Late Neoproterozoic and early Cambrian is a key transition geological times which see the huge changes in biological, atmosphere and hydrosphere cycles. The fluid inclusions in halite of evaporites recorded the major seawater composition changes, and gypsum/anhydrite of evaporites recorded the positive abnormal sulfate isotope data during the time. The sulfate δ34S values during the time are largely constrained between +30‰ and +35‰ VCDT (Vienna Ca？on Diablo troilite), with some extreme values reaching +45‰ (The Yudomski Event). Dr. MENG Fanwei from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences and other scientists from China, USA and Pakistan reported the abnormal sulfate isotope data from early-middle Cambrian evaporites in Tarim, China. However, the δ34S values of the early Ordovician anhydrite in Tarim basin decrease to +26.1‰, and the δ34S values of the early Ordovician anhydrite in Ordos basin range from +27.1‰ to +28.0‰. So these new evidences support the occurrence, and extend the paleogeographic breadth, of the Cambrian Yudomski Event In addition, it is illustrated continuity of such high δ34S from the lower to middle Cambrian. The research results are published in Carbonates and Evaporites online. Related information of this paper:Fan-wei Meng, Zhi-li Zhang, James D. Schiffbauer, Qin-gong Zhuo, Meng-jun Zhao, Pei Ni, Wen-hang Liu, Naveed Ahsan. The Yudomski Event and subsequent decline: new evidence from δ34S data of lower and middle Cambrian evaporites in the Tarim Basin, western China. Carbonates and Evaporites. Cambrian anhydrite deposits in Tarim basin under microscope δ34S data from Cambrian anhydrite deposits in Tarim basin and subsequent evolution
Recently, researchers from China and USA reported a new lacewing species (green lacewing larvae) based on two larvae from the Cretaceous Burmese amber (approximately 100 million years old). These larvae are anatomically modified to mimic coeval liverworts. This discovery represents the first record of liverwort mimicry by fossil insects and brings to light an evolutionary novelty, both in terms of morphological specialization as well as plant-insect interactions. Camouflage and mimicry are pervasive throughout the biological world as part of the usual interactions between predators and their prey, allowing both to avoid detection. Among insects, the icons of mimicry include familiar stick and leaf insects, leaf-like moths or katydids. Liverworts are among the earliest terrestrial plants, and they have been widespread since the Paleozoic. However, mimicry between insects and liverworts is extremely rare in both modern and fossil ecosystems. Recently, researchers from China Agricultural University, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and their colleagues reported a new lacewing species (green lacewing larvae) based on two larvae from the Cretaceous Burmese amber (approximately 100 million years old). These larvae are anatomically modified to mimic coeval liverworts. This discovery represents the first record of liverwort mimicry by fossil insects and brings to light an evolutionary novelty, both in terms of morphological specialization as well as plant-insect interactions. The research was recently published in Current Biology on April 26, 2018. These larvae have broadly foliate lateral plates on their thorax and abdomen. It is the only species known among lacewings with distinctive foliate lobes on the larval body. Such morphological modifications grossly match some coeval liverworts. Therefore, the new larvae are the first example of direct mimicry in lacewing larvae. The morphological specialization in the new chrysopoid larva is unique and is unknown among any living or fossil lacewings. While the anatomy of these larvae allowed them to avoid detection, the lack of setae or other anatomical elements for entangling debris as camouflage means their sole defense was its mimicry, and it could have been a stealthy hunter like living and other fossil Chrysopoidea or been an ambush predator aided by its disguise. The present fossils demonstrate a hitherto unknown life-history strategy among these “wolf in sheep’s clothing” predators, one that apparently evolved from a camouflaging ancestor but did not persist within the lineage. Liverworts are a diverse group distributed throughout the world today, including approximately 9,000 extant species. Liverworts have been diverse since the start of the Late Cretaceous, including in the Burmese amber forest, which was a typical wet, tropical rainforest. Like their extant counterparts, Cretaceous liverworts grew on the leaves and bark of trees as well as on other plant surfaces. Therefore, the larvae most probably lived on trees densely covered by liverworts, with their liverwort mimicry aiding their survival. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Reference: Liu Xingyue*, Shi Gongle, Xia Fangyuan, Lu Xiumei, Wang Bo*, Engel M.S.* (2018) Liverwort mimesis in a Cretaceous lacewing larva. Current Biology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.060. New green lacewing larva from Burmese amber. New green lacewing larva and potential model plants from Burmese amber. (B, E, G are larvae, the others are livervorts). Ecological reconstruction.
