Early-diverging Titanosauriform(Dinosauria,Sauropoda)Teeth from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Southeastern Inner Mongolia,Northeast China

Three eusauropod teeth(SDUST-V1064,PMOL-AD00176,PMOL-ADt0005)are reported from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Ningcheng,southeastern Inner Mongolia,China.Two of them(SDUST-V1064,PMOL-AD00176)are assigned to early-diverging titanosauriforms in having slightly mesiodistal expansion at the base of the tooth crown,a slenderness index value>2.0 and<4.0,and D-shaped cross section.Furthermore,SDUST-V1064 and PMOL-AD00176 are referred as an Euhelopus-like titanosauriform on the basis of having a sub-circular boss on the lingual surface and an asymmetrical crown-root margin which slants apically,respectively.CT scan data of SDUST-V1064 reveals new dental information of early-diverging titanosauriforms,for example,the enamel on the labial side thicker than that on the lingual side,an enamel/dentine ratio of 0.26 and a boss present on the lingual side of the dentine of the crown.

Jurassic-Cretaceous Herpetofaunas from the Jehol Associated Strata in NE China:Evolutionary and Ecological Implications

Jurassic - Cretaceous herpetofaunas have recently been recovered from tuff-interbedded lacustrine strata in northeastern (NE) China. Most of them are from the Early

The Origin and Diversification of Osteichthyans and Sarcopterygians:Rare Chinese Fossil Findings Advance Research on Key Issues of Evolution

Living organisms represent only 1% of all the biota that has ever existed on earth. All organisms, living or extinct, are related to each other by sharing common ancestors at different levels,

An Unusual, Three-Dimensionally Preserved, Large Hadrosauriform Pes Track from "Mid"-Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation of Chongqing, China

Three-dimensional tracks provide unique insights into the locomotor mechanics of their track makers. An isolated, large hadrosauriform print attributable to Caririchnium lotus from the ＂mid＂-Cretaceous Lotus track site （Jiaguan Formation） in China permits reconstruction of the footfall, weight-bearing, and kick-off phases of the step cycle. Large-scale modifications of the pes during the step cycle indicate C. lotus trackmakers were capable of locomotory modifications in response to substrate consistency beyond the ＂expected＂ shift between bipedal and quadrupedal postures. An unusual curvature to the trace of one of the outer digits indicates substantial transverse mobility. The remaining digits demonstrate lesser degrees of transverse movement accompanied by extension of the digits during footfall. The absence of overprinted scale-scratch marks and toe drags are consistent with a vertical kick-off of the pes and concomitant flexion of the digits. This track suggests that pedal mobility in C. lotus track makers was greater than previously suspected and has implications for reconstructions of hadrosauriform locomotion.

Recent Progress in the Study of Pterosaurs from China

Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to be able to fly in the sky. They existed from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (about 220 to 65 million years ago), when the land was ruled by another

A Juvenile Specimen of Sauropodomorpha from the Lower Jurassic of China and a Brief Review of the Lufeng Sauropodomorph Fauna

An incomplete dinosaur skeleton,including a partial skull,recently discovered from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan,China,is here reported.Apart from its small size,little anatomical evidence supports,a priori,the non-adult status of this new sauropodomorph specimen but osteohistological analyses suggest that it is a fast-growing juvenile.This specimen represents only the second occurrence of a juvenile non-sauropodan sauropodomorph in the Lufeng Basin.The anatomy of the new specimen does not match that of other Lower Jurassic immature specimens;although cranial material is preserved,it does not display the diagnostic characters of early sauropodomorphs from the same horizon,namely Lufengosaurus,Yizhousaurus and Yunnanosaurus.Our phylogenetic analysis places the new specimen in a position relatively distant from other Chinese sauropodomorphs,and corroborates the anatomical evidence showing it is not referable to any known species already excavated in Yunnan.This result is interpreted with caution considering that ontogeny affects phylogenetic reconstruction.A thorough comparison with adult forms,taking into account ontogenyrelated characters,suggests that this Lufeng juvenile might represent a previously unknown species of early sauropodomorph.

Brain Morphology of the Zhoukoudian H.erectus Half a Million Years Ago

In the process of human evolution, how has the brain changed? When did it happen? Why did it happen? These questions are some of the hottest topics in

Recent Progress in the Study of Dinosaur Eggs in China

Dinosaur eggs are a special type of vertebrate fossils. Despite their varied shapes, all dinosaur eggs are composed of eggshells, though the thickness of the shell may also vary. Dinosaur eggshells consist primarily of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate).

