News in Brief Paleontology

Rivers of rock and gas froze ancient animals in time

Well-preserved Cretaceous fossils buried in Chinese formations by pyroclastic flows

SKELETAL STORY  An antelope-sized Psittacosaurus dinosaur (left) and two crow-sized Confuciusornis bird fossils (center and right) show postures common among entombed animals, suggesting the creatures perished in a sudden flow of volcanic rock and gas.

Baoyu Jiang

By Gabriel Popkin

- More than 2 years ago

The Yixian and Jiufotang fossil beds of northeastern China have yielded such treasures as the first beaked bird skeleton and impressions of soft tissues, hair and feathers from prehistoric mammals and reptiles.