What color is the 200-million-year-old insect? Some people will say, too old to see, we can only imagine. But no! Scientists from China, Germany and UK have new evidences to reveal the “true color” of the fossil insect. The research was recently published in Science Advances on April 11, 2018. Can we know the color of a 200-million-year-old insect? Some people will say we can only imagine its actual color. But no! Scientists from China, Germany and the UK have new evidence to reveal the “true color” of fossil insects. The research was recently published in Science Advances. Structural colors have evolved in a myriad of animals and plants and result from the wavelength-selective scattering of incident light. Such colors are typically more vibrant and visually arresting than those produced via pigmentation and are often multifunctional, playing important roles in intraspecific sexual signaling, aposematism and crypsis. Lepidoptera exhibit in their scales some of the most diverse structural colors produced by insects, with this diversity undoubtedly having contributed to the evolutionary success of the order. Despite sustained interest in the structure, development, and photonic and other biomimetic properties of lepidopteran scales in neontological studies, as well as recent research into structural colors in fossil beetles and feathers, the deep evolutionary history of scales and structural colors in lepidopterans is poorly understood. Recently, researchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their colleagues from Germany and the UK reported scale architectures from Jurassic Lepidoptera from the UK, Germany, Kazakhstan and China and Tarachoptera (a stem group of Amphiesmenoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. They used optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to reveal the gross morphology and ultrastructure of the scales. Using the ultrastructural parameters identified in Jurassic specimens, they demonstrated the use of optical modeling to describe the theoretical optical properties of the type-1 bilayer scale arrangement, thus providing the earliest evidence of structural colors in the insect fossil record. The Jurassic lepidopterans exhibit a type？1 bilayer scale vestiture: an upper layer of large fused cover scales and a lower layer of small fused ground scales. This scale arrangement, plus preserved herringbone ornamentation on the cover scale surface, is almost identical to those of some extant Micropterigidae. Critically, the fossil scale ultrastructures possess periodicities measuring from 140–2000 nm and are therefore capable of scattering visible light. Optical modeling confirms that diffraction-related scattering mechanisms dominate the photonic properties of the fossil cover scales, which would have displayed broadband metallic hues as in numerous extant Micropterigidae. The fossil tarachopteran scales exhibit a unique suite of characteristics, including small size, elongate-spatulate shape, ridged ornamentation and irregular arrangement, providing novel insight into the early evolution of lepidopteran scales. Combined, these new results provide the earliest evidence for structural coloration in fossil lepidopterans and support the hypothesis that fused wing scales and the type？1 bilayer covering are fundamental features of the group. "These findings have broader implications,” said Prof. WANG Bo from NIGP, the leader of the research group. The widespread occurrence of wing scales in Jurassic lepidopterans and in tarachopterans strongly suggests that wing scales (including some possibly unknown morphotypes) were widespread in stem Amphiesmenoptera prior to their apogee in the Lepidoptera. Given the presence of structural coloration in these basal fossil lepidopterans, the advent of major lepidopteran clades by the Cretaceous raises the possibility that this taxonomic radiation may have been accompanied by increased diversity in scale shape, microstructure and optical effects. Future studies will characterize the optical response of scale nanostructures in other fossil specimens and will provide evidence for the presence of scale pigments in fossil lepidopterans in order to inform models of the evolution of structural colors in lepidopterans. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Reference: Zhang Qingqing, Mey W., Ansorge J., Starkey T.A., McDonald L.T., McNamara M.E., Jarzembowski E.A., Wichard W., Kelly R., Ren Xiaoying, Chen Jun, Zhang Haichun, Wang Bo* (2018) Fossil scales illuminate the early evolution of lepidopterans and structural colors, Science Advances 4: e1700988. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1700988.
Fig. 1. Wings and scales of Jurassic Lepidoptera and extant Micropterigidae.(Image by ZHANG Qingqing et al.)
