Embryological evidence for developmental lability during early angiosperm evolution

Recent advances in angiosperm phylogeny reconstruction, palaeobotany and comparative organismic biology have provided the impetus for a major re-evaluation of the earliest phases of the diversification of flowering plants. We now know that within the first fifteen million years of angiosperm history, three major lineages of flowering plants-monocotyledons, eumagnoliids and eudicotyledons-were established, and that within this window of time, tremendous variation in vegetative and floral characteristics evolved. Here I report on a novel type of embryo sac (angiosperm female gametophyte or haploid egg-producing structure) in Amborella trichopoda, the sole member of the most ancient extant angiosperm lineage. This is the first new pattern of embryo sac structure to be discovered among angiosperms in well over half a century. This discovery also supports the emerging view that the earliest phases of angiosperm evolution were characterized by an extensive degree of developmental experimentation and structural lability, and may provide evidence of a critical link to the gymnospermous ancestors of flowering plants.     

Animal behaviour: continuous activity in cetaceans after birth

All mammals previously studied take maximal rest or sleep after birth, with the amount gradually decreasing as they grow to adulthood, and adult fruitflies and rats die if they are forcibly deprived of sleep. It has therefore been assumed that sleep is necessary for development and serves a vital function in adults. But we show here that, unlike terrestrial mammals, killer-whale and bottlenose-dolphin neonates and their mothers show little or no typical sleep behaviour for the first postpartum month, avoiding obstacles and remaining mobile for 24 hours a day. We find that neonates and their mothers gradually increase the amount of time they spend resting to normal adult levels over a period of several months, but never exceed these levels. Our findings indicate either that sleep behaviour may not have the developmental and life-sustaining functions attributed to it, or that alternative mechanisms may have evolved in cetaceans.     

Structural evidence for gene duplication in the evolution of the acid proteases.

X-ray studies of acid proteases indicate a bilobal structure with a well defined active site cleft. An intramolecular twofold symmetry axis relates two topologically similar domains and the active site residues. A possible mechanism for evolution by gene duplication, divergence and gene fusion is presented.     

Isotopic evidence for microbial sulphate reduction in the early Archaean era

Sulphate-reducing microbes affect the modern sulphur cycle, and may be quite ancient, though when they evolved is uncertain. These organisms produce sulphide while oxidizing organic matter or hydrogen with sulphate. At sulphate concentrations greater than 1 mM, the sulphides are isotopically fractionated (depleted in 34S) by 10-40/1000 compared to the sulphate, with fractionations decreasing to near 0/1000 at lower concentrations. The isotope record of sedimentary sulphides shows large fractionations relative to seawater sulphate by 2.7 Gyr ago, indicating microbial sulphate reduction. In older rocks, however, much smaller fractionations are of equivocal origin, possibly biogenic but also possibly volcanogenic. Here we report microscopic sulphides in approximately 3.47-Gyr-old barites from North Pole, Australia, with maximum fractionations of 21.1/1000, about a mean of 11.6/1000, clearly indicating microbial sulphate reduction. Our results extend the geological record of microbial sulphate reduction back more than 750 million years, and represent direct evidence of an early specific metabolic pathway--allowing time calibration of a deep node on the tree of life.     

New evidence for microstructural evolution model of acid-activated montmorillonite

Ca-montmorillonite samples from Choushan treated at various acid concentrations were studied using chemical analysis, XRD, ²⁹Si and ²⁷Al MAS NMR, to investigate the microstructure of the activated montmorillonites. With the increase of acid concentration and dissolution of cations of montmorillonite, the intensity of d(001) decreased obviously and significant changes of the microstructure of Si and Al occurred. There were two new types of structural units of Si atoms formed: (SiO)₃SiOH units and Q⁴(0Al) units. For Al atoms, in the course of activation, the removal of one of a pair of octahedral aluminium atoms from montmorillonite removed two hydroxyl groups and left the other aluminum of the pair in the four-fold coordination. The ²⁷Al signal at δ 54.0 corresponding to Al^Ⅳ arose from the four- coordinated Al in the octahedral sheet. This study first con-firmed, by ²⁹Si and ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra, that the model of microstructural evolution for activated montmorillonite postulated by Thomas et al. (1950) is correct.     

