The origin of angiosperms is an abominable mystery in evolutionary biology that has puzzled botanist for long. However, the The Dawn Angiosperms written by Dr Wang Xin from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences and published by Springer gives new interpretation to sheds light on this historical mystery. This book is about fossil plants of so-called "pre-historic" angiosperms. It reflects the newest progress in research on the origin of angiosperms, and will definitely trigger many new ideas in research. It emphasizes the early Cretaceous and Jurassic materials, rather than later ones, as they are the key periods for the origin of angiosperms. Dr Wang integrates multiple techniques, including SEM, TEM, light microscopy, peeling and cladistics, to study the morphology, anatomy and phylogeny of the fossils. Several Jurassic materials of angiosperms that have never been reported before are included, these used to be thought as pre-historic for flowering plants. Two more fossils angiosperms from the Yixian Formation, where Archaefructus was excavated, are reported. Newer and stricter criterion for identifying fossil angiosperms is proposed. This book, besides providing necessary background information and discussions, focuses on the earliest angiosperms: namely those more than 125 million years old. Currently 125 million year old angiosperms, are the oldest to be found - especially in the eyes of European scholars. It proceeds by introducing several interesting angiosperms from the Jurassic and early Cretaceous, including Schmeissneria (early-middle Jurassic, 160-199 million years old (Ma)), Xingxueanthus (middle Jurassic, 160 Ma), Solaranthus (middle Jurassic, 164 Ma), Callianthus (early Cretaceous, 125 Ma), Chaoyangia (early Cretaceous, 125 Ma), Archaefructus (early Cretaceous, 125 Ma), Sinocarpus (early Cretaceous, 125 Ma). Others are currently being processed. These fossils, most of which have hitherto not been published,will uncover many unknown aspects of early angiosperms, and help to solve the mystery surrounding their origin.
The abrupt decline of Burgess Shale-type (BST) deposits after Cambrian is a subject of considerable debate. Among others, bioturbation has been suggested as one of the major limiting factors for preservation of BST deposits. However,Professor Jih-Pai Lin from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) reported convincing evidence to contest such hypothesis. They examined 323 well-preserved specimens from the Kaili Biota (c. 513 Ma) from Guizhou, South China. Important specimens were examined under SEM and the virtual 3D relation between trace fossils and echinoderm fauna was reconstructed via X-ray microtomography. Prof. Lin’s team interpreted that exceptional preservation does not necessarily imply the absence of trace fossils. Furthermore, trace fossils are the indirect evidence of indigenous infaunal organisms; thus, they should be considered as a part of a local BST community exemplified by Kaili Biota. Their study offered new insights into both trace fossil-body fossil association among BST communities and conditions required for BST preservation. This study also includes an appendix summarizing all reported ichnofossils from the Kaili Formation.
by ZHAN RENBIN*, JISUO JIN？ and PENGFEI CHEN？ *State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; e-mail rbzhan@nigpas.ac.cn ？Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; e-mail jjin@uwo.ca Copyright ？ The Palaeontological Association, 2010 KEYWORDS: Yangtzeella ？ ornamentation ？ macroevolution ？ Ordovician ？ South China Abstract: Re-examination of newly collected topotype material confirms that the type species of Yangtzeella, Y. poloi, a widespread Early and Mid Ordovician syntrophiidine brachiopod in South China, has a finely costellate shell rather than being smooth as previously thought. Thus, the subgenus Yangtzeella (Vadimella) Nikitina et al., established on the basis of fine costellae, is invalidated. Among 15 species of Yangtzeella, five species are recognized as valid based on multivariate analyses: Y. poloi, Y. unsulcata, Y. songziensis, Y. kueiyangensis and Y. igori, among which the type species was the oldest known. Six are synonymized: Y. septata, Y. reticulata, Y. lensiformis, Y. depressa, Y. yichangensis and Y. minuta. Four are rejected from Yangtzeella: Y. extensa, Y. similior, Y. yohi and Y. poloi var. minor. Regional biostratigraphy indicates that Yangtzeella first appeared in a relatively deep-water setting on the Lower Yangtze Platform (South China palaeoplate) during late Tremadoc time (Scolopodus warendensis conodont biozone) and then expanded to the deeper Jiangnan Slope as well as to the shallower Upper Yangtze Platform. The genus experienced two episodes of heightened abundance and diversity on the Upper Yangtze Platform during late Dapingian and mid Darriwilian times, respectively. Outside South China, Yangtzeella occurs sporadically in a few microplates or terranes, such as Tarim, Chu-Ili (southern Kazakhstan) and Taurides (southern Turkey) during the Dapingian and Darriwilian. Worldwide, Yangtzeella became extinct by the end of the Darriwilian.