Geochemical Stratigraphy and Microvertebrate Assemblage Sequences across the Silurian/Devonian Transition in South China

Carbon isotope （δ13Corg） analyses of non-marine clastic rocks and neritic carbonates and black shales spanning the Silurian/Devonian transition are compared from two richly fossiliferous sequences in Qujing of East Yunnan and Zoige of Sichuan, South China. The two sections, Xishancun and Putonggou sections in South China, reveal positive δ13Corg shifts happening in the Upper Pridoli and Lower Devonian and reaching peak values as heavy as -25.2‰ （Xishancun） and -19.9‰（Putonggou） in the lowermost Lochkovian following the first occurrence of the thelodont Parathelodus and the conodont Icriodus woschmidti woschmidti （only in Putonggou Section and together with Protathyris-Lanceomyonia brachiopod fauna）. These results replicate a globally known positive shift in δ13Corg from the uppermost Silurian to the lowermost Devonian. The δ13Corg variations across the Silurian/Devonian Boundary （SDB） at the two sections in South China exhibit a shift in carbon isotopic composition similar to the detailed SDB curves from the borehole Klonk-1 drilled at top of the Klonk Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point （GSSP） in the Prague Basin, Czech Republic. In addition, four microvertebrate assemblages, including the Liaojiaoshan, Xishancun, Yanglugou and Xiaputonggou assemblages, are recognized from the Silurian/Devonian transition exposed in the Xishancun and Putonggou sections, respectively. The results from both carbon isotope stratigraphy and microvertebrate assemblage sequences suggest that the SDB in South China is located at the base of the Xishancun Formation （between sample QX-20 and sample QX-21） in the Xishancun Section and the lower part of the Xiaputonggou Formation （between sample ZP-09 and sample ZP-10） in the Putonggou Section. The isotopic trend for organic carbon together with the changes of microvertebrate remains across the SDB can offer an approach to a potential correlation of the SDB from different sedimentary facies, which help to correlate the marine with non-marine deposits.

Chinese Continental Paleocene-Eocene Boundary and Its Correlation

Recent paleontological, paleomagnetic and carbon isotopic investigations have provided new evidence supporting placement of the Chinese terrestrial Paleocene-Eocene boundary at the base of the Lingcha Formation in the Hengyang Basin, Hunan Province, and within the upper part of the Nomogen Formation in the Erlian Basin, Inner Mongolia. Based on mammalian and ostracod biostratigraphic data, the boundary can also be roughly correlated with the contacts between the Baoyue and Huayong formations in the Sanshui Basin of Guangdong, the Qingjiang and Xinyu formations of Jiangxi, the Fourth Formation of the Funing Group and the Dainan Formation in northern Jiangsu, and the Dabu and Shisanjianfang formations in the Turfan Basin of Xinjiang.

Terrestrial Mio-Pliocene Boundary in the Linxia Basin,Gansu,China

The Lower Pliocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province is one of only a few representative sections for the Early Pliocene sedimentary records in northern China, and even in East Asia. Recently,abundant mammalian fossils were found from the base of red clays of the Lower Pliocene Hewangjia Formation at Duikang in Guanghe County within this basin. Previously, the Pliocene mammals were sparsely found in China, and most were collected from fluvial and lacustrine deposits in the eastern Loess Plateau. Mammals from the widely distributed Pliocene Hipparion Red Clay are less in number.The known fossils from Duikang include 20 species and belong to the Shilidun Fauna. Their faunal components are similar to the Early Pliocene Gaozhuang Fauna from Ynshe, Shanxi. On the other hand, some taxa from Duikang have not been found in the Gaozhuang Fauna, are slightly more primitive in evolutionary level, and appeared mainly in the Late Miocene. As a result, the age of the Duikang fossils may be slightly earlier than that of the Gaozhuang Fauna and closer to the lower boundary of the Piiocene. The Duikang fossiliferons bed is 0.8 m above the top of the Late Miocene Linshu Formation, and the first occurrence of the three-toed horse Hipparion pater can be regarded as a biostratigraphical marker of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. In conclusion, Duikang is an ideal candidate locality to establish as the stratotype of the lower boundary of the Chinese terrestrial Pliocene.

Inter-Regional Comparisons on the Quaternary Large Mammalian Faunas between China and Sub-Saharan Africa

The current and dominant theory about the origin of modern humans is the out-of-Africa hypothesis, which asserts that populations of Homo sapiens left Africa 100,000 years ago and replaced indigenous populations of humans in Eurasia. Many scholars equated the out-of-Africa dispersal of humans with paleoenvironmental changes. However, until now, few have paid special attention to the faunal data and whether or not faunal patterns are supportive of the popular theory. Recent comparative study of the Chinese fauna shows that the communication of faunas between Africa and East Asia could have occurred during the Neogene, but it was very limited during the Pleistocene. In the Chinese Quaternary fauna, only 16% of the genera are also present in the sub-Saharan African fauna. There is also no element among the dominant taxa of the Chinese Quaternary fauna which can be related to the African fauna. There is no reliable proof for the existence of Hippopotamus and Giraffa, as well as Panthera leo, during the Quaternary in China. Two controversial taxa are Acinonyx and Crocuta, about which there is still argument concerning their species identification in Eurasia. It is possible that both of the genera have co-specific taxa in Africa and Eurasia. Although the two genera are confined to Africa today, they did have a long evolutionary history in China. For the Out of Africa hypothesis for Homo sapiens, the implications of the limited faunal interchanges between China and Africa are not completely clear yet.

