Dinosaur bonebed amber from an original swamp forest soil

• Published in: eLife Vol. 10; no. e72477
• Main Authors: Álvarez-Parra, Sergio, Pérez-de la Fuente, Ricardo, Peñalver, Enrique, Barrón, Eduardo, Alcalá, Luis, Pérez-Cano, Jordi, Martín-Closas, Carles, Trabelsi, Khaled, Meléndez, Nieves, López Del Valle, Rafael, Lozano, Rafael P, Peris, David, Rodrigo, Ana, Sarto I Monteys, Víctor, Bueno-Cebollada, Carlos A, Menor-Salván, César, Philippe, Marc, Sánchez-García, Alba, Peña-Kairath, Constanza, Arillo, Antonio, Espílez, Eduardo, Mampel, Luis, Delclòs, Xavier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Science Publications, Ltd 30.11.2021; eLife Sciences Publications Ltd; eLife Sciences Publication; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Amber; Animals; autochthony; Biodiversity; Biodiversity and Ecology; Coal mining; Cretaceous; Dinosaurs; ecology; Environmental Sciences; Evolutionary Biology; Forest soils; Forests; Fossils; insects; Microfossils; palaeobiology; Paleontology; Protection and preservation; resin production; Soil; Spain; Taphonomy; Terrestrial ecosystems; Wetlands; Spain; Canada; United Kingdom; France; Iberian Peninsula; ecology; autochthony; evolutionary biology; resin production; none; Cretaceous; insects; palaeobiology
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.72477

Dinosaur bonebeds with amber content, yet scarce, offer a superior wealth and quality of data on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. However, the preserved palaeodiversity and/or taphonomic characteristics of these exceptional localities had hitherto limited their palaeobiological potential. Here, we describe the amber from the Lower Cretaceous dinosaur bonebed of Ariño (Teruel, Spain) using a multidisciplinary approach. Amber is found in both a root layer with amber strictly in situ and a litter layer mainly composed of aerial pieces unusually rich in bioinclusions, encompassing 11 insect orders, arachnids, and a few plant and vertebrate remains, including a feather. Additional palaeontological data-charophytes, palynomorphs, ostracods- are provided. Ariño arguably represents the most prolific and palaeobiologically diverse locality in which fossiliferous amber and a dinosaur bonebed have been found in association, and the only one known where the vast majority of the palaeontological assemblage suffered no or low-grade pre-burial transport. This has unlocked unprecedentedly complete and reliable palaeoecological data out of two complementary windows of preservation-the bonebed and the amber-from the same site.