The Lantian biota: A new window onto the origin and early evolution of multicellular organisms

The Lantian biota at the Lantian Town of Xiuning County,Anhui Province,is preserved in black shales of the Ediacaran Lantian Formation.It yields some of the oldest known complex macroorganisms,including fan-shaped seaweeds and possible animal fossils with tentacles and intestinal-like structures reminiscent of modern coelenterates and bilaterians.The Lantian Lagerst tte sheds new light on the origin and early evolution of multicellular organisms in relatively quiet and deep environments soon after the Neoproterozoic Marinoan glaciation.The morphological complexity and diversity of early multicellular organisms may be closely related to sexual reproduction and alternation of generations.The fluctuation of oceanic redox conditions during this period may have played a role in the ecology and preservation of the Lantian biota.     

多枝黄山藻(Huangshanophyton fluticulosum Chen,Lu and Xiao,1994)在凯里生物群中的发现

蓝田植物群处于宏观藻类第一个繁盛期的前期,化石类型丰富,属、种众多,形态结构复杂,具有明显的器官分化,是一个独具特色的植物群。其中多枝黄山藻Huangshanophyton fluticulosum Chen,Lu&Xiao,1994是最常见的分子之一。凯里生物群中的Huangshanophyton fluticulosum,与安徽蓝田组的模式标本相比,藻体形态一致,仅有细微差异,即扇形发散角较大,藻丝直径较小。从埃迪卡拉纪陡山沱期至寒武纪第3世(原中寒武世),经历了近5千多万年特别是埃迪卡拉纪末期的生物灭绝事件后,Huangshanophyton fluticulosum不仅安全渡过而且形态结构特征没有发生多少变化,说明该类生物具有较强的生存竞争能力,以及遗传上的稳定性、演化上的保守性和较强的环境适应性。     

A new discovery of macroscopic fossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area

The Ediacaran section in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China, is one of the most important in the worldand contains abundant fossils[1-4]. The earliest discov- ery of macrofossils in 1984, including macroscopic algal fossils from the uppermost Doushantuo…     

New material of microfossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Zhangcunping area, Yichang, Hubei Province and its zircon SHRIMP U-Pb age

The Zhangcunping area is located at the north limb of the Huangling anticline in Yichang, Hubei Province. Here, the sedimentary succession of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation is similar with that in the Weng’an area, Guizhou Province. A large number of new microfossils (mainly acanthoacritarchs) from the Doushantuo Formation in this area are reported in this paper. The fossil assemblage shows similarity as the phosphatized biota of the Doushantuo Formation at Weng’an, Guizhou Province and the silicified biota of the Doushantuo Formation at the Yangtze Gorges, which suggests that the Zhangcunping area is a key for correlation of the Doushantuo Formation between the Weng’an area, Guizhou Province and the Yangtze Gorges. Besides, a new zircon SHRIMP U-Pb age (614.0±7.6 Ma) is first obtained from a horizon underneath the exposed surface in the middle of the Doushantuo Formation in the Zhangcunping area. This age not only provides a new datum for subdivision of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation, but also indicates that the age of the exposed surface in the middle of the Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Platform should be posterior to 614.0±7.6 Ma. Due to the horizon of the Weng’an biota situated above the exposed surface, the age of the Weng’an biota should be posterior to 614.0±7.6 Ma as well. Supported jointly by the Basic Foundation of scientific research work from Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (Grant No. J0716), Science and Technology of China for fundamental work (Grant No. 2006FY120300-2), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40772013 and 40672022) and China Geological Survey (1212010611801-3)     