Huanglong Cave:A Newly Found Late Pleistocene Human Fossil Site in Hubei Province,China

Debates on modern human origins For 20 years the debate on modern human origins has received a significant amount of attention. Primarily supported by earlier

晚白垩世真兽类Zalamdalestes揭示哺乳动物独特的枢椎及其复杂的进化过程

The typical mammalian neck consisting of seven cervical vertebrae(C1–C7)was established by the Late Permian in the cynodont forerunners of modern mammals.This structure is precisely adapted to facilitate movements of the head during feeding,locomotion,predator evasion,and social interactions.Eutheria,the clade including crown placentals,has a fossil record extending back more than 125 million years revealing significant morphological diversification in the Mesozoic.Yet very little is known concerning the early evolution of eutherian cervical morphology and its functional adaptations.A specimen of Zalambdalestes lechei from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia boasts exceptional preservation of an almost complete series of cervical vertebrae(C2–C7)revealing a highly modified axis(C2).The significance of this cervical morphology is explored utilizing an integrated approach combining comparative anatomical examination across mammals,muscle reconstruction,geometric morphometrics and virtual range of motion analysis.We compared the shape of the axis in Zalambdalestes to a dataset of 88 mammalian species(monotremes,marsupials,and placentals)using three-dimensional landmark analysis.The results indicate that the unique axis morphology of Zalambdalestes has no close analog among living mammals.Virtual range of motion analysis of the neck strongly implies Zalambdalestes was capable of exerting very forceful head movements and had a high degree of ventral flexion for an animal its size.These findings reveal unexpected complexity in the early evolution of the eutherian cervical morphology and suggest a feeding behavior similar to insectivores specialized in vermivory and defensive behaviors in Zalambdalestes akin to modern spiniferous mammals.

The size variation and related implications of mandibles in northern China in the past 7000 years

To better understand variation of Holocene Chinese mandiblular morphology, a study was conducted on 23 metric traits of Neolithic (n=54), Bronze-Iron Ages (n=184) and modern (n=92) adult male mandibles from northern China. Results indicate that the linear characters of these Chinese mandibles evolved in the past 7000 years. From the Neolithic to Bronze-Iron Ages to present day, the overall size of mandibles decreased. The linear characters of the mandiblular features varied between different time periods. The decrease of thickness and height of the mandibular corpus primarily occurred during the Neolithic to Bronze-Iron Ages. The decrease in main size was during the Bronze-Iron Ages to present day. It is possible that mandibles became thinner before the overall size decreased. Comparisons also indicate that the bottom part of the face may have decreased more greatly in breadth than the upper portion. The decrease in mandible size may be associated with changes in climate and diet, and with changes in the craniums size.

Pliocene cyprinids (Cypriniformes,Teleostei) from Kunlun Pass Basin,northeastern Tibetan Plateau and their bearings on development of water system and uplift of the area

Here described are the cyprinid fossils from the Pliocene Lower Member of Qiangtang Formation of the Kunlun Pass Basin,northeastern Tibetan Plateau,collected at a locality 4769 m above the sea level(asl).The materials consist of numerous disarticulated and incomplete bones as well as thousands of pharyngeal teeth,fin rays,and vertebrae.The fossils were referred to the genus Gymnocypris,lineage Schizothoracini,family Cyprinidae;the lineage Schizothoracini;and the family Cyprinidae respectively.The Schizothoracini is a freshwater fish group endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding area.Previous workers on living schizothoracins regarded that Gymnocypris belongs to the highly specialized grade of the group,colonizing higher altitudes than other members of the group.Two species are so far unequivocally assigned to the genus,i.e.,G.przewalskii and G.eckloni,and they are inhabiting Qinghai Lake and the waters on both north(the Golmud River) and south(upper reach of the Yellow River) sides of the East Kunlun Mountain,respectively.The abundant fossil schizothoracins occur in the Kunlun Pass Basin on the southern slope of the East Kunlun Mountain(at 4769 m asl),close to the present Golmud River,indicating comparatively rich waters in the area and possible connections between the water systems on north and south sides of the East Kunlun Mountain during the Pliocene.This also suggests a more humid climate in the area during the Pliocene than it is today.The presence of the highly specialized schizothoracin Gymnocypris may also imply less amplitude of uplift(approximately 1000 m) in the area since the Pliocene than previously proposed.

