Adaptation to the sky: Defining the feather with integument fossils from mesozoic China and experimental evidence from molecular laboratories.

Appendix 1 List of fossils, described as new by Senowbari-Daryan et al. from the Permian and Mesozoic of Iran

Development and evolution of the amniote integument: current landscape and future horizon.

This special issue on the development and evolution of the amniote integument begins with a discussion of the adaptations to terrestrial conditions, the acquisition of water-impermeability of the reptilian integument, and the initial formation of filamentous integumentary appendages that prepare the way towards avian flight. Recent feather fossils are reviewed, and a definition of feathers is d...

Water use patterns of forage cultivars in the North China Plain

Water shortage is the primary limiting factor for crop production and long-term agricultural sustainability of the North China Plain. Forage cultivation emerged recently in this region. A fiver-year field experiment studies were conducted at Yucheng Integrated Experiment Station to quantify the water requirement and water use efficiency of seven forage varieties under climate variability, that ...

A Mesozoic bird from Gondwana preserving feathers

The fossil record of birds in the Mesozoic of Gondwana is mostly based on isolated and often poorly preserved specimens, none of which has preserved details on feather anatomy. We provide the description of a fossil bird represented by a skeleton with feathers from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana (NE Brazil). The specimen sheds light on the homology and 3D structure of the rachis-dominated fea...

Mesozoic basin inversion in Central Alborz, evidence from the evolution of Taleqan-Gajereh-Lar paleograben

This paper presents evidence on Mesozoic inversion of basin bounding faults within the Taleqan-Gajereh-Lar Paleograben (TGLP) in Central Alborz Range. For this purpose, well documented stratigraphy data across the TGLP together with the new acquired structural data on the geometry and kinematics of the paleograben basin bounding faults are utilized. The TGLP has evolved through the Early and Mi...