The oldest confuciusornithid bird, Eoconfuciusornis zhengi Zhang et al., 2008, from the Dabeigou Formation; skeleton and feather impressions on (a) the counterslab and (b) main slab. (Courtesy of IVPP.)
A series of papers in leading international journals, such as Nature and Science, astonished the palaeontological world in the 1990s. In these, ever-more amazing fossils were announced from the Jehol beds in NE China: examples of early birds, feathered dinosaurs, pterosaurs, early mammals, amphibians, pollinating insects and angiosperms. The specimens came from a time interval, the Early Cretaceous, whose faunas and floras were relatively poorly known from other locations and yet these specimens tended to be complete and they were often remarkably well preserved.
The Jehol beds are so extensive and so rich in fossils that it seems amazing that the remarkable birds, dinosaurs, and other fossils were not reported earlier.
One of the most spectacular fossils of all time from the Yixian Formation, two specimens, a presumed male (with long tail plumes) and female of Confuciusornis sanctus, a species now known from more than 2000 specimens. (Courtesy of IVPP.)
The type specimen of Microraptor gui Xu et al., 2003, a remarkable small dromaeosaurid dinosaur with fully developed 'wings' of flight feathers on both arms and both hind limbs, from the Jiufotang Formation. (a) the specimen; (b) CT scan of the skeleton, (c) reconstruction. (Courtesy of IVPP.)
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