A proscoliine wasp (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Scoliidae) from Shandong peninsula, East Asia

A new species of wasp from the Laiyang Formation in Shandong, China is described and named Cretaproscolia asiatica sp. nov. It is the second record of the genus Cretaproscolia Rasnitsyn and Martínez-Delclòs, 1999, and extends the distribution of the genus from the Lower Cretaceous of South America into the upper Mesozoic of East Asia. The diagnosis of Cretaproscolia is emended based on the new material.     

Anatomical Study of Cretaceous, Permineralized, Bennettitalean Fossils from Heilongjiang Province, NE China

Well-preserved Cretaceous trunk fragments of Cycadeoidea (Cycadeoidaceae) were recently found in Keshan County, Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China. These fossils represent important evidence of the distribution of this group of plants in East Asia. In these trunk fragments, the stem cortices and leaf bases with cones are preserved. The leaf bases are rhombic with cones infrequently distributed among leaf bases. The cortex is broad and consists of fundamental parenchyma cells, numerous secretory ducts and C-shaped leaf traces with adaxial secondary xylem and abaxial secondary phloem. The genus Cycadeoidea, which is widely distributed in the Cretaceous deposits of East Asia, North America and Western Europe, was an important component of Cretaceous floras. Bennettitalean trunk fossils with well-preserved anatomical structures are rarely known from China. These fossils are important for studies of the evolution of genus Cycadeoidea and for stratigraphic correlation.     

Zurupleuropholis gen. nov. (Teleostei,Albian, Argentina), first pleuropholids from the Cretaceous of South America

Although the Cretaceous is characterized by a rich fish diversity, Cretaceous continental fishes from Gondwana are poorly known and comparatively scarce. Among these fishes, the family Pleuropholidae is only known by a few species relatively poorly preserved, from the Middle Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous of Europe, Africa, North America, and South America. In this paper, two new species of the pleuropholid new genus Zurupleuropholis are described, Z. quijadensis gen. et sp. nov. and Z. decollavi gen. et sp. nov. The new fishes were recovered in the Lower Cretaceous lacustrine Lagarcito Formation of central-west Argentina. This taxon constitutes a relevant finding considering that the representation of the family Pleuropholidae is rare worldwide. Zurupleuropholis gen. nov. appears to be the youngest known member of Pleuropholidae, and it represents the second record of the family in South America and the first record in the Cretaceous of the continent.     

The Tunggurian Stage of the Continental Miocene in China

The Tunggurian Age was nominated in 1984, and the Second National Commission on Stratigraphy of China formally suggested establishing the corresponding chronostratigraphic unit, the Tunggurian Stage, based on the Tunggurian Age in 1999. The name of this stage comes from a lithostratigraphic unit, the Tunggur Formation, and the stratotype section is located at the Tunggur tableland, 15 km southeast of Saihan Gobi Township, Sonid Left Banner, Inner Mongolia. The Tunggurian Age is correlated to the Astaracian of the European land mammal ages, and they share the same definition of the lower boundary at the base of the paleomagnetic Chron C5Bn.1r with an age of 15.0 Ma. In the Tairum Nor section on the southeastern edge of the Tunggur tableland, this boundary is situated within the successive deposits of reddish-brown massive mudstone of the lower part of the Tunggur Formation, with a distance of 7.6 m from the base of the grayish-white sandstones in the middle part of the section. The Tunggurian is approximately correlated to the upper part of the marine Langhian and the marine Serravallian in the International Stratigraphical Chart. The Tunggurian Stage includes two Neogene mammal faunal units, i.e. NMU 6 （MN 6） and NMU 7 （MN 7/8）. The Tairnm Nor fauna from the Talrnm Nor section corresponds to NMU 6, and the Tunggur fauna （senso stricto） from the localities on the northwestern edge of the Tunggur tableland, such as Platybelodon Quarry, Wolf Camp and Moergen, corresponds to NMU 7. Among the Middle Miocene mammalian faunas in China, the Laogou fauna from the Linxia Basin, Gansu, the Quantougou fauna from the Lanzhou Basin, Gansu, the Halamagai fauna from the northern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, and the Dingjiaergou fauna from Tongxin, Ningxia correspond to NMU 6.     