Fig. 2. Tarachoptera from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber .(Image by ZHANG Qingqing et al.) Fig. 3. Optical modeling showing the photonic response of a simplified fused cover scale structure. (Image by ZHANG Qingqing et al.) Fig. 4. Ecological restoration of moths in the Cretaceous Burmese amber forest. (Image by YANG Dinghua)
This Book displays a good sample of beautiful fossil collections in NIGPAS, including most precious specimens collected by pioneering palaeontologists in early 1900s and exquisitely preserved fossil specimens from the famous “Chengjiang Biota” and “Jehol Biota”, as well as other important fossil sites of various geological ages and geographic regions. The compiling of such monograph is intended not only to show snap shots of the evolving biosphere on the Earth through millions and billions of years’ natural history, but also to show some footprints of NIGPAS scientists in their scientific endeavors over the past century (including pre-NIGPAS pioneers’ efforts). Book information: YANG Qun (editor-in-chief), Evolutionary Treasures: Fossil types Annotated, Zhejiang University Press. 1-227. ISBN: 978-7-308-17629-3. (in Chinese and English)
Two volumes of handbook summerise the 50-year research on the Late Palaeozoic (and some late Silurian) pollen and spores, including all the published genera in 1960 – 2008, illustrating 2288 species of pollen and spores of 295 genera in 168 plates. Book information: OUYANG Shu, LU Lichang, ZHU Huaicheng, LIU Feng. 2017. The Late Paleozoic Spores and Pollen of China. Hefei: Press of USTC. 1-1092. ISBN: 978-7-312-04080-1. (in Chinese)
The magazine Science China Earth Sciences reported the progress of black graptolitic shales and shale gas distribution pattern as a cover story in June 2017. Academician CHEN Xu from the CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography (LESP) of NIGPAS led the research. The paper draws extensive attention in the field of petroleum and natural gas. The Lungmachi Formation is widely distributed in Guizhou, Chongqing and their adjacent areas. It is important for the study of Silurian biostratigraphy and shale-gas investigation. Based on those biostratigraphically well-studied sections from Guiyang of Guizhou to Huayingshan of Chongqing, the authors reveal the stage-progressive distribution pattern of the Lungmachi black shales. Reference: Xu Chen, JunXuan Fan, WenHui Wang, HongYan Wang, HaiKuan Nie, XueWen Shi, ZhiDong Wen, DongYang Chen, WenJie Li, 2017, Stage-progressive distribution pattern of the Lungmachi black graptolitic shales from Guizhou to Chongqing, Central China. Science China Earth Sciences, 60 (6), 1133–1146.
As a systematic summary of the Phanerozoic brachiopods of China, the monograph Phanerozoic Brachiopod Genera of China has been published by Science Press in Beijing in Dec. 2017, with CAS Academician RONG Jiayu from NIGPAS as its Editor-in-Chief. It has been one hundred and thirty-three years since the first fossil brachiopod genus Leptodus was erected based on a Chinese species L. richthofeni Kayser in 1883. Since then, there have been 757 brachiopod genera named with their type species from China. During the same period, stratigraphical correlation and brachiopod classification have also undergone great changes, all of which have prompted the radical revision of all the brachiopod genera of China (published from 1883 – 2015) presented in this book. Besides a complete but concise introduction, there are separate sections for each geological period, i.e. Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Each period includes a review of geographical distribution, stratigraphical correlation, faunal succession, palaeobiogeography, and systematic palaeontology of brachiopods. The systematic part of this book includes the type species, etymology, diagnosis, comparison (or discussion), species assigned and rejected, and the stratigraphical range and geographical distribution. Reference: RONG Jiayu (editor-in-chief), JIN Yugan, SHEN Shuzhong and ZHAN Renbin (eds.). 2017, Phanerozoic Brachiopod Genera of China. Beijing: Science Press. 1-1096, i-xviii, i-ii. ISBN: 978-7-030-54812-2
Spiders are one of nature’s success stories, with spider webs distributed in nearly every corner of the world. Recently, the discoveries from the ca. 100 million year old Burmese amber of Myanmar shed important light on where spiders may have evolved from.
Spiders are one of nature’s success stories, with spider webs distributed in nearly every corner of the world. Recently, the discoveries from the ca. 100 million year old Burmese amber of Myanmar shed important light on where spiders may have evolved from.