Earliest evidence of mammalian social behaviour in the basal Tertiary of Bolivia

The vast majority of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic metatherian mammals (extinct relatives of modern marsupials) are known only from partial jaws or isolated teeth, which give insight into their probable diets and phylogenetic relationships but little else. The few skulls known are generally crushed, incomplete or both, and associated postcranial material is extremely rare. Here we report the discovery of an exceptionally large number of almost undistorted, nearly complete skulls and skeletons of a stem-metatherian, Pucadelphys andinus, in the early Palaeocene epoch of Tiupampa in Bolivia. These give an unprecedented glimpse into early metatherian morphology, evolutionary relationships and, especially, ecology. The remains of 35 individuals have been collected, with 22 of these represented by nearly complete skulls and associated postcrania. These individuals were probably buried in a single catastrophic event, and so almost certainly belong to the same population. The preservation of multiple adult, sub-adult and juvenile individuals in close proximity (<1?m(2)) is indicative of gregarious social behaviour or at least a high degree of social tolerance and frequent interaction. Such behaviour is unknown in living didelphids, which are highly solitary and have been regarded, perhaps wrongly, as the most generalized living marsupials. The Tiupampan P.?andinus population also exhibits strong sexual dimorphism, which, in combination with gregariousness, suggests strong male-male competition and polygyny. Our study shows that social interactions occurred in metatherians as early as the basal Palaeocene and that solitary behaviour may not be plesiomorphic for Metatheria as a whole.     

早期成岩作用研究进展及发展方向

早期成岩作用作为一个重要的研究领域受到广泛关注。概括总结了早期成岩作用的主要特点、地质响应和研究思路，介绍了在元素的迁移转化、硫酸盐还原反应、数学模型及微生物成岩等理论领域和多金属结核及早期成岩成矿、环境沉积学、土壤性质评价与改良等应用领域的主要研究进展。早期成岩作用研究具有广阔的发展前景，未来可能在以下3方面快速取得突破：研究区域将进一步扩大，湖泊、三角洲及土壤中的相应研究将得以加强；多层的稳态或非稳态的一维、二维或三维的早期成岩数学模型将得以建立；其研究方法和理论成果将被广泛应用于环境沉积学及环境监测和治理等领域中。     

早期成岩作用研究进展及发展方向

早期成岩作用作为一个重要的研究领域受到广泛关注。概括总结了早期成岩作用的主要特点、地质响应和研究思路,介绍了在元素的迁移转化、硫酸盐还原反应、数学模型及微生物成岩等理论领域和多金属结核及早期成岩成矿、环境沉积学、土壤性质评价与改良等应用领域的主要研究进展。早期成岩作用研究具有广阔的发展前景,未来可能在以下3方面快速取得突破:研究区域将进一步扩大,湖泊、三角洲及土壤中的相应研究将得以加强;多层的稳态或非稳态的一维、二维或三维的早期成岩数学模型将得以建立;其研究方法和理论成果将被广泛应用于环境沉积学及环境监测和治理等领域中。     

Yangtzedonta and the early evolution of shelled molluscs

The holotype of Yangtzedonta Yu, 1985 and its type species, Y. primitiva Yu, 1985, is an incomplete specimen of Xianfengella prima He et Yang, 1982. Therefore, based on the principle of priority, the names Yangtzedonta and Y. primitiva Yu (1985) should be abandoned. The fact that ventral valve of Xianfengella is bilaterally symmetrical indicates that they are not the left valve of a bivalved mollusc, as originally proposed by Yu. At present, the oldest certain bivalve is Xianfengoconcha elliptica Zhang, which occurs in the Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi Stage in China. The oldest known rostroconch is Heraultipegma yunnanensis He et Yang, which first occurs in the third small shelly fossil assemblage zone of the Early Cambrian Meishucunian Stage. The oldest known monoplacophoran, Maikhanella pristinis (Jiang), first occurs in the first small shelly fossil assemblage zone (Meishucunian Stage). Evidence derived from analyses of shell morphology, mode of growth, histology, and stratigraphic occurrence suggests that bivalves evolved from a branch of rostroconchs, and that rostroconchs in turn evolved from a branch of monoplacophorans. The hypothesis that these three groups originated simultaneously and independently at the beginning of the Cambrian and subsequently evolved in parallel, probably is incorrect.     

Hf-Nd isotope evidence for a transient dynamic regime in the early terrestrial mantle

Modern basalts have seemingly lost all 'memory' of the primitive Earth's mantle except for an ambiguous isotopic signal observed in some rare gases. Although the Earth is expected to have reached a thermal steady state within several hundred million years of accretion, it is not known how and when the initial chemical fractionations left over from planetary accretion (and perhaps a stage involving a magma ocean) were overshadowed by fractionations imposed by modern-style geodynamics. Because of the lack of samples older than 4 Gyr, this early dynamic regime of the Earth is poorly understood. Here we compare published Hf-Nd isotope data on supracrustals from Isua, Greenland, with similar data on lunar rocks and the SNC (martian) meteorites, and show that, about 3.8 Gyr ago, the geochemical signature of the Archaean mantle was partly inherited from the initial differentiation of the Earth. The observed features seem to indicate that the planet at that time was still losing a substantial amount of primordial heat. The survival of remnants from an early layering in the modern deep mantle may account for some unexplained seismological, thermal and geochemical characteristics of the Earth as observed today.     

