Amber, known as “time capsule”, preserving excellent evolutionary fragments of early life in geological history, has become one of the research hotspots in palaeontology. Study on the amber inclusions in China is mainly focused on the Eocene Fushun amber; Since 70's of the last century, many publications including the book Amber Insects of China have been concentrated on the detailed study on insects in the Fushun amber. However, amber inclusions, especially those from foreign countries, are still poorly studied by Chinese scholars. Amber from Kachin (Hukawng Valley), northern Myanmar, has been known in the Annals of the Han Dynasty (205-265 AD). Thus, Burmese amber has been known for about two thousand years, but the scientific collection of inclusion fossils was made approximately 90 years ago. Age of the material is currently accepted as earliest Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous), about 99 million years old. Burmese amber probably harbors the most diverse biota in amber from the Cretaceous. Insect inclusions in Burmese amber are exceptionally well preserved and very diverse. Study on insects in amber is of great significance for understanding the early evolution, systematics, paleoecology and paleogeography of difference insect groups. Recently, Prof. HUANG Diying from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his group, reported four new fossil insects in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, including Coleoptera and Psocoptera. 1. The first Mesozoic Micropeplinae. The staphylinid subfamily Micropeplinae includes small strongly sclerotized beetles with truncate elytra exposing most part of abdomen. Fossil micropeplines are rare and confined to Cenozoic representatives of extant genera. The oldest micropepline, Protopeplus cretaceus gen. and sp. n., is described from Burmese amber. Fluorescence microscope and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) were both used to reveal diagnostic features of Micropeplinae and some primitive traits that place Protopeplus very basally within Micropeplinae. 2. The oldest Osoriinae. The staphylinid subfamily Osoriinae is characterized by the absence of abdominal paratergites. A remarkable new genus and species, Mesallotrochus longiantennatus n. gen. n. sp., is described and figured using both light and fluorescence microscopes. Mesallotrochus is placed in the extant tribe Thoracophorini and is comparative to the extant subtropical/tropical genus Allotrochus. The new discovery of the oldest Osoriinae from about 99 million years not only suggests the antiquity of the subfamily, but also bears significant biogeographic implications. 3. The first described ground beetle. The ground beetle, or Carabidae, is one of the most common adephagan beetles. Cooperated with colleague from the Institute of Zoology, CAS, the first carabid from the Burmese amber is formally described and named as Oodes kachinensis Liu et al., 2014, which is placed in the extant genus Oodes of the extant tribe Oodini. The new discovery represents the oldest record for Oodes, bearing significant implications for the origin, early evolution and paleogeography of the genus. 4. The earliest Pachytroctidae. With colleague from the Lebanese University, two new genera and new species of Pachytroctidae (Psocoptera), Burmipachytrocta singularis Azar et al., 2014 and Atapinella garroustei Azar et al., 2014 are described based on two individuals preserved in Burmese amber. The positions of the new taxa are discussed and the fossils are compared to other pachytroctids. The described species represent the earliest records of the family Pachytroctidae, bearing significance for understanding the early diversification of the small group. This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Related information of the paper: 1. Chenyang Cai, Diying Huang (2014) The oldest micropepline beetle from Cretaceous Burmese amber and its phylogenetic implications (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Naturwissenschaften doi: 10.1007/s00114-014-1221-z 2. Chenyang Cai, Diying Huang (2014) The oldest osoriine rove beetle from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Cretaceous Research doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2014.03.020 3. Ye Liu, Hongliang Shi, Chenyang Cai, Hongbin Liang, Diying Huang* (2014) The first record of Cretaceous ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Oodini) from Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2014.05.013 4. Dany Azar, Diying Huang, Chenyang Cai, André Nel (2014) The earliest records of pachytroctid booklice from Lebanese and Burmese Cretaceous ambers (Psocodea, Troctomorpha, Nanopsocetae, Pachytroctidae). Cretaceous Research doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2014.04.005
Fig. 1. The first Mesozoic Micropeplinae
Fig. 2. Details of Mesozoic Micropeplinae: a, b, CLSM images; d, f, Fluorescence microscope images; others, Biological microscope images
Fig. 3. The oldest Osoriinae
Fig. 4. The first Oodes ground beetle. Fossil species, Oodes kachinensis (left) ; Reconstruction of O. kachinensis (middle); Extant Oodes species (right)
Fig. 5. The earliest Pachytroctidae. Burmipachytrocta singularis Azar et al., 2014 (left); Atapinella garroustei Azar et al., 2014 (right)