After the XVI International Congress on the Carboniferous and Permian (ICCP2007) was held in Nanjing in June 2007, the organizing committee of the congress has published one paper collection (Shen Shuzhong et al., 2007, Palaeoworld) and one abstract collection (Wang Yue et al., 2007, Journal of Stratigraphy). In 2009 and 2010, two paper collections about Carboniferous-Permian research progress were respectively published. The subject of the first collection is “Carboniferous and Permian biota, integrative stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeogeography, and palaeoclimatology”. This selection is co-edited by professors Wang Xiangdong and Shen Shuzhong from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Ian Somerville, chief editor of Geological Journal. After selection, 11 papers are published in Palaeoworld (2009, Volume 18, Issues 2-3). They discuss topics such as Russia’s and Kazakhstan’s Carboniferous biological group, biostratigraphy and boundary stratotype, Carboniferous-Permian eustatic change, and climatic revolution, as well as Poland’s intra-continental basin depositing in middle and upper Permian, and brachiopod faunas extinction events in late Guadalupian series. The subject of the second collection is “Lopingian (Late Permian) stratigraphy of the world, major events and environmental change”. This selection is co-edited by professor Shen Shuzhong, Professor Charles Henderson, Chairman of Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy and Professor Ian Somervill. A total of 13 papers are published in Geological Journal (2010, Volume 45, Issues 2-3). They discuss topics such as High-resolution Lopingian (Late Permian) timescale of South China, high-resolution conodont biostratigraphy in Iran, Lopingian (Late Permian) stratigraphy in Asia-Australia and Himalayan region, latest Permian extinction in the Southern Alps, carbon isotopes variety through the Permian-Triassic transition in South China, foraminiferal faunal succession in Lopingian stratigraphy in Tibet, and Permian systems in Poland, Turkey and Australia. So far, all the paper collections of the XVI International Congress on the Carboniferous and Permian have been published.
Silurian conodonts from several sections in the area of the Yangtze Platform, South China, are described and their taxonomy revised. Two new families, Pseudooneotodidae and Gamachignathidae, are erected, one new genus, Chenodontos, and ten new species and subspecies: Apsidognathus ruginosus scutatus, Chenodontos makros, Distomodus cathayensis, Oulodus tripus, Ozarkodina wangzhunia, Panderodus amplicostatus, Pterospathodus sinensis, Wurmiella amplidentata, Wurmiella curta and Wurmiella recava. are erected. Some additional new taxa are introduced in open nomenclature. The status of conodont biozonation in the Silurian of China is reviewed, and the following zones provisionally recognised to span the Llandovery succession: Ozarkodina aff. hassi Biozone; Ozarkodina obesa Biozone; Ozarkodina parahassi Biozone; Ozarkodina guizhouensis Biozone; Pterospathodus eopennatus Biozone; Pterospathodus celloni Biozone; Pterospathodus amorphognathoides Biozone. The re-assessment of conodont data indicates that unequivocal Wenlock taxa have not been recorded on the Yangtze Platform and that Wenlock marine deposits, if present, are much less extensive than previously suggested. Current conodont evidence also indicates that red beds are probably developed at three levels in the Silurian of the region: upper Aeronian to lower Telychian; upper Telychian, perhaps extending into the Wenlock; Ludlow, pre-O. crispa Biozone. Wang Cheng-yuan and Aldridge, R. J., 2010. Silurian conodonts from the Yangtze Platform, south China. Special papers in Palaeontology, 83:1-136, with 13 Text-figs, 30 Plates and 9 Tables. The Palaeontological Associatioan, London, June 2010
Recently, Dr. Huang Bing et al from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences and Denmark published the latest research achievements on “Lilliput effect” of brachiopod faunas of South China following the terminal Ordovician mass extinction in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. In the immediate aftermath of global extinctions, organisms were normally much smaller than those prior to these events. This ‘Lilliput Effect’ can be subdivided into two types: 1) a specific type, following the original definition of the effect which targets species-level taxa associated with inhospitable environments, and 2) a more general type, related to the reactions of higher-rank taxa above the species-level. The body sizes of brachiopods from South China through the Ordovician and Silurian transition (Late Katian, Hirnantian, and earliest Rhuddanian) are compared at generic, superfamilial, ordinal, and class levels. The results indicate that the body sizes of the taxa of lower rank (e.g. genus-level) are highly variable within these different intervals. The type of evidence for the Lilliput Effect through the end Ordovician mass extinction is thus quite different from that of the end Permian mass extinction probably reflecting differences in the intensity of these two major bioevents. However, the relationships between the contrasting trends in body-size change of some taxa of higher rank (e.g. at the ordinal-level) and the relative dominance of these taxa in the latest Ordovician and earliest Silurian suggest that the brachiopods of the two major Ordovician groups, the strophomenoids and orthoids, adopted different survival strategies during and immediately after the crisis from those of the pentamerides and rhynchonellides, that were common in Silurian assemblages. Huang Bing, David A.T. Harper, Zhan Renbin and Rong Jiayu. 2010. Can the Lilliput Effect be detected in the brachiopod faunas of South China following the terminal Ordovician mass extinction? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 285, 277-286.