几种齿鲸小肾的形态研究

本文对印度恒河豚、日本海江豚、东海江豚、真海豚和南方宽吻海豚的小肾和肾小球进行了测量和计数,并对小肾结构指数做了测定。结果表明,江豚、真海豚和南方宽吻海豚的相对肾重和小肾数明显大于恒河豚;真海豚和宽吻海豚的肾小球总数远大于江豚和恒河豚,恒河豚最少。但总的肾小球表面积、每克体重的肾小球表面积均低于相当体重的陆生哺乳动物。鲸类肾脏的小肾化虽然增加了肾小球的数量,但并没有增加肾的滤过面积。几种齿鲸的小肾结构指故无一定规律.也没有发现它与环境盐度的对应关系。因此,对于鲸类肾脏如何适应它们旺盛的生理代谢和小肾结构指数与肾浓缩能力的关系还需进一步研究。     

The evolution of the atmosphere in the Archaean and early Proterozoic

Key steps in atmospheric evolution occurred in the Archaean. The Hadean atmosphere was created by the inorganic processes of volatile accretion from space and degassing from the interior, and then modified by chemical and photochemical processes. The air was probably initially anoxic, though there may have been a supply of oxidation power as a consequence of hydrodynamic escape to space of hydrogen from water. Early subduction may have removed CO₂ and the Hadean planet may have been icy. In the Archaean, as anoxygenic and then oxygenic photosynthesis evolved, biological activity remade the atmosphere. Sedimentological evidence implies there were liquid oceans despite the faint young Sun. These oceans may have been sustained by the greenhouse warming effect of biologically-made methane. Oxygenesis in the late Archaean would have released free O₂ into the water. This would have created oxic surface waters, challenging the methane greenhouse. After the Great Oxidation Event around 2.3 to 2.4 billion years ago, the atmosphere itself became oxic, perhaps triggering a glacial crisis by cutting methane-caused greenhouse warming. By the early Proterozoic, all the key biochemical processes that maintain the modern atmosphere were probably present in the microbial community.     

The evidence for the evolution of interplanetary small flux ropes: Boundary layers

We have examined the Wind data in 1996 and identified 21 small interplanetary magnetic flux ropes(SIMFRs),and all the 21 SIMFRs have boundary layer structures.The durations of the boundary layers varied from several minutes to 30 minutes.These boundary layers also have properties of high proton temperature,density,and plasma beta.These boundary layers are formed by magnetic reconnections.In addition,in three events magnetic reconnections were occurring inside the boundary layers.It indicates that the flux rope structures have propagated for some period of time,and their boundaries were still evolving through interaction with the background solar wind.Namely it is very possible that the SIMFRs came from the solar corona.     

Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution

Evolution of the earliest mammals shows successive episodes of diversification. Lineage-splitting in Mesozoic mammals is coupled with many independent evolutionary experiments and ecological specializations. Classic scenarios of mammalian morphological evolution tend to posit an orderly acquisition of key evolutionary innovations leading to adaptive diversification, but newly discovered fossils show that evolution of such key characters as the middle ear and the tribosphenic teeth is far more labile among Mesozoic mammals. Successive diversifications of Mesozoic mammal groups multiplied the opportunities for many dead-end lineages to iteratively evolve developmental homoplasies and convergent ecological specializations, parallel to those in modern mammal groups.     

Strontium isotope evidence for landscape use by early hominins

Ranging and residence patterns among early hominins have been indirectly inferred from morphology, stone-tool sourcing, referential models and phylogenetic models. However, the highly uncertain nature of such reconstructions limits our understanding of early hominin ecology, biology, social structure and evolution. We investigated landscape use in Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus from the Sterkfontein and Swartkrans cave sites in South Africa using strontium isotope analysis, a method that can help to identify the geological substrate on which an animal lived during tooth mineralization. Here we show that a higher proportion of small hominins than large hominins had non-local strontium isotope compositions. Given the relatively high levels of sexual dimorphism in early hominins, the smaller teeth are likely to represent female individuals, thus indicating that females were more likely than males to disperse from their natal groups. This is similar to the dispersal pattern found in chimpanzees, bonobos and many human groups, but dissimilar from that of most gorillas and other primates. The small proportion of demonstrably non-local large hominin individuals could indicate that male australopiths had relatively small home ranges, or that they preferred dolomitic landscapes.     

氦离子行为与钨中相关缺陷演化的研究

本文通过离子注入向钨体中注入100keV氦离子,并使用慢正电子束分析(SPBA)手段研究了不同注量的氦在钨体内的行为以及氦相关缺陷的演化.实验结果表明:在不同的氦注量条件下,样品的S-W参数呈相同线性分布显示氦离子的注入会引入同一类型的空位型缺陷,并且随着氦离子注量增加,S参数的增大表明引入空位型缺陷浓度的逐渐增加.通过与其他未退火样品对比发现样品退火后的S参数出现明显改变,该结果表明相对于其他影响因素如注量,钨中空位型缺陷更容易受热效应的影响.