Permineralized woods and isolated axes have been documented from numerous Permian localities of northern China. However, most of the previous observations focused on fossil woods from the Cathaysian floral province. Few Permian woods have been investigated from the Subangaran floral province in China. Septomedullopitys szei sp. nov. is discovered and described from the Wuchiapingian Wutonggou low-order cycle (roughly equivalent to Wutonggou Formation) in Tarlong valley, southern Bogda Mountains, Xinjiang, northwestern China. The stem has a heterogeneous pith approximately 15-20 mm in diameter containing numerous straight secretory ducts and parenchymatous bands. Primary xylem is endarch and the tracheids contain scalariform thickenings. Secondary xylem is of the Protophyllocladoxylon type. Comparisons with contemporaneous gymnosperm woods containing either solenoid pith or Protophyllocladoxylon type secondary xylem and from the (Sub)Angara landmass indicate that the Tarlong stem represents a new Permian morphotaxon for the region. The presence of coprolites, borings, and spindle-like cavities within the stem suggests well-developed animal-plant-fungi interactions in the Wuchiapingian time. The presence of numerous growth interruptions and absence of true growth rings within the stem suggest that the climate did not minimal annual temperature and/or precipitation seasonality. The interruptions suggest a humid-subhumid climate with short-term, nonperiodic droughts. This research was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Basic Research Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Missouri University of Science and Technology. Related information of this paper: Mingli Wan, Wan Yang, Jun Wang *, 2014. Septomedullopitys szei sp nov., a new gymnospermous wood from Lower Wuchiapingian (Upper Permian) continental deposits of NW China, and its implication for a weakly seasonal humid climate in mid-latitude NE Pangaea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 407: 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.04.011
Fig.1 Location of the fossil stem of Septomedullopitys szei sp. nov. and geological map of the research area
Fig.2 Photos showing features of Septomedullopitys szei sp. nov.
Fig.3 Photos showing features of Septomedullopitys szei sp. nov.
Fig.4 Photos showing features of Septomedullopitys szei sp. nov.
Amber-bearing deposits are among the most important Konservat-Lagerst？tten providing unique windows into past ecosystems. Fushun amber has been known for over a century and was traditionally regarded as an important source of medicine as well as organic gemstones. The inclusions, however, were not the subject of a comprehensive investigation and its paleobiota and scientific significance were inevitably overlooked in almost all mainstream paleontological literature. After more than 110 years of mining, the opencast mine is closing at Fushun ending the supply of amber. We now have a final opportunity to study this fossil resin and its inclusions before local knowledge fades and collections are dispersed. Professor Zhang Haichun from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his team, reported a unique amber biota (50–53 million years ago) from the Lower Eocene of Fushun in northeastern China which fills a large biogeographic gap in Eurasia. Fushun amber is derived from cupressaceous trees as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and paleobotanical observations. Twenty-two orders and more than 80 families of arthropods have been reported so far, making it among the most diverse amber biotas. Our results reveal that an apparent radiation of ecological keystone insects including eusocial, phytophagous, and parasitoid lineages occurred at least during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. Some insect taxa have close phylogenetic affinities to those from coeval European ambers, showing a biotic interchange between the eastern and western margins of the Eurasian landmass during the early Paleogene. Fushun amber contains the only Paleogene Asian (Laurasia-originated) arthropod biota that has sufficiently numerous and diverse fossils to permit detailed investigation. It not only fills a crucial biogeographic gap in Eurasia, but spans the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) which is considered an important analogue for inferring future effects of warming trends on biotic interactions, making it a vital source of information for biotic change during the Paleogene. This study provides the first detailed, comprehensive investigation for the Fushun amber. So far, we have found abundant arthropod inclusions belonging to more than 80 families, making it amongst the most diverse amber biotas. In spite of the cessation of mining operations, the already gathered material is being studied and holds the potential for a deeper understanding of Paleogene biogeography and environmental change. This research was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Basic Research Program of China. The paper was published in Current Biology (Wang Bo*, Rust J., Engel M.S., Szwedo J., Dutta S., Nel A., Fan Yong, Meng Fanwei, Shi Gongle, Jarzembowski E.A., Wappler T., Stebner F., Fang Yan, Mao Limi, Zheng Daran, Zhang Haichun* (2014) A Diverse Paleobiota in Early Eocene Fushun Amber from China. Current Biology, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.048.)
