蜱类化石研究进展

Progress in the Research of Fossil Ticks

蜱是一个古老的类群,但由于体型小、吸血寄生等特性,致使其化石记录非常有限.全世界蜱类化石共计20种(包括2个未知种),且主要局限在美洲、欧洲及东南亚.中国疆域辽阔,蜱类物种多样,古生物的遗体、遗迹非常丰富,然而至今无蜱类化石的有关报道.总结并详细描述了目前已知的蜱类化石,一方面可以促进对包括蜱类在内的寄生虫系统演化领域的研究,另一方面希望引起中国科研人员对蜱类化石研究的重视.

Ticks are an ancient group.Due to their small size and blood-sucking parasitic characteristics,their fossil record is very limited.Twenty species(including two unknown species)of fossil ticks reported ever worldwide are mainly distributed in America,Europe and Southeast Asia.There is a variety of tick species and abundant paleontological resources in China.However,no fossil ticks have been reported so far.Thus,the knowledge of fossil ticks was summarized and described in this paper,which could facilitate the researches of systematic evolution of parasites including ticks,and arouse the attention of researchers to the research of fossil ticks.