Iguanodontian sternal plate from Upper Cretaceous of Japan + Cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte in Italy created by monsoon storms (free pdfs)
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Ben Creisler
Jul 6, 2026, 12:29:22 AMJul 6
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Ben Creisler
New papers:
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Free pdf:
Free pdf:
Masami Kondo, Kohei Tanaka, Fumiaki Utagawa, Junki Yoshida, and Darla K. Zelenitsky (2026)
An Iguanodontian Sternal Plate from the Upper Cretaceous Ashizawa Formation (Futaba Group) of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
Paleontological Research 30(1): 122-134
doi: https://doi.org/10.2517/prpsj.250042
https://bioone.org/journals/paleontological-research/volume-30/issue-1/prpsj.250042/An-Iguanodontian-Sternal-Plate-from-the-Upper-Cretaceous-Ashizawa-Formation/10.2517/prpsj.250042.full
Iguanodontia is a diverse clade of ornithopod dinosaurs known from Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous deposits worldwide, including Japan. In 1999, an isolated sternal element tentatively attributed to a hadrosauroid was collected from the marine Ashizawa Formation of the Upper Cretaceous Futaba Group in Fukushima, northeastern Japan. Our description of this specimen reveals that it is a hatchet-shaped (unfused) sternal plate with an undeveloped caudomedial process, a concave lateral margin, and a relatively short (unflattened) caudolateral process. This element is assignable to an indeterminate styracosternan (Iguanodontia), likely a hadrosauroid. The size of the sternal plate suggests that it is from an individual with a body length of about 3 m. Given that all iguanodontian specimens previously recovered from Upper Cretaceous marine strata in Japan appear to belong to larger (over 3 m in body length) animals, our findings suggest that smaller individuals also inhabited coastal settings in the region.
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Free pdf:
F. Fanti, L. Consorti, M. Muscioni, L. Baldassari, E. Dinelli, M. Polentarutti, G. Bais, A. Farnsworth, E. Kustatscher, A. Spina & A.A. Chiarenza (2026)
Climate-extreme-driven genesis of a Cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte
Global and Planetary Change 105589
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105589
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818126003103
Highlights
Monsoon-driven storms created a Cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte.
Tidal microcouplets yield an unprecedented ~40-year chronometry.
Synchrotron micro-XRF/XRD maps refute seasonal varve interpretation.
Microbial mats enabled rapid sealing and exceptional soft-tissue preservation.
New genetic model and toolkit for climate event-driven preservation in carbonates.
Abstract
Konservat-Lagerstätten provide exceptional records of past ecosystems, yet the environmental and climatic processes governing their formation in extreme climatic regimes remain a significant, unresolved conundrum. Here we present a novel, process-based mechanism for the Villaggio del Pescatore Konservat-Lagerstätte (northeastern Italy; Late Cretaceous, 80 Ma), which preserves a diverse terrestrial and aquatic biota. Integrating high resolution synchrotron micro-analyses, bulk geochemistry, detailed taphonomy and palaeoclimate simulations we identify a dynamic, monsoon-paced tidal flat ecosystem within a carbonate coastal margin. Field and core records comprise metrescale packages of laterally persistent light–dark laminae; microstratigraphic, spectral and statistical analyses indicate a semidiurnal tidal regime with neap–spring modulation. MicroXRF/XRD mapping reveals that individual microlaminae within couplets share the same elemental inventory refuting a seasonal varve origin. Laminae chronometry, tied to the tidal interpretation, constrains net accumulation of the fossil bearing rhythmites to decadal (~40 year) timescales. Geochemical proxies record alternating terrigenous rich, high TOC intervals and drier, better oxygenated intervals. Palaeoclimate model ensembles diagnose a vigorous, summer dominated monsoon domain at ~29° N under greenhouse boundary conditions. We document that episodic monsoon enhanced flood and tropical cyclone pulses delivered sediment, nutrients, carcasses and plant debris to a microbially active, carbonate tidal flat; microbial mats rapidly stabilised and promoted early cementation, enabling exceptional soft tissue preservation. We propose a genetic model in which monsoon–cyclone forcing, tidal trapping and microbial sealing combine to produce decadal, daily resolved vertebrate Lagerstätten in greenhouse settings, offering predictive targets for similar deposits and deep time analogues for modern coastal change.
F. Fanti, L. Consorti, M. Muscioni, L. Baldassari, E. Dinelli, M. Polentarutti, G. Bais, A. Farnsworth, E. Kustatscher, A. Spina & A.A. Chiarenza (2026)
Climate-extreme-driven genesis of a Cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte
Global and Planetary Change 105589
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105589
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818126003103
Highlights
Monsoon-driven storms created a Cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte.
Tidal microcouplets yield an unprecedented ~40-year chronometry.
Synchrotron micro-XRF/XRD maps refute seasonal varve interpretation.
Microbial mats enabled rapid sealing and exceptional soft-tissue preservation.
New genetic model and toolkit for climate event-driven preservation in carbonates.
Abstract
Konservat-Lagerstätten provide exceptional records of past ecosystems, yet the environmental and climatic processes governing their formation in extreme climatic regimes remain a significant, unresolved conundrum. Here we present a novel, process-based mechanism for the Villaggio del Pescatore Konservat-Lagerstätte (northeastern Italy; Late Cretaceous, 80 Ma), which preserves a diverse terrestrial and aquatic biota. Integrating high resolution synchrotron micro-analyses, bulk geochemistry, detailed taphonomy and palaeoclimate simulations we identify a dynamic, monsoon-paced tidal flat ecosystem within a carbonate coastal margin. Field and core records comprise metrescale packages of laterally persistent light–dark laminae; microstratigraphic, spectral and statistical analyses indicate a semidiurnal tidal regime with neap–spring modulation. MicroXRF/XRD mapping reveals that individual microlaminae within couplets share the same elemental inventory refuting a seasonal varve origin. Laminae chronometry, tied to the tidal interpretation, constrains net accumulation of the fossil bearing rhythmites to decadal (~40 year) timescales. Geochemical proxies record alternating terrigenous rich, high TOC intervals and drier, better oxygenated intervals. Palaeoclimate model ensembles diagnose a vigorous, summer dominated monsoon domain at ~29° N under greenhouse boundary conditions. We document that episodic monsoon enhanced flood and tropical cyclone pulses delivered sediment, nutrients, carcasses and plant debris to a microbially active, carbonate tidal flat; microbial mats rapidly stabilised and promoted early cementation, enabling exceptional soft tissue preservation. We propose a genetic model in which monsoon–cyclone forcing, tidal trapping and microbial sealing combine to produce decadal, daily resolved vertebrate Lagerstätten in greenhouse settings, offering predictive targets for similar deposits and deep time analogues for modern coastal change.
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