Amber samples
Representative plants and arthropods in Fushun amber.
The reconstruction of ancient insect ectoparasitism is challenging, mostly because of the extreme scarcity of fossils with obvious ectoparasitic features such as sucking-piercing mouthparts and specialized attachment organs. The early evolution of insect ectoparasites and their associations with hosts are still poorly known. Professor ZHANG Haichun from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his team, cooperating with colleagues from Linyi University, Germany, USA and UK, described a bizarre fly larva (Diptera), named as Qiyia jurassica. The fossils are from the Jurassic deposits of Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. The larva represents a stem group of the tabanomorph family Athericidae, and exhibits adaptations to an aquatic habitat. The most notable structure of these newly discovered fossils is the ridged thoracic sucker which is a unique evolutionary adaptation among holometabolan insects. The round sucker has six radial ridges which are considered highly modified thoracic legs. These six robust ridges could increase both the suction area and surface friction, thus providing more adhesion and increasing lateral stability while reducing slippage, like the radial grooves in modern octopus suckers and supporting ribs in man-made suction cups. Taken together, the larva preserves an unusual combination of features including a thoracic sucker with six radial ridges, unique in insects, piercing-sucking mouthparts for fluid feeding, and crocheted ventral prolegs with upward directed bristles for anchoring and movement while submerged. In the Daohugou deposits fish are completely absent but salamanders are extremely abundant (several thousand specimens recovered to date). The Daohugou salamanders match well Q. jurassica in size as well as co-occurrence, suggesting a possible parasite-host relationship. The larva was an aquatic ectoparasitic insect, probably feeding on the blood of salamanders. The discovery reveals an extreme morphological specialization of fly larvae, and broadens our understanding of the diversity of ectoparasitism in Mesozoic insects. This research was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Basic Research Program and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The paper was published in eLife (Chen Jun, Wang Bo*, Engel M.S., Wappler T., Jarzembowski E.A., Zhang Haichun, Wang Xiaoli, Zheng Xiaoting, Rust J. Extreme adaptations for aquatic ectoparasitism in a Jurassic fly larva. eLife, 3:e02844. doi: 10.7554/eLife.02844.)
