Climate-change-enhanced habitat diversification for the Middle Jurassic Yanliao Biota in East Asia

作者：Wenxing Hao, Jianghai Yang, Haibing Wang, Haibing Wang, Ross N. Mitchell, Chunxia Zhang, Ruoyuan Qiu, Jiaqi Guo, Wang Zhang, Xiujuan Bao, Chenglong Deng, Xiaolin Wang, Yongyun Hu, Jin-Hui Yang, Jin-Hui Yang, Rixiang Zhu, Zhonghe Zhou, Rixiang Zhu · 发表于：National Science Review · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1093/nsr/nwaf194 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology、Evolution and Paleontology Studies、Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

The Jurassic Period was characterized by the dominance of dinosaurs and the rise of early mammals, with the Yanliao Biota (∼167-157 Ma) in East Asia notable for its exceptional fossil preservation and diverse life forms. However, the drivers of the flourishing of the Yanliao Biota remain unclear. Here, we reconstruct the palaeoclimate and habitat characteristics of the Yanliao Biota by using sedimentary facies analysis, organic carbon-isotope data, palynological records, source weathering trends and climate simulations from the Community Earth System Model CESM 1.2.2. The studied sedimentary successions are well constrained to the Middle Jurassic based on carbon-isotope stratigraphic correlation and published tuff zircon U-Pb ages. Our findings reveal a regional climate shift in the late Bathonian, transitioning from wet to sub-humid conditions, as evidenced by an increase in gymnosperm pollen, a marked decline in coal seams and reduced weathering intensity. Sedimentological evidence further supports a synchronous facies change from ever-wet fluvial-delta systems to seasonally active alluvial plains. This climate shift aligns with simulation results and coincides temporally with the initial flourishing of the Yanliao Biota. We propose that this shift, associated with lithospheric extension in the Yanliao region, increased landscape heterogeneity and habitat diversity, fostering biological evolution through ecological isolation and allopatric speciation, ultimately driving the...