A Middle Triassic stem-neopterygian fish from China shows remarkable secondary sexual characteristics

Secondary sexual characteristics are features that appear at sexual maturity and distinguish the two sexes of a species. They are readily observed and studied in living animals, but the phenomenon is rather more difficult to identify in fossil taxa. Here we report a new sexually dimorphic stem-neopterygian fish, Venusichthys comptus gen. et sp. nov., based on 30 exceptionally well-preserved specimens from the Middle Triassic(Pelsonian, Anisian)Luoping Lagersta¨tte of eastern Yunnan, China. The discovery represents the oldest known secondary sexual characteristics in Neopterygii. These characteristics,including pointed tubercles on cranial bones, scales and fins, and hook-like contact organ anterior to the anal fin,have three inferred primary functions: maintenance of body contact between the sexes during prespawning behavior or spawning; stimulation of the females during breeding; and defense of nests and territories. Lacking a specialized anal fin in the presumed males, Venusichthys would likely have a different reproductive strategy from peltopleurids and other potentially viviparous stem-neopterygians. Moreover,Venusichthys shows a unique character combination distinguished from any other stem-neopterygian families and consequently represents a new family of this clade. Assuch, the new finding provides an important addition for understanding the behavior, reproduction, and early diversification of Neopterygii.     

A deep-bodied ginglymodian fish from the Middle Triassic of eastern Yunnan Province, China, and the phylogeny of lower neopterygians

The Ginglymodi are a group of ray-finned fishes that make up one of three major subdivisions of the infraclass Neopterygii.Ex- tant ginglymodians are represented by gars,which inhabit freshwater environments of North and Central America and Cuba.Here, we report the discovery of well-preserved fossils of a new ginglymodian,Kyphosichthys grandei gen.et sp.nov.,from the Middle Triassic(Anisian)marine deposits(Guanling Formation)in Luoping,eastern Yunnan Province,China.The discovery documents the first known fossil record of highly deep-bodied ginglymodians,adding new information on the early morphological diversity of this group.The studies of functional morphology of extant deep-bodied fishes indicate that Kyphosichthys is not a fast swim- mer but has a good performance in precise maneuvering,representing a morphological adaptation to structurally complex habitats (e.g.thick macrophyte beds,rocky areas,or coral reefs),which differs from the other members of this group.A cladistic analysis with the new fish taxon included supports the hypothesis that the Ginglymodi are more closely related to the Halecomorphi than to the Teleostei.Represented by Felberia,Kyphosichthys,and Dapedium,a highly deep and short fish body type has inde- pendently evolved at least three times in the stem-group neopterygians,ginglymodians,and basal teleosts within the lower neop- terygians of the Triassic.     

An exceptional Devonian fish from Australia sheds light on tetrapod origins

The transition from fishes to tetrapods was one of the most dramatic events in the evolution of vertebrates, but many pivotal fossils are incomplete, resulting in gaps in the data that are used for phylogenetic reconstruction. Here we present new observations from the most complete, acid-prepared Devonian tetrapodomorph fish yet discovered, Gogonasus, which was previously placed just crownward of Kenichthys and rhizodontids, the most primitive taxa on the tetrapod lineage. Unexpectedly, Gogonasus shows a mosaic of plesiomorphic and derived tetrapod-like features. Whereas the braincase and dermal cranial skeleton exhibit generalized morphologies with respect to Eusthenopteron or Panderichthys, taxa that are traditionally considered to be phyletically close to tetrapods, the presence of a deeply invaginated, wide spiracle, advanced internal spiracular architecture and near-horizontal hyomandibula are specialized features that are absent from Eusthenopteron. Furthermore, the pectoral fin skeleton of Gogonasus shares several features with that of Tiktaalik, the most tetrapod-like fish. A new phylogenetic analysis places Gogonasus crownward of Eusthenopteron as the sister taxon to the Elpistostegalia. Aspects of the basic tetrapod limb skeleton and middle ear architecture can now be traced further back within the tetrapodomorph radiation.     