湖北峡东地区灯影组石板滩段宏体藻类化石新发现

通过连续显微拍摄,对来自湖北峡东地区泗溪剖面灯影组石板滩段薄层泥质沥青灰岩中的宏体藻类化石开展详细研究,鉴定出1属3种(包括2个新种)和一种首次发现的具有单轴分枝特征的宏体藻类化石(未定属种)。以Monopodial-branching型化石和Vendotaenia paviment- pes为代表的具单轴分枝性状和固着装置的藻类化石在华南灯影组地层中的首次发现, 说明灯影期宏体藻类分枝、固着器等重要性状并没有消失。研究结果丰富了峡东地区埃迪卡拉纪末期后生藻类的多样性, 对探讨多细胞藻类的演化具有重要的意义。     

A Chengjiang-type fossil assemblage from the Hongjingshao Formation （Cambrian Stage 3） at Chenggong,Kunming, Yunnan

A new Chengjiang-type fossil assemblage is reported herein from the lower part of the Hongjingshao Formation at Xiazhuang village of Chenggong,Kunming,Yunnan.The fossil assemblage,named as Xiazhuang fossil assemblage,yields predominantly soft-bodied fossils,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’’.     

Biodiversity: invasions by marine life on plastic debris

Colonization by alien species poses one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Here I investigate the colonization by marine organisms of drift debris deposited on the shores of 30 remote islands from the Arctic to the Antarctic (across all oceans) and find that human litter more than doubles the rafting opportunities for biota, particularly at high latitudes. Although the poles may be protected from invasion by freezing sea surface temperatures, these may be under threat as the fastest-warming areas anywhere are at these latitudes.     

瓮安生物群中"内陷式动物原肠胚化石"的同步辐射无损成像及其亲缘关系的重新解释

 贵州瓮安埃迪卡拉纪陡山沱组(635—551Ma)的磷酸盐化动物胚胎化石作为全球已知最古老的多细胞动物化石记录,为研究后生动物的起源及早期演化过程提供了精美的实证材料.在传统扫描电子显微成像的基础上,结合同步辐射相位衬度显微断层成像技术,对瓮安生物群中以前报道的"内陷式动物原肠胚化石"的立体标本进行了比较形态学和解剖学研究.结果显示,贵州瓮安陡山沱组磷酸盐化内陷式动物原肠胚化石很可能是多细胞藻类,并非动物胚胎.     

Newly discovered Palaeolithic artefacts from loess deposits and their ages in Lantian,central China

Eight new Palaeolithic open-air sites were identified and 770 stone artefacts were collected from 2009 to 2011 in the Lantian area of the Bahe River valley, central China. Because the famous Homo erectus fossils were unearthed at the Gongwangling and Chenjiawo localities, and more than 30 Palaeolithic open-air sites were investigated in the 1960s in this region, the catchment of Bahe River is regarded as one of the most important hominin sites from the late early Pleistocene to the middle Pleistocene. These eight newly discovered open-air sites are located at the second(n = 6), third(n = 1) or higher terraces(n = 1) of the Bahe River. The Diaozhai section on the second terrace was sampled in detail. Two samples were collected for optically stimulated luminescence dating(OSL). The OSL results suggest that a buried lithic artefact layer at the Diaozhai site spans approximately 70–30 ka. The lithic assemblage analysis suggests that the stone artefacts were made of local pebbles/cobbles such as greywacke, quartz, sandstone and igneous rocks. The main percussion techniques that were used were direct hard hammer percussion and bi-polar techniques. The lithic artefacts comprise hammer stones, cores, flakes, retouched tools and flaking debris. Acheulian-type large cutting tools(LCTs) such as hand-axes, picks and cleavers were indentified in the Lantian region as well. This is the first time Acheulian-type LCTs from the late Pleistocene have been identified in this region. This study distinguishes age gaps between Western world and East Asian Acheulian-type tools.     

