The Kuanyinchiao Formation (Hirnantian, Upper Ordovician), yielding the typical Hirnantia fauna, has commonly been accepted as representing cool-water sediments deposited during the glacial interval in the Hirnantian Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) region of South China. Recent investigation conducted by Dr. WANG Guangxu from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues reveals that the uppermost carbonate-dominated part of this formation yields a warm-water rugose coral fauna with Silurian affinities at many localities of northern Guizhou Province, which substantially differs from the underlying cool-water fauna. This suggests that these carbonates were probably postglacial warm-water sediments, rather than having formed during the Hirnantian glacial interval as previously thought. Such a conclusion is consistent with the evidence from the associated brachiopod fauna, i.e., the Dalmanella testudinaria – Dorytreta longicrura community, which is similarly distinct from the underlying typical Hirnantia fauna. The sedimentological data show warm-water features at the same level (e.g., the presence of oolitic grains), also supporting this new interpretation. Recognition of these postglacial carbonates and fossils adds to a growing list of near-contemporaneous strata of latest Ordovician age in South China that, due to their thinness and limited extension, have previously been overlooked or misinterpreted. Increased awareness of these strata should result in further discoveries that will underpin a better and more accurate understanding of the end-Ordovician mass extinction. Related information of this paper: Wang G. X., Zhan R. B., Percival I. G. 2016 (published online). New data on Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) postglacial carbonate rocks and fossils in northern Guizhou, Southwest China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, (doi: 10.1139/cjes-2015-0197) Stratigraphic correlation of the Ordovician–Silurian boundary successions in the study area. Representative rugose corals from the Kuanyinchiao Formation are illustrated with their stratigraphic levels indicated. Correlation of carbonate rocks across the Ordovician–Silurian boundary on the Yangtze Platform of South China.
A research group headed by Dr. TANG Peng from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences described a permineralised gymnospermous wood, Xenoxylon junggarensis sp. nov. from the Norian (upper Triassic) Huangshanjie Formation in Dalongkou Section, Jimsar County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. The pycnoxylic wood consists of thick-walled tracheids and thin-walled rays. It is characterized by commonly rounded to very compressed, contiguous or sometimes separated uniseriate, occasionally rounded and alternate biseriate radial pits and one or two simple, large pits in each corss-field. The fossil wood genus Xenoxylon Gothan is known to be an indicator of cooler and/or wetter climates in the boreal hemisphere during the Mesozoic. Its occurrence in the Huangshanjie Formation from Junggar Basin, together with the palaeobotanical and palynological data, indicates that a wet and temperate climate prevailed in the northern Xinjiang during the Norian interval. The mean sensitivity of analysis of 22 growth rings is 0.36, suggesting a seasonal response to climate. Growth rings in the fossil woods are large (2.3 mm average with a maximum of 5.44 mm), representing either a longer growing season or more favorable conditions for growth, including readily available water and higher temperature. Based on a considerable amount of earlywood and a small percentage of latewood and some indirect evidence, it is hypothesized that growth of Xenoxylon junggarensis in the high-latitude Junggar Basin in the late Triassic was limited by light levels. This research was recently published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. This research was jointly supported by the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, National Basic Research Program of China and the National Nature Science Foundation of China. Related information: Wan, M., Zhou, W., Tang, P., Liu, L., Wang, J., 2016. Xenoxylon junggarensis sp. nov., a new gymnospermous fossil wood from the Norian (Triassic) Huangshanjie Formation in northwestern China, and its palaeoclimatic implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 441, 679-687. Filed photos of the fossil woods and the maps showing cross section Maps showing the radial and tangential section of the fossil wood