A primitive fish provides key characters bearing on deep osteichthyan phylogeny

Osteichthyans, or bony vertebrates, include actinopterygians (teleosts and their relatives) and sarcopterygians (coelacanths, lungfishes and tetrapods). Despite features found in basal actinopterygians (for example, Dialipina and Ligulalepis) and basal sarcopterygians (for example, Psarolepis and Achoania), the morphological gap between the two lineages remains wide and how sarcopterygians developed a dermal surface covering known as cosmine (composed of a pore-canal network and a single layer of odontodes and enamel) is still poorly known. Here we describe a primitive fossil fish, Meemannia eos gen. et sp. nov., that possesses an actinopterygian-like skull roof and a cosmine-like dermal surface combining a pore-canal network (found in various fossil sarcopterygians) with superimposed layers of odontodes and enamel (previously known in actinopterygians and some acanthodians). This 405-million-year-old fish from the Lower Devonian of Yunnan (China) demonstrates that cosmine in many fossil sarcopterygians arose step by step through the acquisition of a pore-canal network followed by the subsequently developed ability to resorb previous generations of odontodes and enamel. Meemannia provides key characters for studying deep osteichthyan phylogeny and indicates a possible morphotype for the common ancestor of actinopterygians and sarcopterygians.     

Flabellariopteris,a new aquatic fern leaf from the Late Triassic of western Liaoning,China

An aquatic fern leaf, Flabellariopteris mii Sun gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Triassic of Western Liaoning, China, is described and proposed as the type species of the new morphortaxon of the Marsileaceae. The fossil leaves are preserved as impression. No fertile and rhizomatic materials are found. The leaves attached at a common point on the top of the petiole are composed of two leaflets joined basally in an opposite arrangement. The petiole is slender. The leaflet is fan-shaped or semi-circular, and commonly divided into four wedge-shaped lobes. Terminal margin of lobes is usually incised, incisions shallow or deep, with bluntly rounded or notched apex. The veins are conspicu- ously dichotomous, but anastomoses and marginal vein are absent. The unique morphological features, including two- parted thin leaflets, size, shape, veins and slender petiole, indicate that the present specimen represents an aquatic fern, which is the oldest fossil record and the first megafossil evidence assignable to Marsileaceae from the Triassic floras.     

A Middle Jurassic 'sphenosuchian' from China and the origin of the crocodylian skull

The skull of living crocodylians is highly solidified and the jaw closing muscles are enlarged, allowing for prey capture by prolonged crushing between the jaws. Living species are all semi-aquatic, with sprawling limbs and a broad body that moves mainly from side-to-side; however, fossils indicate that they evolved from terrestrial forms. The most cursorial of these fossils are small, gracile forms often grouped together as the Sphenosuchia, with fully erect, slender limbs; their relationships, however, are poorly understood. A new crocodylomorph from deposits in northwestern China of the poorly known Middle Jurassic epoch possesses a skull with several adaptations typical of living crocodylians. Postcranially it is similar to sphenosuchians but with even greater adaptations for cursoriality in the forelimb. Here we show, through phylogenetic analysis, that it is the closest relative of the large group Crocodyliformes, including living crocodylians. Thus, important features of the modern crocodylian skull evolved during a phase when the postcranial skeleton was evolving towards greater cursoriality, rather than towards their current semi-aquatic habitus.     

A new fossil genus of Mesosciophilidae （Diptera, Nematocera） with two new species from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus within the family Mesosciophilidae,Jurasciophila gen.nov.,with two new species,J.curvula gen.et sp.nov.and J.lepida gen.et sp.nov.,are described and illustrated.They are established based on fossil specimens with bodies and complete wings.All of them were collected from the late Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou in southeastern Inner Mongolia,China.Comparing with two known genera,Mesosciophilina (Kovalev,1985) and Mesosciophilopsis (Blagoderov,1994),the new genus has transitional characters.The distribution pattern of Mesosciophilidae is briefly discussed.     

四川盆地中南部雷口坡组碳酸盐岩成岩作用与孔隙演化

中三叠统雷口坡组是川中地区的主要产气层段.通过薄片鉴定,对T2l4和T2l3-3及底部T2l1-1亚段碳酸盐岩的成岩作用类型、序列与孔隙类型及其演化模式进行了研究,认为沉积环境、成岩作用、成岩环境共同影响了储集物性.建设性成岩作用有溶蚀作用、混合水白云石化作用;主要的孔隙类型有晶间孔、粒内溶孔(铸模孔)、粒间溶孔.     

An oviraptorid preserved atop an embryo-bearing egg clutch sheds light on the reproductive biology of non-avialan theropod dinosaurs

Recent studies demonstrate that many avialan features evolved incrementally prior to the origin of the group,but the presence of some of these features,such as ...     