Stratigraphy and age of the Daohugou Bed in Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia

Recent fieldwork has extended the distribution of the Daohugou Bed deposits from the Daohugou Village to its several neighboring areas. The fossil-bearing Daohugou deposits uncomformably overlie complex bedrocks, and comprise three major parts. The red shales in the lower part were misidentified as belonging to the Tuchengzi Formation. Field excavation has indicated that the shales of upper part of the bed are the major fossil-bearing horizon. Due to strong tectonic activities, sediments were often folded with the sequences inverted in the region. Some newly recognized contacts between the Daohugou Bed and the volcanic rocks showed that the ignimbrite of the Tiaojishan Formation （159-164 Ma） underlies the Daohugou deposits, rather than overlying the latter as previously proposed. Thus, the age of the Daohugou deposits should be younger than the age of the ignimbrite, and thus it was incorrect to correlate the Daohugou Bed with the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation. Although biostratigraphic studies based on conchostracans and insects support a Middle Jurassic-early Late Jurassic age for the Daohugou deposits, vertebrate fossils such as Liaoxitriton, Jeholopterus and feathered maniraptorans show much resemblance to those of the Yixian Formation. In other words, despite the absence of Lycoptera, a typical fish of the Jehol Biota, the Daohugou vertebrate assemblage is closer to that of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota than to any other biota. We propose that the Daohugou fossil assemblage probably represents the earliest evolutionary stage of the Jehol Biota based on both vertebrate biostratigraphy and the sedimentological and volcanic features which suggest the Daohugou deposit belongs to the same cycle of volcanism and sedimentation as the Yixian Formation of the Jehol Group.     

Exceptional preservation of fossils in an Upper Proterozoic shale

Late Proterozoic organisms must have been diverse and widely distributed, but in general their fossil record is both taxonomically and environmentally limited. Exceptional preservation of Proterozoic fossils is not unknown, but it is usually associated with silicified carbonates from restricted peritidal or playa lake environments. We report here an exceptionally well preserved and distinctive assemblage of Late Proterozoic fossils from subtidal marine shales. In addition to the sphaeromorphic acritarchs and cyanobacterial sheaths routinely preserved in Proterozoic rocks, this assemblage includes multicellular algae ('seaweeds'), a diverse assortment of morphologically complex protistan vesicles, and probable heterotrophic bacteria. Thus, it provides one of the clearest and most taxonomically varied views of Proterozoic life yet reported.     

Biochemistry: a cadmium enzyme from a marine diatom

The ocean biota contains a vast reservoir of genomic diversity. Here we present the sequence and preliminary characterization of a protein that is a cadmium-containing carbonic anhydrase from the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii. The existence of a cadmium enzyme in marine phytoplankton may indicate that there is a unique selection pressure for metalloenzymes in the marine environment, and our discovery provides a long-awaited explanation for the nutrient-like behaviour of cadmium in the oceans.     

中国黄土剖面蓝田正极性亚带之确认

中国黄土广泛分布于中国北方,是典型的更新世沉积。巨厚的黄土地层较完整地记录了200多万年来地球磁场变化信息,使我们得以通过黄土进行古地磁研究。作者先后对20多个黄土剖面进行了古地磁测量。结果表明:黄土剖面清楚地反映出布容正极性带与松山负极性带的界限(B/M)位于第八层黄土(L_8)中部。松山负极性带与高斯正极性带的界限(M/Ga)恰是更新世黄土与第三纪红粘土的界限。在松山负极性带中清楚地反映出哈拉米洛正极性亚带(J),奥尔都维正极性亚带(O)与留尼汪正极性亚带(R).     

Respiration in the open ocean

A key question when trying to understand the global carbon cycle is whether the oceans are net sources or sinks of carbon. This will depend on the production of organic matter relative to the decomposition due to biological respiration. Estimates of respiration are available for the top layers, the mesopelagic layer, and the abyssal waters and sediments of various ocean regions. Although the total open ocean respiration is uncertain, it is probably substantially greater than most current estimates of particulate organic matter production. Nevertheless, whether the biota act as a net source or sink of carbon remains an open question.     