The extant family Dipteridaceae includes 8 species of 1 genus (Dipteris), which is restricted to tropical and subtropical Indo-Malaysian regions, including northeastern India, and southern China. The fossil record of this family has been widely reported from the Mesozoic, and is regarded as the indicators for global warming and phytogeography. Although many studies have been focused on the systematic relationship of fossil Dipteridaceae ferns, the reproductive anatomy and in situ spores as well as diversity and distribution pattern of these fossils are relatively poor known. Prof. WANG Yongdong from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his team members have recently investigated the fertile structures including in situ spores of a Late Triassic dipterid fern, Clathropteris obovata Oishi from Guangyuan of Sichuan Province, China. The well-preserved compression specimens show round to oval and exindusiate sori, vertical to oblique annuli in sporangia, and in situ trilete spores with verrucate and baculate sculptures, which are comparable to dispersed spore genera of Converrucosisporites and Conbaculatisporites. Comparisons of relevant fossil taxa suggest that specimens of C. obovata from Triassic of China provide for the first time in Asia the detailed fertile structures with in situ spore characters of dipterid fossil Clathropteris. Unlike living Dipteris, the fossil evidence shows a high diversity and morphological variation of in situ spores within the family Dipteridaceae in the Mesozoic, thus showing insights for the evolutionary links between Dipteridaceae and other related fern clade. This result has been published in Journal of Plant Research. In addition, Prof. WANG et al. investigated the fossil record, diversity variation adn tampo-spatial distribution pattern of the Mesozoic Dipteridaceae ferns in China. They demonstrated that so far, about 74 species of 6 genera have been reported. Geographically, they are distributed both in Southern and Northern Floristic Provinces, and are particularly well developed in the Southern Floristic Province during the Late Triassic and the Early Jurassic interval. Fossil diversity of Dipteridaceae varies in the different episodes of the Mesozoic in China. It is shown that Dipteridaceae has undergone a diversity development process during the Mesozoic. The dipterid fossil diversity variation is supposed to be closely linked with and climate change. This result is published online in the Elsevier journal Palaeoworld. This study was jointly supported by the State Key Basic Research Program of China, National Natural Sciences Foundation of China, the Knowledge Innovation Project of CAS, and the Team Program of Scientific Innovation and Interdisciplinary Cooperation of CAS. Publication information: Wang Yongdong *, Li Liqin, Guignard G, Dilcher D L., Xie Xiaoping, Tian Ning, Zhou Ning, Wang Yan, 2015. Fertile structures with in situ spores of a dipterid fern from the Triassic in southern China. Journal of Plant Research, 128: 445-457. Doi: 10.1007/s10265-015-0708-9. Zhou Ning, Wang Yongdong*, Li Liqin, Zhang Xiaoqing, 2015. Diversity variation and tempo-spatial distribution of the Dipteridaceae ferns in the Mesozoic of China. Palaeoworld, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2015.11.008. The fertile leaf, sori and sporangia of Clathropteris obovata from the Later Triassic of China Sterile and fertile leaves, sporangia and in situ spores of living Dipteris conjugata Fossil diversity variation of Dipteridaceae ferns in the Mesozoic of China
The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the most severe extinction event of the Phanerozoic. To investigate oceanic redox conditions around the EPME, Dr. XIANG Lei and colleagues from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a series of geochemical analyses, including iron speciation, trace element geochemistry, total organic carbon (TOC), and nitrogen isotopes of kerogen (δ15Nkero), around the EPME at the Shangsi section, South China. They distinguished three intervals with different redox conditions based on iron speciation. During the first interval (early and middle Changhsingian), bottom waters were pervasively euxinic. In the second interval (late Changhsingian and the EPME), bottom water fluctuated between oxic and anoxic, but non-sulfidic conditions, with the oxic mode becoming increasingly predominant over time. During the third interval, following the EPME, bottom waters appeared to have been consistently anoxic, though again not pervasively euxinic. This redox history is supported by enrichments in the authigenic fraction of redox sensitive elements. These relatively high δ15Nkero values (>1.0‰) corresponding with Changhsingian euxinia suggest reducing bottom waters did not impinge on the photic zone. The shift to values near 0‰ within and above the EPME indicates an ecological expansion of diazotrophs. Stratigraphic trends of Nixs, Cdxs, Pxs and TOC indicate that primary productivity was highest in the first interval, coinciding with euxinic bottom water, then decreased during the lower part of Interval 2 and remained at low level through the remainder of the studied section. The temporal relationship between redox condition and primary productivity