Deuterostome phylogeny reveals monophyletic chordates and the new phylum Xenoturbellida

Deuterostomes comprise vertebrates, the related invertebrate chordates (tunicates and cephalochordates) and three other invertebrate taxa: hemichordates, echinoderms and Xenoturbella. The relationships between invertebrate and vertebrate deuterostomes are clearly important for understanding our own distant origins. Recent phylogenetic studies of chordate classes and a sea urchin have indicated that urochordates might be the closest invertebrate sister group of vertebrates, rather than cephalochordates, as traditionally believed. More remarkable is the suggestion that cephalochordates are closer to echinoderms than to vertebrates and urochordates, meaning that chordates are paraphyletic. To study the relationships among all deuterostome groups, we have assembled an alignment of more than 35,000 homologous amino acids, including new data from a hemichordate, starfish and Xenoturbella. We have also sequenced the mitochondrial genome of Xenoturbella. We support the clades Olfactores (urochordates and vertebrates) and Ambulacraria (hemichordates and echinoderms). Analyses using our new data, however, do not support a cephalochordate and echinoderm grouping and we conclude that chordates are monophyletic. Finally, nuclear and mitochondrial data place Xenoturbella as the sister group of the two ambulacrarian phyla. As such, Xenoturbella is shown to be an independent phylum, Xenoturbellida, bringing the number of living deuterostome phyla to four.     

贵州晚三叠世关岭鱼龙的原始尾弯对比研究

通过对贵州关岭上三叠统卡尼阶法郎组瓦窑段地层中的两件关岭鱼龙属标本的观察、测量,并与早侏罗世鱼龙标本对比研究,发现晚三叠世的关岭鱼龙尾椎中部存在一定数量形态发生变化的侧视呈梯形的椎体,已经具有了传统观点认为只在侏罗纪和白垩纪鱼龙中出现的尾弯,弯角为15°左右(侏罗纪鱼龙尾弯弯角可达60°).这一衍生性状的出现表明晚三叠...     

巨鲕成因探讨:来自上扬子地区下寒武统、中泥盆统及下三叠统的证据

通过对下寒武统、下三叠统与中泥盆统金宝石组葛万藻成因的核形石对比研究认为,微生物是巨鲕形成的主要因素之一。微生物参与构建巨鲕暗色纹层,促进同心纹层加积,对巨鲕的形成具有建设性作用。在金宝石组核形石纹层中微生物发育的区域,纹层厚度不均匀且形态不规则,说明微生物对巨鲕规律纹层是具有破坏性的。巨鲕和核形石都是在无机化学和微生物共同作用下形成的产物,不同的水体环境制约着微生物的发育程度,进而控制了巨鲕与核形石的形成。     

川中磨溪与龙女寺雷口坡组构造特征及油气成藏差异性

通过对四川盆地中部磨溪和龙女寺地区雷口坡组构造差异性研究,表明现今龙女寺雷口坡组构造较磨溪地区复杂,变形强,切穿雷口坡组的断层发育.印支早期,龙女寺地区构造抬升剥蚀作用强于磨溪地区,大部分地区剥蚀至雷三段,显示为构造高点.之后的构造具有继承性,龙女寺高点持继存在.喜马拉雅期隆升作用对两个地区的影响形成了构造上的差异性.这种差异性与该区古构造和构造位置有一定的联系,更与现今构造复杂化有关.这种构造活动对研究区油气藏的控制作用主要表现为:燕山期,上二叠统生成的天然气垂向运移至雷一1亚段聚集成藏,形成磨溪-龙女寺联合古气藏;喜马拉雅期构造隆升造成两地区构造分异,磨溪地区由于受力较弱,整体抬升过程中气藏未被破坏,形成现今完整的磨溪气田;隆升作用在龙女寺造成较大的构造变动,大的断层切割整个雷口坡组,并成为天然气逸散的通道,雷一段气藏被破坏.     

A new troodontid dinosaur from China with avian-like sleeping posture

Discovering evidence of behaviour in fossilized vertebrates is rare. Even rarer is evidence of behaviour in non-avialan dinosaurs that directly relates to stereotypical behaviour seen in extant birds (avians) and not previously predicted in non-avialan dinosaurs. Here we report the discovery of a new troodontid taxon from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China. Numerous other three-dimensionally preserved vertebrate fossils have been recovered recently at this locality, including some specimens preserving behavioural information. The new troodontid preserves several features that have been implicated in avialan origins. Notably, the specimen is preserved in the stereotypical sleeping or resting posture found in extant Aves. Evidence of this behaviour outside of the crown group Aves further demonstrates that many bird features occurred early in dinosaurian evolution.     