中国扬子海盆——世界上罕见寒武纪生命大爆发和辐射进化的化石库

在简要论述我国扬子地块或扬子海盆,包括现今云南、贵州、湖南和湖北等地,寒武纪地层中相继发现的以澄江生物群、凯里生物群、牛蹄塘生物群和清江生物群等为代表的特异埋藏群及其与加拿大布尔吉斯页岩生物群的对比的同时,讨论了最近发现的湖北清江生物群的产出时代和层位、组合特征,并对上述生物群的生态和埋藏环境进行了分析与对比.认为大规模两侧对称动物门类的出现和多门类后生动物骨骼化是构成寒武纪动物大爆发的最主要特征.以上生物群的发现和研究,不仅展示寒武纪大爆发的客观存在,也说明在漫长地质历史时期,生物进化并非都是沿着达尔文渐进论的进化轨迹,从低级向高级发展;只要环境许可,生物在相对短暂时间内,采用一种爆发式和多样性辐射进化的模式,也可以出现大量门一级生物,而且这种进化模式在生物进化的历程中具有划时代的重要意义.前寒武纪罗迪尼亚(Rodinia)超大陆裂解和聚合而引发的、并波及我国南方的距今10亿～8亿年左右的晋宁造山事件,以及雪球事件后因气候变暖,大气和水中有机质和氧及二氧化碳含量的急剧变化,尤其是大气和水中氧气含量的增加,为我国扬子海盆寒武纪大爆发提供了必要的前提,也为动物的繁衍和骨骼化创造了极好的生态条件.但只有那些生活在海水相对较深,表层水柱充氧而底层缺氧、古地理位置处于扬子碳酸盐岩台地陆棚或陆棚边缘或台缘斜坡或凹陷中的岩家河、澄江、牛蹄塘、清江、凯里等生物群,才有可能在缺氧的海底被保存下来,并形成深色和黑色页岩或泥岩特异埋藏群或化石库.     

U-Pb zircon age for the Daohugou Biota at Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia and comments on related issues

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating was carried out for the Daohugou Biota near Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia and for lavas overlying or underlying sala-mander-bearing strata at Reshuitang in Lingyuan of West Liaoning. The results suggest that the Dao- hugou Biota occurred at an interval from 168 Ma to 164―152 Ma. Both the Daohugou Biota and the salamander-bearing fossil assemblage are the same biota and thus developed from 168 to 152 Ma, i.e. from late Middle Jurassic to the early Late Jurassic. The Daohugou Biota-bearing rocks, resting on the Jiulongshan Formation in disconformity and being overlain in unconformity by Late Jurassic Tuchengzi Formation and Early Cretaceous rocks containing the Jehol Biota, are mainly composed of volcanic-sedi- mentary rocks in a normal sequence. It is recom- mended that the Daohugou Biota and the related stratigraphy should be correlated with the Tiaojishan Formation (Lanqi Formation in West Liaoning) or its synchronous rocks. It is suggested that the Dao- hugou Biota and the Jehol Biota would be neither taken into one biota nor considered as the earliest elements of the Jehol Biota. The Daohugou Biota and the related rocks and the Yixian Formation were respectively formed in different periods of volcanic-sedimentary tectonics.     

贵州新元古代瓮安生物群中动物胚胎化石研究进展

 瓮安生物群指产出于贵州瓮安磷矿地区新元古代埃迪卡拉纪陡山沱组（635~551Ma）上磷矿段的一个特殊磷酸盐化微体化石组合,主要由多细胞藻类、大型带刺疑源类和处于不同发育阶段的多种后生动物胚胎组成,并包括少量可能的后生动物幼虫和成体化石。瓮安生物群作为迄今为止世界上最古老的前寒武纪后生动物化石群,为探索后生动物的起源和早期演化历程提供了独一无二的实证记录。10余年来,瓮安生物群中动物胚胎化石的研究取得多项突破性进展,已确认至少5种不同卵裂方式的动物胚胎化石,胚胎化石分类从单纯的形态学分类向生物学分类转变,为揭示瓮安生物群中动物多样性提供了更多线索。同时,相关研究更新了繁盛于埃迪卡拉纪大型带刺疑源类生物属性的传统认识,并将之与有表面装饰的动物休眠卵（滞育胚胎）化石相联系。同步辐射X射线显微CT技术的应用成功解决了胚胎化石三维无损成像难题,为古胚胎学的发展带来了新的机遇。     