河北围场早中新世藓类化石的植物地理学意义

对河北省围场地区广发永剖面藓类植物薄网藓Leptodictyum riparium、似叶镰刀藓Drepanocladus trichophyllus和多姿柳叶藓Amblystegium varium的古地理及其对应的现代植物地理分布研究显示,这些植物最早出现于早中新世的围场地区,可能起源于该时期的古北大陆,东亚为起源中心。之后向东通过白令陆桥扩散到北美,向西沿欧亚大陆扩散至欧洲西部,至全新世时主要分布在北半球。全新世后,薄网藓与多姿柳叶藓进一步向南扩散,分别由北美及亚洲东部扩散到南美洲及澳大利亚地区,逐步形成现在的分布格局;毛叶镰刀藓则在更新世就已形成与现代相近的分布格局。该研究确立了3种藓类植物的地理起源、地史分布及迁移路线。     

A Review on the Taxonomic, Evolutionary and Phytogeographic Studies of the Lotus Plant (Nelumbonaceae: Nelumbo)

Nelumbo Adans. （Nelumbonaceae） is an important member of the early-diverging eudicots. It contains two extant species： N. nucifera Gaertn. （the Sacred lotus）, distributed in Asia and Australia and N. lutea Willd. （the American lotus）, occurring in North America. This paper reviews the taxonomic, evolutionary and phytogeographic studies of the genus Nelumbo, and also raises scientific questions about it in further paleobotanic research. There are about 30 fossil species of Nelumbo established since the Early Cretaceous. Based on fossil studies, the ancestors of the extant N. nucifera and N. lutea are respectively considered to be N. protospeciosa from the Eocene to Miocene of Eurasia, and N. protolutea from the Eocene of North American. However, molecular systematic studies indicate that N. nucifera and N. lutea are probably split from a common ancestor during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, or even the Pleistocene, rather than separate relicts from extinct species on different continents. The characters of lotus stomatal development, seedling morphology as well as its flowering, pollination and fertilization in air reveal that it evolves from the land plants. Fossil data of Nelumbo indicates that the genus first occurs in mid-latitude area of Laurasia in the Early Cretaceous, then becomes widespread in North America and Eurasia and expands into Africa and South America during the Late Cretaceous; the genus probably colonizes the Indian Subcontinent from Asia during the Early Eocene after the collision of India and the Asian plates; the genus becomes extinct in Europe, but survives in Asia and North America during the Quaternary Ice Age, and later forms the present East Asia and North Australia-North America disjunctive distribution.     

Nothrotheriops sp. (Mammalia,Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of Argentina: implications for the dispersion of ground sloths during the Great American Biotic Interchange

The aim of this contribution is to describe a femur (MCRS 199) assigned to Nothrotheriops sp. from the Late Pleistocene of Santa Fe Province (Argentina), and discuss the implications of this find in the context of the dispersal of ground sloths during the Great American Biotic Interchange. The specimen MCRS 199 is smaller than the femora referred to the North American species Nothrotheriops texanus and Nothrotheriops shastensis but shares several features with these species: (i) shape and position of the greater trochanter, (ii) development of the lesser trochanter, (iii) presence of connection between the third trochanter and the ectepicondyle, (iv) distal third of the femur wider, with ML/DW index of 1.93, and (v) location and relationship of the distal condyles. These similarities allow us to assign MCRS 199 to Nothrotheriops sp. The record of Nothrotheriops sp. from Santa Fe Province chronologically coincides with the earliest records of Nothrotheriops shastensis suggesting a broad geographical distribution of Nothrotheriops during the Late Pleistocene, ranging from 33–36°N (e.g. states of California and Arizona, USA) to 31°S (northern Salado River, Santa Fe Province, Argentina). Thus, Nothrotheriops have dispersed from North America (where Nothrotheriops has early records, Calabrian–Middle Pleistocene) to South America where localities bearing Nothrotheriops are Late Pleistocene in age. In addition, once in South America and probably during the Middle Pleistocene, Nothrotheriops probably gave rise to its sister taxon, Nothrotherium, with records from the Middle Pleistocene (e.g. 223 ka BP, northeastern Brazil) to the Late Pleistocene (e.g. 15 ka BP).     