FOSSIL DINOFLAGELLATES OF CHINA edited by Prof. He Chengquan, Prof. Song Zhichen and Prof. Zhu Youhua from Nanging Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences has been published recently. This volume is divided into eight main chapters. The first seven chapters concern an introduction to the study of fossil and living dinoflagellates. A final chapter is the systematic classification of fossil dinoflagellates of China. It summarizes fossil dinoflagellate taxa published before the year 2006 in China. A total of 213 genera 13 subgenera and about 1000 species (forms) including subspecies and varietates are basically collected.
The Permian–Triassic Boundary event at 252.2 Ma marks the largest extinction of marine fauna in the Phanerozoic and there is a wide consensus that the extinction coincided with an intense oceanic anoxic event. The stratotype of the Changhsingian Stage, precisely constrained by the PTB Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) and the GSSP for the Wuchiapingian–Changhsingian Boundary, both at Meishan in southern China, is well-documented in respect to geochronology and the pattern of extinction. Here we report secular trends in bulk isotopic parameters and lipid biomarkers in a core spanning 214mof stratigraphic section across the PTB and through the entire Changhsingian interval. Our analysis of these data, viewed in the context of relative sea level change and strontium isotopes, reveals distinct shifts in paleoenvironmental conditions and profound changes in plankton ecology well before and following the biological extinction event. Specifically, patterns of steroids and triterpenoids indicate a marine plankton community that was heavily dominated by bacteria during the late Wuchiapingian, middle Changhsingian and early Griesbachian stages. Secular trends in aromatic hydrocarbons diagnostic for anoxygenic green sulphur bacteria (Chlorobiaceae) identify periods when euxinic conditions extended into the photic zone during the entire Changhsingian stage. Here also, the δ15Nof organic nitrogenprogressively shifted frompositive values around+2 or+3‰to？1‰coincident with a sharp negative excursion in δ13Corg and slightly postdating the sharp minimum in δ13C values of inorganic carbon that occurs at the top of Bed 24. These results, together the published chronology indicate that conditions unfavourable for aerobiosis existed in the marine photic zone at Meishan for 1.5 million years prior to the main phase of the biological extinction. The induction of marine euxinic conditions, worldwide, at the end of the Permian was likely a consequence of the aggregation of Pangea and the uplift, weathering and transport of nutrients to the ocean well in advance of the PTB. The protracted and widespread nature of the ensuing oceanic anoxic event suggests a causal association with the mass extinction.
？ Changqun Cao, Gordon D. Love, Lindsay E. Hays, Wei Wang, Shuzhong Shen, Roger E. Summons,2009, Biogeochemical evidence for euxinic oceans and ecological disturbance presaging the end-Permian mass extinction event, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 281 (2009) 188–201
A research team from Nanging Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently published their research"Supraspecific Taxa of the Bivalvia first named, described, and published in China" (1927-2007) in the University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions New Series 17. The research team contacted the research first in 2006 at the request of Prof. Joeseph Carter, the supervisor of the Treatise for Bivalvia Class from the Paleontological Institute, University of Kansas. Researchers spent over three years colleting information and systematically categorizing the bivalvia first named, described, and published in China. They listed altogether 19 families and subfamilies, 209 genus and subgenus under the bivalvia class. In the old edition of Treatise for bivalvia, there were only 3 genus compiled by Chinese scholars. Under each item, researchers included information such as the original description, type species and its origins. In addition to the categorizing work, researchers also corrected the names that were not in consistent with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. In case of controversy in categorization of a certain unit, researchers either added different opinions from other researchers or pointed out the questions hovering around the unit. Chinese researchers' contribution to the Treatise for bivalvia helped further the integration of China's fossil research with the international academia.
