Microraptor's World
Champsosaur and fish
Monjurosuchus & Lycoptera
Like many Liaoning fossils, this one captures the remnants of
several animals that died simultaneously, perhaps killed by a
volcanic event. The champsosaur, a superficially crocodile-like
reptile, is about a foot long. Fish are the most common backboned
animals in the fossil beds, and the most prevalent are herring-like
Lycoptera. Fossil hunters have discovered thousands of
specimens in a single layer of sedimentary rock. Aquatic animals and
plants, in general, often became spectacular fossils, as
fine-grained sediments were likely to drift to the bottoms of lakes
and ponds.