The Cambrian Burgess Shale-type (BST) fossil lagerst？tten have a global distribution from Laurasia to Gondwana. Exceptionally well-preserved soft-bodied fossils from these lagerst？tten document unique information for elucidating the origin and early evolution of metazoans during the ‘‘Cambrian explosion’’. Over the past three decades, several famous BST fossil lagerst？tten have been uncovered from the Cambrian of South China, and attracted worldwide attention and public interests. In recent years, a research groupheaded by Prof. ZHU Maoyan from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences have unremittingly discovered exciting fossils in the Cambrian strata in southeastern Yunnan. Recently, Dr. ZHAO Fangchen and his colleagues from the research group report a new Chengjiang-type fossil assemblage from the lower part of the Hongjingshao Formation at Xiazhuang village of Chenggong, Kunming, Yunnan. The fossil assemblage, named as Xiazhuang fossil assemblage, yields abundant soft-bodied fossils except for common trilobites, including arthropods, brachiopods, priapulids, lobopods and some problematic taxa, with arthropods being the most dominant group. Preservation and composition of the fossil assemblage are very similar to the typical Chengjiang biota, which is preserved in the middle Yu’anshan Formation in the large area of eastern Yunnan. The associated trilobites demonstrate that the soft-bodied fossil assemblage belongs to the late Qiongzhusian in age (Stage 3, Cambrian), suggesting that the Hongjingshao Formation is probably a diachronous lithostratigraphic unit ranging from the upper Qiongzhusian to the lower Canglangpuan stages in eastern Yunnan. The fossil assemblage from the Xiazhuang area fills up the missing link between the typical older Chengjiang biota and the younger Malong and Guanshan biotas, making eastern Yunnan a unique area in the world to reveal the early evolutionary history of animals and palaeocommunity dynamics during the ‘‘Cambrian explosion’’. This research was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Basic Research Program of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Related information of this paper: ZENG Han, ZHAO Fangchen*, YIN Zongjun, LI Guoxiang, ZHU Maoyan. 2014. A Chengjiang-type fossil assemblage from the Hongjingshao Formation (Cambrian Stage 3) at Chenggong, Kunming, Yunnan. Chinese Science Bulletin, DOI:10.1007/s11434-014-0419-y.
The trilobites from the lower Hongjingshao Formation, indicate that the new soft-bodied fossil assemblage belongs to the late Qiongzhusian age.
Representative soft-bodied fossils from Hongjingshao Formation at Xiazhuang, Chenggong area
The Australian Lower Cretaceous Koonwarra fossil bed (ca. 118 Ma) has yielded abundant plants, vertebrates and invertebrate fossils, including insects, spiders and branchiopods. The flea, Tarwinia, is one of the most arresting fossils among them. In 1970, two different fleas, Tarwinia (about 7 mm long) and Niwratia, were reported by an Australian paleontologist Riek in Nature. Niwratia is small, and it was thought to be closely related to modern fleas; whereas the holotype of Tarwinia preserved sufficient morphological details and probably some ancestral features, making it a hotspot for scientists’ attention. Tarwinia has been well known for the sole definitive Mesozoic flea fossil before diverse transitional fleas reported in Nature from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou biota (ca. 165 Ma) and the Early Cretaceous Jehol biota (ca. 125 Ma) of northeastern China by Prof. HUANG Diying from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Science in 2012. However, the systematic position of Tarwinia is controversial: paleontologists generally agree that Tarwinia presents a member of Siphonaptera, while neontologists do not agree. The reason accounting for this situation is probably the inaccurate description of Tarwinia. For instance, siphonate mouthparts are well developed in extant fleas, while the structure is not found in Tarwinia. In Evolution of Insect by Grimaldi and Engel (2005), it was pointed out that Tarwinia does not possess siphonate mouthparts. In 2012, Huang et al. indicated that as seen from the figures in that book the piercing and sucking mouthparts are probably present in Tarwinia. The discovery of the diverse giant fleas from the Mesozoic of China also support that Tarwinia belongs to Siphonaptera. In 2013, Tarwinia was elevated to a new family status by Huang and his colleagues. In November of 2013, HUANG Diying visited the Victoria Museum in Melbourne, Australia and restudied the holotype of Tarwinia. He confirmed for the first time that the other flea genus Niwratia is in fact a libellulid larva of Odonata and has no affinity with fleas. The description of Tarwinia is inaccurate, so Tarwinia was restudied by Huang and the result was recently published online in Cretaceous Research. New examinations confirm that Tarwinia has siphonate mouthparts, and special sensilla-bearing pygidium is present near the apex of its abdomen. Some authors thought that Tarwinia is a relatively derived Mesozoic flea as supported by its laterally compressed body, while it is due to the misunderstanding of the preservation. Huang argues that Tarwinia has affinity with the giant fleas from the Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of China, and they differ in the morphology of the ctenidia on tibiae. Like other Mesozoic fleas, Tarwinia only has ctenidia on tibiae, but ctenidia are very long and comb-like, and located at the apical and outer edges. In the head, thorax, or abdomen of extant fleas, different ctenidia are developed, making the fleas from being removed from their hosts. The ctenidia are only present on tibiae, and their different morphology likely suggests different adaption to hosts. It is possible that Tarwinia and other Mesozoic fleas were derived from the same ancestor. Before the Middle Jurassic, a time when Pangaea was not completely broken up, the flea ancestor has had likely immigrated to every continent with their hosts. With the break up of Pangaea and the Early Cretaceous Australia was distinctly separated from other continents, the ecological isolation made early vertebrates evolve separated, making their parasites have the morphological adaption accordingly and evolve to specialized species. The possibility that the comb-like ctenidia was associated with feathers cannot be ruled out, as a number of diverse early birds or feathered dinosaurs have been discovered, and bird feathers were also found in Tarwinia-bearing strata. This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Related information of the paper: Huang, Diying (2014): Tarwinia australis (Siphonaptera: Tarwiniidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Koonwarra fossil bed: Morphological revision and analysis of its evolutionary relationship. Cretaceous Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.03.018
Tarwinia australis from Lower Cretaceous Koonwarra fossil bed of Australia, the enlarged pictures indicate the ctenidia on fore tibia.