Vertebrate diversity of the Jehol Biota as compared with other lagersttten

In the last twenty years,the extraordinary discoveries of vertebrate fossils from the Jehol Biota not only have important impli-cations for studying the evolution of major Mesozoic vertebrate groups,their paleobiostratigraphy and paleoenvironmentology,but also provide critical evidence for understanding the biodiversity changes of the Early Cretaceous ecosystem.Currently,the Jehol Biota in a narrow sense(i.e.,distribution limited to western Liaoning,northern Hebei,and southeastern Inner Mongolia) comprises a vertebrate assemblage of at least 121 genera and 142 species.Among them are 13 genera and 15 species of mammals,33 genera and 39 species of birds,30 genera and 35 species of dinosaurs,17 genera and species of pterosaurs,5 genera and species of squamates,5 genera and 7 species of choristoderes,2 genera and species of turtles,8 genera and species of am-phibians,7 genera and 13 species of fishes as well as 1 genus and species of agnathan.All these known 121 genera are extinct forms,and only a small percentage of them(e.g.,agnathans,some fishes and amphibians) can be referred to extant families.The Jehol vertebrate diversity already exceeds that of the contemporaneous lagersttten such as Santana Fauna from Brazil and the Las Hoyas Fauna from Spain,and is nearly as great as that of the Jurassic Solnhofen Fauna and the Eocene Messel Fauna from Germany.Therefore,The Jehol Biota undoubtedly represents a world class lagerst?tte in terms of both fossil preservation and vertebrate diversity.The success of the Jehol vertebrate diversity had a complex biological,geological,and paleoenviron-mental background.Analysis of the habitat and diet of various vertebrate groups also indicates that the habitat and dietary dif-ferentiation had played a key role in the success of the taxonomic diversity of vertebrates of various ranks.Furthermore,the interactions among vertebrates,plants,and invertebrates as well as the competitions among various vertebrate groups and some key morphological innovations also contributed to the success of the Jehol vertebrate diversity.

The Homo sapiens Cave hominin site of Mulan Mountain,Jiangzhou District,Chongzuo,Guangxi with emphasis on its age

One of the most hotly debated and frontal issues in paleoanthropology focuses on the origins of modern humans. Recently, an incomplete hominin mandible with a distinctly weaker mental protuberance than modern human and a great variety of coexisting fossil mammals were unearthed from the Homo sapiens Cave of Mulan Mountain, Chongzuo, Guangxi. The mammalian fauna from the Homo sapiens Cave characterized by the combination of Elephas kiangnanensis, first occurring Elephas maixmus, and Megatapirus augustus, and strikingly different from the Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus fauna and the Middle Pleistocene Ailuropoda-Stogodon fauna of South China could be regarded as an early representive of the typical Asian elephant fauna. Faunal analysis, biostratigraphic correlation, and, most importantly, U-series dating all consistently support an estimate of ca. 110 ka for the age of the fossil Homo sapiens and coexisting mammalian fauna, that is, the early Late Pleistocene. The fauna is mainly made up of tropical-subtropical elements, but grassland elements have a much greater variety than forest elements, which probably indicates a drier climate at that time. This discovery of early Homo sapiens at the Mulan Mountain will play a significant role in the study of the origin and its environmental background of modern humans.

The origin of the vertebrate jaw:Intersection between developmental biology-based model and fossil evidence

The origin of the vertebrate jaw has been reviewed based on the molecular,developmental and paleontological evidences.Advances in developmental genetics have accumulated to propose the heterotopy theory of jaw evolution,i.e.the jaw evolved as a novelty through a heterotopic shift of mesenchyme-epithelial interaction.According to this theory,the disassociation of the nasohypophyseal complex is a fundamental prerequisite for the origin of the jaw,since the median position of the nasohypophyseal placode in cyclostome head development precludes the forward growth of the neural-crest-derived craniofacial ectomesenchyme.The potential impacts of this disassociation on the origin of the diplorhiny are also discussed from the molecular perspectives.Thus far,our study on the cranial anatomy of galeaspids,a 435-370-million-year-old 'ostracoderm' group from China and northern Vietnam,has provided the earliest fossil evidence for the disassociation of nasohypophyseal complex in vertebrate phylogeny.Using Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Tomography,we further show some derivative structures of the trabeculae(e.g.orbitonasal lamina,ethmoid plate) in jawless galeaspids,which provide new insights into the reorganization of the vertebrate head before the evolutionary origin of the jaw.These anatomical observations based on new techniques highlight the possibility that galeaspids are,in many respects,a better proxy than osteostracans for reconstructing the pre-gnathostome condition of the rostral part of the braincase.The cranial anatomy of galeaspids reveals a number of derived characters uniquely shared with gnathostomes.This raises the potential possibility that galeaspids might be the closest jawless relatives of jawed vertebrates.Our study provides an intriguing example of intersection between developmental biology-based model and fossil evidence.

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.