suggest that euxinia was supported by high productivity and carbon export in the early Changhsingian. The expansion of N2-fixation coincides closely with the previously documented warming of the ocean surface at Shangsi, and may be related to reduced oceanic circulation and suppressed vertical mixing. The temporal distribution of deep-water anoxia and euxinia suggest that they were not primary causes for the extinction of benthos at Shangsi. This research was published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. It was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Related information of this paper: Lei Xiang, S.D. Schoepfer, Hua Zhang*, Dong-xun Yuan, Chang-qun Cao, Quan-feng Zheng, C.M. Henderson, Shu-zhong Shen, 2016. Oceanic redox evolution across the end-Permian mass extinction at Shangsi, South China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.046 Stratigraphic distributions of redox proxies in the Shangsi section, South China Stratigraphic distributions of TOC, Pxs, Cdxs, (C/N)kero, δ15Nkero, and δ18O in the Shangsi section
Photograph of Zhenia xiai gen. et. sp. nov. a, holotype; b, paratype; c, paratype Parasitoidism—the larvae developing by feeding on other arthropods and eventually killing them—represents a major shift in the mode of carnivory within terrestrial ecosystems and strongly regulates modern trophic webs. Parasitoidism is a key innovation in insect evolution, and parasitoid insects, nowadays, play a significant role in structuring ecological communities. There is no direct fossil evidence for insect parasitoidism before the Early Jurassic, Early Jurassic wasps have been widely thought to possess the parasitoid lifestyle which evolved once in Hymenoptera. In addition, several Cretaceous insects (Strepsiptera and Coleoptera) were regarded as parasitoids based on their larval evidence of “parasitism”. Other Mesozoic evidence comes from taxonomic assignments, and definitive parasitoid flies are very scarce for this period. ZHANG Qingqing, a postgraduate student, Dr. Wang Bo and Prof. Zhang Junfeng from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences reported an endoparasitoid insect based on three well-preserved specimens, Zhenia xiai, from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Zhenia xiai is an endoparasitoid insect as evidenced by a highly developed, hypodermic-like ovipositor formed by abdominal tergites VIII + IX that was used for injecting eggs into hosts and enlarged tridactylous claws supposedly for clasping hosts. Zhenia xiai represents the latest occurrence of the family Eremochaetidae. The results reveal that the parasitoid behavior, associated with considerable morphological adaptations, was already well established in eremochaetids, providing robust evidence for the great diversification of parasitoids during the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS. Related information of this paper: Qingqing Zhang, Junfeng Zhang, Yitao Feng, Haichun Zhang, Bo Wang (2015) An endoparasitoid Cretaceous fly and the evolution of parasitoidism. The Nature of Science, 103:2. doi: 10.1007/s00114-015-1327-y. a, head of Zhenia xiai; b, tarsi and tridactylous claws of hind leg; c, ovipositor. Restoration of Zhenia xiai gen. et. sp. nov.
Anatomical structures of fossil Protaxodioxylon jianchangense Tian et Wang sp. nov from the Jurassic in Jianchang of western Liaoning Diverse and rich fossil wood records have been documented from the Mesozoic of Liaoning Province, NE China. The Tiaojishan Formation (mainly distributed in Beipiao, Chaoyang, Fuxin and Jianchang regions) is one of the most significant horizons for the Jurassic petrified wood in Liaoning Province. Previously, wood fossils of this formation were mainly reported in Beipiao and Chaoyang regions, whereas fossil wood record was merely known in Jianchang region. Prof. WANG Yongdong and his team members from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenyang Normal University have described new fossil wood specimens from the Tiaojishan Formation in Jianchang County, western Liaoning. Two fossil wood taxa, i.e., Protaxodioxylon jianchangense Tian et Wang sp. nov. and Xenoxylon peidense Zheng et Zhang were recognized on the basis of anatomical features. These fossil wood records add new data for understanding the fossil wood diversity, floral composition and palaeoclimate of the Tiaojishan Formation. The occurrence of Xenoxylon and Protaxodioxylon implies a cool temperate, wet and seasonal climate condition with interannual variations during the Middle to Late Jurassic transition in western Liaoning region. The article was published and cited in: Tian N, Xie A W, Wang Y D*, Jiang Z K, Li L Q, Yin Y L, Zhu Z P, Wang J J. 2015. New records of Jurassic petrified wood in Jianchang of western Liaoning, China and their palaeoclimate implications. Science China: Earth Sciences, 58: 2154–2164, doi: 10.1007/s11430-015-5208-1.
