ABSTRACT

The Yanliao Biota is notable for producing rare and well-preserved Jurassic vertebrate fossils. Many discoveries in the Bawanggou section, northern Hebei Province have greatly enhanced our knowledge of important vertebrate fossils from the Yanliao Biota, including an arboreal euharamiyidan mammal, maniraptoran theropods, salamanders and pterosaurs. However, lacking of precise dating for the sediments bearing these fossils in the Bawanggou section hampered further understanding of the evolution of this biota. Here we report a chronology based on secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U-Pb zircon analyses from the Tiaojishan Formation bearing the Yanliao Biota in the Bawanggou section. Three bentonite layers dated to 159.0 ± 1.1 Ma, 159.5 ± 0.8 Ma, and 159.8 ± 0.8 Ma, respectively, were found to be interstratified with the fossil-bearing layer in this area. These data place the Yanliao Biota from Qinglong in the Oxfordian Stage of the Upper Jurassic and provide stringent constraints on vertebrates discovered in the Bawanggou section. Previous biostratigraphic studies and our geochronology show that fossil assemblage in the Bawanggou section is coeval with the Linglongta Biota (late Yanliao Biota) preserved in the Daxishan section (western Liaoning Province).