Late Pliocene Glyptodontinae (Xenarthra,Cingulata, Glyptodontidae) of South and North America: Morphology and paleobiogeographical implications in the GABI

Knowledge of the main aspects of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) concerning the glyptodontine Glyptodontidae (Xenarthra) is very scarce. A bidirectional dispersal process was recently proposed for this clade, with the presence of the North American genus Glyptotherium Osborn recognized in latest Pleistocene sediments of northern South America (Venezuela and Brazil). However, the earliest stages of this paleobiogeographical process remain poorly understood, mainly because of the limited fossil record on this clade in late Pliocene sediments. The goals of this contribution are: a) to present and describe the first record of a glyptodontine glyptodontid from the late Pliocene of northern South America, tentatively assigned to a new species of Boreostemma Carlini et al. (Boreostemma? sp. nov); and b) to analyze its paleobiogeographical implications with respect to the GABI. This new material was recovered from the San Gregorio Formation (late Pliocene, prior the GABI) in northern Venezuela, where it is represented by several osteoderms of the dorsal carapace. A comparison among the three known late Pliocene glyptodontine glyptodontids of a) southern South America (Paraglyptodon), b) northern South America (Boreostemma), and c) southern North America ("Glyptotherium"), reveals a series of shared characters between (b) and (c), not present in (a). The most important of these shared characters in (b) and (c) are: all the osteoderms present a great development of the central figure, which is always larger than the peripherals; the sulcus that delimits the central and peripheral figures is narrower and shallower; and all the osteoderms present are relatively thin. This evidence suggests that the lineage of Glyptodontinae which participated in the GABI and subsequently diversified in North America originated in northern South America. Moreover, the evident morphological differences between these glyptodontines with respect to the southern South American forms show a significant separation of both lineages since at least latest Miocene-early Pliocene.     

Decoding Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic tectonothermal events in the Rangnim Massif,North Korea: regional correlation and broader implications

Any knowledge about Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic magmatic and metamorphic events in North Korea has the potential to make a significant difference to our understanding of the early tectonic configuration and evolution of East Asia. This zircon U–Pb dating and Hf isotopic study documents multiple Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic tectonothermal events from the meta-igneous complex in the Machollyong ‘Group’ of the Rangnim Massif. Two tonalitic-trondjemitic gneiss samples record a crystallization age of meta-igneous protoliths at ca. 2.56 Ga and multiple migmatization and metamorphism from 2.52 to 1.85 Ga. A meta-dolerite sample yields a magmatic emplacement age of ca. 1.83 Ga. In situ zircon Hf isotopic data indicate that most zircons from the gneiss samples have ε_Hf(t) values from –16.9 to + 3.1 and crustal model ages from 2.84 to 3.73 Ga, whereas magmatic zircons from the meta-dolerite dike record ε_Hf(t) values from –5.2 to + 5.2 and model ages of 2.05–2.44 Ga. The first-recognized Neoarchaean tonalitic-trondjemitic migmatite complex in the Rangnim Massif, together with previously identified tonalitic-trondhjemitic-granodioritic (TTG) rocks in the Rimjingang Belt and the coeval counterparts in western Gyeonggi massif, represents the oldest crustal nuclei in the Korean Peninsula. The multiple tectonothermal events in this study present reliable evidence not only for attesting to consanguinity of the basement between the Korean Peninsula and the North China Craton but also for defining the influence scope of the late Palaeoproterozoic orogeny in the Korean Peninsula.     

