Dating and REE Abundances of a Carboniferous Conodont. Geophysical Research Letters, 28(5): 831–834. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000gl008467
    Sar, A., Kürüm, S., Bingöl, A. F., 2023. Early Cretaceous to Middle Eocene Magmatic Evolution of Eastern Pontides: Zircon U-Pb Ages and Hf Isotopes, and Geochemical and Sr-Nd Isotopic Constraints from Multiphase Granitoids, NE Turkey. Journal of Earth Science, 34(2): 518–535. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-022-1640-2
    Scheller, S., Goenrich, M., Boecher, R., et al., 2010. The Key Nickel Enzyme of Methanogenesis Catalyses the Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane. Nature, 465: 606–608. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09015
    Sha, J. G., 2007. Cretaceous Stratigraphy of Northeast China: Non-Marine and Marine Correlation. Cretaceous Research, 28(2): 146–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2006.12.002
    Wang, W., Guan, C., Zhou, C., et al., 2014. Exceptional Preservation of Macrofossils from the Ediacaran Lantian and Miaohe Biotas, South China. Palaios, 29(3): 129–136. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2013.085
    Wang, X. L., Li, Y., Qiu, R., et al., 2020. Comparison of Biodiversity of the Early Cretaceous Pterosaur Faunas of China. Earth Science Frontiers, 27(6): 347–364. https://doi.org/10.13745/j.esf.sf.2020.6.19 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
    Wang, Y. Q., Olsen, P. E., Sha, J. G., et al., 2016. Stratigraphy, Correlation, Depositional Environments, and Cyclicity of the Early Cretaceous Yixian and? Jurassic-Cretaceous Tuchengzi Formations in the Sihetun Area (NE China) Based on Three Continuous Cores. Palaeogeo-graphy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 464: 110–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.06.043
    Xiao, S. H., Schiffbauer, J. D., 2009. Microfossil Phosphatization and Its Astrobiological Implications. In: Seckbach, J., Walsh, M., eds., Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht. 89–117.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8837-7_5
    Xiang, X., Wang, H. M., Tian, W., et al., 2023. Composition and Function of Bacterial Communities of Bryophytes and Their Underlying Sediments in the Dajiuhu Peatland, Central China. Journal of Earth Science, 34(1): 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1391-x
    Yuan, X. L., Chen, Z., Xiao, S. H., et al., 2011. An Early Ediacaran Assemblage of Macroscopic and Morphologically Differentiated Eukaryotes. Nature, 470: 390–393. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09810
    Zhang, F. C., Kearns, S. L., Orr, P. J., et al., 2010. Fossilized Melanosomes and the Colour of Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Birds. Nature, 463(7284): 1075–1078. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08740
    Zhang, J. Y., 2002. A New Species of Lycoptera from Liaoning, China. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 40(4): 257–266. https://doi.org/10.19615/j.cnki.1000-3118.2002.04.002 (in Chinese with English Abstract)
    Zhao, Q., Barrett, P. M., Eberth, D. A., 2007. Social Behaviour and Mass Mortality in the Basal Ceratopsian Dinosaur Psittacosaurus (Early Cretaceous, People’s Republic of China). Palaeontology, 50(5): 1023–1029. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00709.x
    Zhao, Z. Q., Shen, B., Zhu, J. M., et al., 2021. Active Methanogenesis during the Melting of Marinoan Snowball Earth. Nature Communications, 12: 955. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21114-6
    Zhou, Z. H., Barrett, P. M., Hilton, J., 2003. An Exceptionally Preserved Lower Cretaceous Ecosystem. Nature, 421: 807–814. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01420
    Zhou, Z. H., 2014. The Jehol Biota, an Early Cretaceous Terrestrial Lagerstätte: New Discoveries and Implications. National Science Review, 1(4): 543–559. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwu055
    Zhou, Z. H., Wang, Y., 2017. Vertebrate Assemblages of the Jurassic Yanliao Biota and the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota: Comparisons and Implications. Palaeoworld, 26(2): 241–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2017.01.002
    Zhu, M., Zhu, Y. A., Gai, Z. K., et al., 2023. How did Jawed Vertebrates Originate and Rise? Journal of Earth Science, 34(4): 1299–1301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-023-1907-2
    • Relative Articles
    • Supplements(0)
    • Cited By
  • 加载中

Catalog

    通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
    • 1. 

      沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

    1. 本站搜索
    2. 百度学术搜索
    3. 万方数据库搜索
    4. CNKI搜索

    Figures(7)

    Get Citation
    PDF
    XML

    Article Metrics

    Article views(126) PDF downloads(89) Cited by()
    Proportional views
    Related

    Copyright © 2013-2020 Journal of Earth Science 鄂ICP备15021562号-2

    Tel: +86-27-67885075 Fax: +86-27-67885075 E-mail: xbb@cug.edu.cn

    Address: Editorial Office of Journal, China University of Geosciences, Yujiashan, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, P. R. China

    Supported by: Beijing Renhe Information Technology Co. Ltd  E-mail: info@rhhz.net  

    /

    DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
    Return
    Return