Vigorous exchange between the Indian and Atlantic oceans at the end of the past five glacial periods

The magnitude of heat and salt transfer between the Indian and Atlantic oceans through 'Agulhas leakage' is considered important for balancing the global thermohaline circulation. Increases or reductions of this leakage lead to strengthening or weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning and associated variation of North Atlantic Deep Water formation. Here we show that modern Agulhas waters, which migrate into the south Atlantic Ocean in the form of an Agulhas ring, contain a characteristic assemblage of planktic foraminifera. We use this assemblage as a modern analogue to investigate the Agulhas leakage history over the past 550,000 years from a sediment record in the Cape basin. Our reconstruction indicates that Indian-Atlantic water exchange was highly variable: enhanced during present and past interglacials and largely reduced during glacial intervals. Coherent variability of Agulhas leakage with northern summer insolation suggests a teleconnection to the monsoon system. The onset of increased Agulhas leakage during late glacial conditions took place when glacial ice volume was maximal, suggesting a crucial role for Agulhas leakage in glacial terminations, timing of interhemispheric climate change and the resulting resumption of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.     

陕西秦岭泥盆纪盆地群构造沉积动力学研究

陕西秦岭泥盆纪盆地群是在早泥盆世扬子板块北缘陆内裂谷沿勉略一线进一步发育成有限洋盆，而后分裂出秦岭板块，勉略洋盆与商丹洋盆的并存导致秦岭造山带出现了三个板块（扬子、华北及秦岭板块）共存的格局，由此形成了秦岭泥盆纪盆地群．在这种复杂的板块构造格局下，整个秦岭造山带出现了构造动力学成因不同的一系列盆地．在秦岭板块北缘发育了刘岭边缘盆地，在其中堆积了含火山岩的巨厚碎屑岩系（最大厚度超过１１ｋｍ）．在秦岭板块内部，由于广泛发育的伸展断裂而形成了一系列地堑和半地堑型盆地，在其中堆积了反映以陆表海为主的一套碳酸盐和碳酸盐碎屑沉积．在扬子板块与秦岭板块之间的勉略有限洋盆中发育了夹超基性至酸性火山岩、硅质岩的碳酸盐碎屑沉积．在扬子板块北缘的高川一带还发育了以细碎屑岩碳酸盐岩为主的陆表海沉积．总之，秦岭在泥盆纪发育了一个多种构造沉积动力学成因性质完全不同的盆地集合群     

Ediacaran oxidation and biotic evolution

The link between the radiation of various lineages of eukaryotes in the latest Proterozoic and massive environmental changes--oxygenation, global ice ages and bolide impact--is the focus of much research interest. Fike et al. use carbon and sulphur isotope-chemostratigraphic data from Oman to propose three stages of oxidation in the Ediacaran oceans, and link the second and third stages to eukaryote diversification. The second stage, signalled by strongly 13C-depleted sedimentary carbonates (the 'Shuram excursion'), is believed to result from oxidation of a large, deep-ocean reservoir of organic carbon. Fike et al. use our data to assert that a correlative carbon isotope excursion in Australia coincided with the initial diversification of acanthomorphic acritarchs. Peak diversity is claimed to have coincided with subsequent deposition of 13C-enriched carbonate and the third oxidation stage. However, the authors seem to have misinterpreted our data, which instead indicate that diversification significantly preceded the Shuram excursion; this weakens their argument for a link between the inferred oxidation events and eukaryote evolution.