Biota and microfacies of the reef. A) Polished slab of sphinctozoan-coral-microbial boundstone. B-D) Thin- sections of rectangles marked in A. White triangles— cavities; yellow triangles—Streptelasma; red triangles—Palaeophyllum; S— sphinctozoan (Corymbospongia); E—Epiphyton; K—Kordephyton. Sphinctozoan (chambered) sponges were important reef-builders and common cryptobionts during the mid-late Permian and mid-late Triassic. These hypercalcified sponges can be traced from the Cambrian, but it was once thought that they were restricted to level-bottom communities until the Middle Permian. Compare to the Permian and Triassic, there were just sporadic and limited reports of reef-building sphinctozoans (multi-chambered sponges) in the Early Paleozoic. Recently, Dr. LI Qijian from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues Prof. LI Yue and Prof. Wolfgang Kiessling discover an oldest sphinctozoan-coral-microbial reef？ from the Upper Sanqushan Formation (late Katian) at Wu’ai in Zhejiang, southeast China, which is also the first report of Ordovician sphinctozoans from the South China. The huge reef (about 120m thick) is mainly constructed by calcimicrobes (Kordephyton, Renalcis and Epiphyton) with a suite of calcareous algae (mostly red alga) and accessory metazoans (sphinctozoans and rugose corals). The elongated stromatactis cavities (centimeter-scale) filled with cement pervade in the non-laminated microbial boundstone. Bio- and litho-facies in this area as well as the characteristics of the microbialite show that the reef developed in a deeper subtidal and stressful setting that was unfavorable for most metazoan builders. In contrast to the high-energy stromatolite-sphinctozoan reefs in the Late Silurian, our case represents a low-energy community, indicating that the first reef-building sphinctozoan (Corymbospongia) might have been originated from relatively deep environment on seamounts of a back-arc basin during the Late Ordovician. The research article was published in: Li Qijian, Li Yue & Kiessling Wolfgang, 2015. The first sphinctozoan-bearing reef from an Ordovician back-arc basin. Facies, 61 (3): available online. (DOI: 10.1007/s10347-015-0444-6)
SEM images of Eokinorhynchus rarus gen. et sp. nov. Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, Priapulida, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Onychophora, Tardigrada and Arthropoda constitute the Ecdysozoa which is major part of the animal world. The Kinorhyncha includes ~240 extant species of exclusively marine, holobenthic, free-living, meiofaunal animals. So far, Kinorhyncha has no fossil record, and its origin and evolution is currently unknown. Recently, in a collaborative research by Dr. ZHANG Huaqiao from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. XIAO Shuhai from Virginia Tech and other scientists recovered three dimensionally phosphatized worm-like fossils from early Cambrian rocks, approximately 535 million years old, in northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi Provinces. These new fossils are interpreted as early kinorhynch animals, representing the only known kinorhynch fossils in the entire geological history. One of the newly discovered fossil taxa is named Eokinorhynchus rarus, alluding to its relationship with modern kinorhynchs and its rareness in the fossil record. Eokinorhynchus rarus is around 2 mm in length and has 20 macroannuli each bearing a single circlet of 20~40 rectangular plates. It has five pairs of bilaterally arranged large spinose sclerites and a single large spinose sclerite on the ventral side, each sclerite straddling two or three macroannuli. There are many small internally hollow spines randomly distributed on the trunk. Dr. ZHANG and colleagues found that Eokinorhynchus rarus has a number of similarities with living kinorhynchs, suggesting a close evolutionary relationship. For example, the trunk of Eokinorhynchus rarus and living kinorhynchs have a number of hollow spines and are divided into segments, each consisting of articulated plates. However, unlike modern kinorhynchs, Eokinorhynchus rarus is armoured with spines that are larger and more distinct than spines on modern kinorhynchs. It also has much more body segments than modern kinorhynchs. In light of these similarities and differences, Dr. ZHANG suggest that Eokinorhynchus rarus may be closely related to the ancestor of modern kinorhynchs and represents the first and only known fossils of Kinorhyncha. The new discovery indicates that Kinorhyncha emerged in the early Cambrian and is part of the "Cambrian Explosion". This research was recently published in Scientific Reports, a Nature family journal. Related information: Huaqiao Zhang, Shuhai Xiao, Yunhuan Liu, Xunlai Yuan, Bin Wan, A. D. Muscente, Tiequan Shao, Hao Gong & Guohua Cao, 2015. Armored kinorhynch-like scalidophoran animals from the early Cambrian. Scientific Reports. Doi: 10.1038/srep16521. Reconstruction of Eokinorhynchus rarus gen. et sp. nov.