Oxyporinae is one of the most peculiar and distinguishable groups of the megadiverse family Staphylinidae, and it includes only one extant genus Oxyporus and nearly 100 extant species widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. Members of Oxyporus exhibit an obligate association with mature Agaricales (gilled), Boletales (bolete) and Polyporales (polypore) mushrooms, and both larvae and adults feed on the spore-producing layer of the mushrooms. Mesozoic record of Oxyporinae is very limited, with only one Oxyporus species described from the Yixian Formation at Beipiao, Liaoning Province. Recently, a PhD student Mr. CAI Chenyang and Prof. HUANG Diying from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences reported two distinctly different oxyporine rove beetles (Fig. 1) from the Yixian Formation (ca. 125 Ma) at Liutiaogou, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia and Huangbanjigou, Beipiao, Liaoning Province China. Based on detailed morphological study, including the application of SEM, remarkable differences are found between the extinct and extant oxyporines, and two new genera and species, Protoxyporus grandis and Cretoxyporus extraneus, were established. Protoxyporus differs from extant Oxyporus in retaining several plesiomorphic features: relatively narrowly separated mesocoxae, less developed metaventral anterior process, and long infraorbital ridges. Cretoxyporus is morphologically very similar to Oxyporus, but retains distinct elongate infraorbital ridges. Extant oxyporines are fed on some derived fungi (Fig. 2), and fungi were already differentiated and diverse in the Cretaceous; it is possible that the new oxyporines were lived on early mushrooms. It also suggests that the early oxyporines were more diverse and their evolutionary history more complicated than previously documented. This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Related information of the paper: Chenyang Cai, Diying Huang (2014) Diverse oxyporine rove beetles from the Early Cretaceous of China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). Systematic Entomology, DOI: 10.1111/syen.12069.
