Jehol Biota

The Jehol Biota (pinyin:Rèhé Qún) includes all the living organisms – the ecosystem – of northeastern China between 133 to 120 million years ago. This is the Lower Cretaceous ecosystem which left fossils in the Yixian Formation and Jiufotang Formation. It is also believed to have left fossils in the Sinuiju series of North Korea. The ecosystem in the Lower Cretaceous was dominated by wetlands and numerous lakes (not rivers, deltas, or marine habitats). Rainfall was seasonal, alternating between semiarid, and mesic conditions. The climate was temperate. The Jehol ecosystem was interrupted periodically by ash eruptions from volcanoes to the west. The word "Jehol" now said to refer to a mythical land of the past in Chinese folklore, was the name given during Japanese occupation of the former Rehe Province.