Photo of Chimerarachne yingi gen. et sp. nov. Image by WANG Bo Chimerarachne is an extraordinary fossil spider from Burmese amber, described by an international research team led by Prof. WANG Bo from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), with the name comes from the way in which the new fossil seems to combine features of different arachnids, and is based on the chimera: a monster in Greek mythology composed of different animal parts. These “Monster Spiders” are with tiny sizes, less than 2 mm long (excluding tail). The body can be divided into prosoma and abdomen, with six eyes are medially located near the anterior margin of the carapace. Their appendages are similar to those of modern spiders, including a pair of chelicerae, pedipalps, and 4 pairs of legs. The fossils have four pairs of spinnerets, with anterior lateral and posterior lateral spinnerets bearing 14 and 12 articles respectively (each with silk gland). The most impressive feature is the long (at least twice the body length) and thin flagellum, which has more than 70 articles and bears numerous long setae. Such a long tail is similar to that of extant Uropygi (whip scorpions) and Palpigradi (micro whip scorpions).
Micro-CT images of the monster spider Chimerarachne yingi from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Image by HUANG Diying The international team led by Prof. HUANG Diying from NIGPAS also studied these fossil spiders and suggested that the origin of Chimerarachne can be dated back to the ancient Devonian of New York, USA (359~419 million years ago), where fragments of Attercopus were discovered. They all have characteristic spider-like chelicerae and a long whip-scorpion-like tail (flagellum). The researchers suggested that Chimerarachne is either the most primitive spider known, or else belongs to a group of extinct arachnids which were very close to spider origins. Either way, the implication is that there used to be a time when spiders still had tails. Taken together, Chimerarachne has a unique body plan among the arachnids and raises important questions about what an early spider looked like, and how the spinnerets and pedipalp organ may have evolved. These researches were recently published in Nature Ecology & Evolution titled by ‘Cretaceous arachnid Chimerarachne yingi gen. et sp. nov. illuminates spider origins’ and ‘Origin of spiders and their spinning organs illuminated by mid-Cretaceous amber fossils’.
Reconstruction of Chimerarachne yingi gen. et sp. nov. Image by YANG Dinghua Reference: 1. Wang Bo*, Dunlop J.A., Selden P.A., Garwood R.J., Shear W.A , Müller P., Lei Xiaojie, 2018. Cretaceous arachnid Chimerarachne yingi gen. et sp. nov. illuminates spider origins. Nature Ecology & Evolution. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0449-3. 2. Huang, Diying, Hormiga, G., Cai, Chenyang, Su, Yitong, Yin, Zongjun, Xia, Fangyuan, Giribet G., 2018. Origin of spiders and their spinning organs illuminated by mid-Cretaceous amber fossils. Nature Ecology & Evolution. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0475-9.
For much of the earth history, cyanobacteria were the only source of biogenic oxygen and a major source of fixed carbon and nitrogen. However, it is still not clear when cyanobacteria began to fix nitrogen. The finding of new filamentous cyanobacterial fossil from ca. 1000–720 million-year-old rocks in North China has brought dawn for the tracking of the first nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. The results were published in Current Biology with the title "Nitrogen-fixing heterocystous cyanobacteria in the Tonian Period". For much of the earth history, cyanobacteria were the only source of biogenic oxygen and a major source of fixed carbon and nitrogen. However, it is still not clear when cyanobacteria began to fix nitrogen. The finding of new filamentous cyanobacterial fossil from ca. 1000–720 million-year-old rocks in North China has brought dawn for the tracking of the first nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. The results were published in Current Biology with the title "Nitrogen-fixing heterocystous cyanobacteria in the Tonian Period". Hormogonia, paired cells, and akinetes of Anhuithrix magna. ( Image by PANG Ke) The origin of cyanobacteria had profound and transformative impacts on carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles in the Earth system. Not only are cyanobacteria (and their evolutionary descendants, plastids) the only oxygenic photosynthesizers, many of them have also acquired the capability of fixing dinitrogen and one clade (including subsections IV and V, i.e., Nostocales and Stigonematales) has developed complex multicellularity with specialized nitrogen-fixing (or diazotrophic) cells known as heterocysts and resting cysts known as akinetes. But when this evolutionary innovation occurred is unknown. Molecular clock estimates of the divergence time of this clade are highly variable, ranging from ~2000 Ma to ~500 Ma. The older estimates are invariably calibrated by putative akinete fossils (described as Archaeoellipsoides) from Paleoproterozoic-Mesoproterozoic rocks around 2100–1400 Ma. The fossil record of heterocystous cyanobacteria is scarce and disputed. Most reported heterocyst and akinete fossils from Precambrian rocks are probably diagenetic or taphonomic artifacts. One of them, Archaeoellipsoides from ~2100–1400 Ma rocks, was once widely accepted as an akinete fossil, but this interpretation has been recently challenged because of the lack of associated cellular trichomes or extracellular sheath. Thus far, the earliest uncontested fossil record of heterocysts and akinetes comes from the early Devonian (~410 Ma) Rhynie Chert. The scarcity of heterocystous cyanobacterial fossils significantly hampers our understanding of the evolution of complex multicellularity and cell differentiation among cyanobacteria and their role in regulating the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles in the geological past, and our ability to calibrate cyanobacterial molecular clocks. A team of scientists led by Dr. PANG Ke from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Mr. TANG Qing from Virginia Tech collected hundreds of specimens from a fossiliferous horizon in the Tonian Liulaobei Formation in Shouxian, Anhui Province, China. The new fossil was a mat-forming, filamentous, multicellular cyanobacterium that grew by binary cell division, reproduced by fragmentation, weathered adverse conditions by akinetes, and likely fixed nitrogen in specialized heterocysts. Anhuithrix magna represents a compelling record of akinete-forming and implicitly heterocystous and diazotrophic cyanobacteria, and attests to the evolution of cellular differentiation among multicellular cyanobacteria in the Tonian Period. As an akinete-bearing cyanobacterium, it provides a minimum age estimate of the divergence of subsections IV+V, challenges molecular clock estimates that place this divergence at ~500 Ma, and and places a firm constraint on the evolution of akinetes and heterocysts. Because nitrogenase (an enzyme responsible for catalyzing nitrogen fixation) is irreversibly inactivated by the presence of free oxygen, the evolution of heterocysts may be an evolutionary response to provide a physical shelter for nitrogenase as pO2 rose to levels that can inhibit the activity of nitrogenase. Anhuithrix magna may offer an independent constraint on the redox condition of Tonian oceans. The lack of reliable akinetes from pre-Tonian rocks despite abundant and exceptional preservation of filamentous trichomes prompts us to hypothesize that the rise of heterocystous cyanobacteria may have occurred in the Tonian. Thus, not only did cyanobacteria played a significant role in regulating the carbon and nitrogen cycles and surface Earth redox conditions, their own evolutionary trajectory was modulated by the very oxygen ultimately produced by themselves, highlighting the complex geobiological feedbacks between the biosphere and geosphere.
Stromatolites occurred in Archean, and reached their peak during the Mesoproterozoic (from 1600 to 1000 Ma). After that peak they continued to decline. Subsequently, stromatolites experienced a resurgence during the Cambrian and Early Ordovician, after early Ordovician which they decreased again and never recovered. However, the abundant stromatolites can be found in middle Ordovician strata of Ordos basin, China. During Ordovician time, the evaporitic basins are very rare, but huge evaporites including halite can be find in Ordos basin during Ordovician. The abundant stromatolites can be found in these evaporitic surroundings. Metazoan grazing and burrowing can account for the stromatolite decline after early Ordovician, but the high salinity in evaporitic surroundings of Ordos basin can help the resurgence of stromatolites in middle Ordovician evaporitic surroundings. Dr. MENG Fanwei from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other experts found these resurgence of stromatolites in middle Ordovician evaporitic surroundings. The shallow water sedimentary evidences from bottom grown gypsum and chevron halite. Carbon isotope curve from carbonates coincides with the Middle Darriwilian excursion of the Middle Ordovician and sulfur isotope data from anhydrite imply that these strata belong to middle Ordovician. The anhydrite sulfur isotopes (δ34S) from Majiagou Formation, Ordos basin, China range from +27.1 to +28.0‰ (lower than sulfur isotopes Cambrian data, but higher than late Ordovician data) imply that these evaporites were deposited in middle Ordovician. Article information: Fan-Wei Meng, Zhi-li Zhang, Xian-qin Yan, Pei Ni,Wen-Hang Liu, Fu Fan, Gu-Wei Xie. Stromatolites in Middle Ordovician carbonate–evaporite sequences and their carbon and sulfur isotopes stratigraphy, Ordos Basin, northwestern China. Carbonates and Evaporites Stromatolite structures in drill cores from the Majiagou Formation (shallow brine) Cumulate and Chevon halite with carbonates in Majiagou Formation, Ordos basin Bottom grown Anhydrite growth structure in Majiagou Formation, Ordos basin (shallow brine)