Fig. 1. Cretaceous oxyporine rove beetles (upper) and the abdominal intersegmental “brick-wall” pattern (lower)
Fig. 2. Representatives of modern oxyporine rove beetles
Plant cytoplasm fossil is a rarely touched topic in palaeontology although there are increasing reports on it in other countries. After careful studying, plant cytoplasm that formerly was thought impossible to preserve has now turned out to a possibility in palaeontology. Although there have been some reports of plant cytoplasm fossils in China, chloroplast, which is the largest organelle in plant cells, has been missing in Asia hitherto. After years of intensive cooperative investigation with colleagues from other universities, Professor WANG Xin from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his team reported the ultrastructures of chloroplasts in a Nelumbo leaf recovered from the Eocene of Changchang Basin, Hainan Island, China. Similar reports have been made in America and Europe before, but in Asia this report is the first one. Previous research has indicated that various parts of fossil Nelumbo have been preserved autochthonously in the Changchang Basin of Hainan. To deepen the understanding of the fossil plant, the research team integrated the expertise of its members, sampled from a fossil Nelumbo leaf, performed light microscopic, scanning and transmission electron microscopic observations. After overcoming various difficulties, they confirmed the existence of starch grains and grana with stacked thylakoid membranes, which are characteristic of chloroplasts, in the fossil plant tissues. The paper is published online recently in Plant Systematics and Evolution. Related information: Wang X, Liu W, Du K, He X, Jin J: Ultrastructure of chloroplasts in fossil Nelumbo from the Eocene of Hainan Island, South China. Plant Systematics and Evolution 2014. DOI: 10.1007/s00606-014-1056-2
Staphylinidae (or rove beetles), belonging to Coleoptera of Insecta, is one the largest families of animals on the planet. With more than 58,000 described species, the family includes 1 extinct and 32 extant subfamilies. Olisthaerinae is one of the smallest subfamilies of rove beetles, containing only 2 modern and one fossil species. Jurassic rove beetles were mainly reported from the Upper Jurassic of Karatau, Kazakhstan, while very few were known from China. Recently, a PhD student Mr. CAI Chenyang, Prof. HUANG Diying from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences together with Dr. Robert Beattie from Australia, reported two new olisthaerine rove beetles from the Middle Jurassic at Daohuhou Village, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia and the Upper Jurassic Talbragar fish beds in New South Wales, Australia. Compared with one species of the sole extant olisthaerine genus Olisthaerus, the fossil olisthaerine from Daohugou (Protolisthaerus jurassicus Cai et al., 2014) displays a remarkably similar appearance to the Recent species O. substriatus Paykull (Fig. 2), and they can be only distinguished from each other by very slight differences. Recent Olisthaerus speceis have very peculiar life-style; they live beneath the bark of coniferous trees. The remarkable morphological similarities between them probably suggest that Protolisthaerus jurassicus had the same subcortical lifestyle as its modern counterparts. The presence of abudant fossil conifers from Daohugou, such as Pityocladus and Yanliaoa, supports this hypothesis. The continuous presence of coniferous trees and the specific subcortical lifestyle are probably responsible for the long time morphological stasis in Olisthaerinae. In addition, the Recent olisthaerines are distributed in the northern temperate zone, including northern and central Europe, Asian Russia, Mongolia, and North America, while the discovery of an olisthaerine beetle from Australia greatly extends the geographical distribution of the small family (Fig. 2). Olisthaerinae was much more widespread and diverse in the Jurassic than previously assumed. This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China, Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Related information of the paper: Chenyang Cai, Robert Beattie, Diying Huang (2014) Jurassic olisthaerine rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae): 165 million years of morphological and probably behavioral stasis. Gondwana Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2014.03.007
Fig. 1. Detailed comparison between the Middle Jurassic and Recent olisthaerines.
Fig. 2. Global palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Late Jurassic, showing three Olisthaerinae-yielding localities.
Abundant, well-preserved Mid Devonian plants were reported from the Hujiersite Formation, West Junggar, Xinjiang, northwest China. However, on account of active tectonic in the Devonian West Junggar, most Devonian sections are not continuous. In the resent study by Professor XU Honghe from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and his colleagues, Devonian spores were systematically studied from four sections (251 Hill, G217 Highway, Hujiersite and Gannaren) in West Junggar, North Xinjiang, China. All four sections belong to, or are equivalent to, the Upper Member of the Hujiersite Formation, from which abundant plant macrofossils have also been reported. These spores enable us, for the first time, to date these fossil plant beds as from late Emsian to Frasnian in age. The plant localities are all from a Devonian volcanic terrain and have a lycopsid-dominant flora. These lycopsid plants have near global Devonian distributions and are hence the most mobile elements among the contemporary floras. The West Junggar shows a different palynological assemblage from that of the East Junggar and is palaeogeographically significant. The paper was published in Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (Xu, H.-H., Marshall, J.E.A., Wang, Y., Zhu, H.-C., Berry, C.M., Wellman, C.H. 2014. Devonian spores from an intra-oceanic volcanic arc, West Junggar (Xinjiang, China) and the palaeogeographical significance of the associated fossil plant beds. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 206: 10-22).