华南淡水鱼类区系探讨

在概述华南自然地理概貌后,分析了３２３种华南淡水鱼类区系组成,对华南淡水鱼类区系的形成和演变作了具体地分析与讨论,认为秦岭应是全北区与东洋区在国内的分界线。     

中日中学体育的比较研究

通过文献资料法、比较研究对中日两国中学体育教学单元（项）计划及教案进行比较研究，发现：（1）中国教育思想倾向于教学中以教师为中心，日本则向于以学生为中心；（2）中国注重动作技术及组织教学细节，日本注重对学生思维习惯、实践能力的培养；（3）教学评价中中国倾向定量评价，日本倾向定性评价。     

Fossil embryos from the Middle and Late Cambrian period of Hunan, south China

Comparative embryology is integral to uncovering the pattern and process of metazoan phylogeny, but it relies on the assumption that life histories of living taxa are representative of their antecedents. Fossil embryos provide a crucial test of this assumption and, potentially, insight into the evolution of development, but because discoveries so far lack phylogenetic constraint, their significance is moot. Here we describe a collection of embryos from the Middle and Late Cambrian period (500 million years ago) of Hunan, south China, that preserves stages of development from cleavage to the pre-hatching embryo of a direct-developing animal comparable to living Scalidophora (phyla Priapulida, Kinorhyncha, Loricifera). The latest-stage embryos show affinity to the Lower Cambrian embryo Markuelia, whose life-history strategy contrasts both with the primitive condition inferred for metazoan phyla and with many proposed hypotheses of affinity, all of which prescribe indirect development. Phylogenetic tests based on these embryological data suggest a stem Scalidophora affinity. These discoveries corroborate, rather than contradict, the predictions of comparative embryology, providing direct historical support for the view that the life-history strategies of living taxa are representative of their stem lineages.     

内蒙古林西三叠纪花岗岩中黑云母地球化学特征及成岩意义

关于内蒙古林西地区早中生代岩浆岩产出的构造背景尚有争议。作者选择林西地区早三叠世新林镇花岗闪长岩和晚三叠世四力本黑云母花岗岩为研究对象,在岩相学研究的基础上,利用电子探针对花岗岩中黑云母的化学成分进行分析,探讨岩石成因和成岩大地构造背景。研究表明:新林镇花岗闪长岩中的黑云母为镁质黑云母,四力本黑云母花岗岩中的黑云母为铁叶黑云母,总体均显示富铁(TFeO质量分数为22.81%~36.65%)、贫镁(MgO质量分数为2.44%~10.56%)的特征。新林镇花岗闪长岩成岩温度为785~805℃,压力为5.39~8.88MPa,lgfO_2为-13.2~-13.8,属造山带钙碱性花岗岩;岩浆物质以壳源为主,兼具幔源特征,形成于早三叠世碰撞造山阶段。四力本黑云母花岗岩成岩温度为690~710℃,lgfO_2为-16.3~-17.1,为非造山带碱性花岗岩;花岗岩的物源以壳源为主,形成于晚三叠世造山期后的演化阶段。早三叠世林西地区处于强烈的接触碰撞阶段,在晚三叠世则进入造山期后的伸展演化阶段。     

中国悠角蚱属的研究(直翅目:蚱总科:刺翼蚱科)及一新种记述

系统记述在中国分布的悠角蚱属15种,内有1新种即伪瑞氏悠角蚱Eucriotettix pararidleyi sp.nov。该新种近似于瑞氏悠角蚱Eucriotettix ridleyi Gunther,1938,主要区别为:前胸背板中隆线全长明显,前胸背板后突伸达后足胫节顶端。附有悠角蚱属研究历史及中国悠角蚱属分种检索表。新种的模式标本保存于陕西师范大学动物研究所昆虫标本室。     

鄂尔多斯盆地三叠系延长组油气成藏条件及主控因素研究

通过对鄂尔多斯盆地三叠系延长组的构造条件、烃源条件、储层条件、储盖组合和保存条件等方面的详细分析,认为该区延长组具有优越的成藏条件,具有形成良好油藏的潜力.油藏控制因素分析表明:油藏分布受延长组烃源岩厚度、生烃强度、排烃强度控制,油气运移指向紧邻生烃坳陷的流体低势区;有利沉积相带是三角洲油藏形成的基本地质条件,三角洲前缘亚相中的水下分流河道往往距生烃坳陷近,具有优先捕获油气的位置优势,是油气富集的最有利场所;高渗透储层是油藏高产的重要因素.盆地中长6、长8地层中存在相对高渗透砂岩储层,油藏的高产往往与其有直接的关系.