Some typical Early Devonian graptolites in the Qinzhou Fm. The vast majority of Early Devonian graptolites are widely distributed within the 30°N and 30°S parallels of paleolatitude, with only a few known at higher latitudes. Only three early Devonian graptolite locations, i.e., west Yunnan, southeast Guangxi (in low paleolatitude), and south Xizang (Tibet) (in middle-high paleolatitude), have been reported in China. Recently, an Early Devonian graptolite fauna from the Qinzhou–Yulin region in southeast Guangxi, China is described by Academician CHEN Xu from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues. This graptolite fauna of moderate diversity includes 3 genera and 14 species, with 2 new species, Uncinatograptus jadae sp. nov. and Neomonograptus aequabilis latus subsp. nov. Based on these taxa, four biozones in the Qinzhou Formation, the Uncinatograptus uniformis Biozone, the tentative Uncinatograptus praehercynicus Biozone, the tentative Neomonograptus falcarius Biozone, and the Uncinatograptus yukonensis Biozone, are erected in ascending order. The Lower Devonian graptolite biozonation in Guangxi agrees well with the global standard. The research article was published in Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. Related information of this paper: Xu Chen, Yunan Ni, Alfred C. Lenz, Linna Zhang, Zhongyang Chen, and Lan Tang. 2015. Early Devonian graptolites from the Qinzhou–Yulin region, southeast Guangxi, China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 52(11): 1000-1013. doi: 10.1139/cjes-2015-0025.
Comparison of 6 Early Devonian sections in the Qinzhou–Yulin region, Guangxi, China
Representative taxa of the Late Ordovician deep-water sponges from South China The end-Ordovician mass extinction is the earliest and the second largest among the Big-five in Phanerozoic. It occurred near the end of the Ordovician period (between 445.6 Ma and 443.7 Ma), and had a devastating influence on the marine ecosystem. After nearly 40 years investigation in a global scale, there is a consensus that the end-Ordovician mass extinction was stepwise and episodic, and two phases have been recognized, with about one million years in between. Many fossils have been found from the rocks chronostratigraphically corresponding to the interval from the first episode of the end-Ordovician mass extinction to the latest Ordovician, such as brachiopods, trilobites, corals, graptolites and so on. Sponges are rare in this interval, and only lithistids and stromatoporoids have been sporadically documented. Although many new discoveries show that the non-lithistid spicular sponges (especially the Burgess Shale-type faunas) are known from a broad range of times, and not restricted to the Cambrian, there are still large gaps in the fossil records of non-lithistid spicular sponges during the Late Ordovician. So far, no sponges have been reported from the Late Ordovician in China. Recently, Dr. LI Lixia from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and her colleagues from Nanjing University and Germany report a unique sponge assemblage spanning the interval of the end-Ordovician mass extinction from the Kaochiapien Formation (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian) in South China. The research article was published in Scientific Reports. This sponge assemblage are of latest Ordovician (late Hirnantian) to earliest Silurian (early Rhuddanian) age, just extending across the Ordovician-Silurian boundary. It contains a variety of well-preserved siliceous sponges, including both Burgess Shale-type and modern type taxa. It is clear that this assemblage developed in deep water, low energy ecosystem with less competitors and more vacant niches. Its explosion may be related to the euxinic and anoxic condition as well as the noticeable transgression during the end-Ordovician mass extinction. The excellent preservation of this assemblage is probably due to the rapid burial by mud turbidites. This unusual sponge assemblage gives an excellent insight into the deep sea palaeoecology and the macroevolution of Phanerozoic sponges, and opens a new window to investigate the marine ecosystem before and after the end-Ordovician mass extinction. It also offers potential to search for exceptional fossil biota across the Ordovician-Silurian boundary interval in China. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (LPS). Related information of this paper: Lixia Li, Hongzhen Feng, Dorte Janussen and Joachim Reitner. 2015. Unusual Deep Water sponge assemblage in South China – Witness of the end-Ordovician mass extinction. Scientific Reports 5: 16060; DOI: 10.1038/srep16060. A conceptual model of the migration and taphonomic process of sponges during the late Hirnantian.