Biogeography and climatic change as a context to human dispersal out of Africa and within Eurasia

The dispersal of the genus Homo occurred against a background of continuous environmental change. Here, dispersals of large mammals through the Levantine Corridor and into Western Europe and Java are studied and compared to existing records of climatic change and dispersals of early humans and lithic industry.The first human dispersal (with Oldowan lithic industry) out of Africa, around or shortly before 1.8 Ma may have been triggered by biological evolution and increased social organisation, rather than environmental change. After that event, increasing aridity led to decreased faunal exchange between Africa and Eurasia and may have isolated the human populations of Africa and Africa. Southern (Java) and Eastern Asia (China) also seem to have been isolated. Human dispersal into Western Europe may have been limited by closed environments in Central Europe until about 1.2 Ma ago, when faunal dispersal into Europe suggests the cyclic spread of open environments to the west. Acheulean technology originated in Africa, some 1.6–1.5 Ma ago, but its dispersal into Eurasia may have been obstructed by an arid Southwest Asia, until broadly about 0.9 Ma ago, when faunal exchange suggests that the area became temporarily less dry. By 0.6–0.5 Ma ago it reached Europe.     

A brief review of Agenian rhinocerotids in Western Europe

The Agenian is the earliest Neogene European Land Mammal Age. It encompasses the mammalian zones MN1 (23.03–22.7 Ma) and MN2 (22.7–20.0 Ma) and roughly coincides with the Aquitanian standard age. Agenian mammalian assemblages from Western Europe encompass a mixture of rhinocerotid taxa of Oligocene affinities and of Miocene newcomers, mostly recorded in France, Germany, Switzerland, and to a lesser extent, Spain. Rhinocerotidae are documented by seven species referred to five genera (Pleuroceros pleuroceros, Protaceratherium minutum, Plesiaceratherium aquitanicum, Mesaceratherium paulhiacense, Diaceratherium lemanense, D. asphaltense, and D. aginense), further attesting to a low suprageneric diversity. Their systematics, morphology, ecology, stratigraphical and geographical ranges are detailed in the present article. Occurrences and geographical ranges of all seven rhinocerotid species are illustrated on palaeogeographical maps of the circum-Mediterranean region at 23 Ma (MN1) and 21 Ma (MN2). The richest Agenian localities (Paulhiac, MN1; Laugnac, MN2) record a specific diversity similar to that of Orleanian rhinocerotid assemblages, with up to five/six associated species. All Agenian rhinocerotid species from Western Europe are endemic to the concerned region, which is consistent with the complete geographic isolation of Western Europe by earliest Miocene times. However, all five genera are documented by twin species in coeval localities of South and Central Asia, which implies (1) vicariant speciation events by latest Oligocene times and (2) the existence of intermittent pathways for terrestrial megamammals such as rhinocerotids during the concerned interval.     

An Ichthyornis-like bird from the earliest Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of European Russia

Ornithuromorph birds (the clade which includes modern avian radiation) first appeared in the Early Cretaceous in Asia and achieved a great diversity during the latest ages of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian and Maastrichtian). The evolutionary history of orithuromorphs during the first 17 MYAs of the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian ages) remains very poorly known, as the fossil record for this time interval is largely restricted to several isolated finds of the classic avian genus Ichthyornis in North America. Here we describe an isolated distal tibiotarsus of an evolutionary advanced bird, morphologically similar to Ichthyornis, from the middle Cenomanian of Saratov Province, European Russia. This is the first documentation of an Ichthyornis-like bird in the Old World. The find further constitutes only the second pre-Campanian record of the Late Cretaceous Ornithuromorpha in Eurasia, the second record of Cenomanian birds in Russia. This discovery shows that Ichthyornis-like birds enjoyed a wide geographical distribution as early as the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. Given that the earliest and the most primitive ornithuromorph birds are known from Asia, the new find supports a Eurasian origin for Ichthyornithidae.     

Role of environmental changes in the spread of malaria in Europe during the Holocene

This article proposes the hypothesis that environmental changes altering mosquito breeding sites in coastal wetlands had a substantial influence on the history of malaria in many parts of Europe during the Holocene. The effects of both climatic and landscape changes on malaria itself and its vector mosquitoes are considered. It is argued that the forms of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum that occurred in southern Europe in the past actually evolved in North Africa and the Near East and that its most important vectors in southern Europe in the past (Anopheles labranchiae and A. sacharovi) also came from North Africa and the Near East. It is suggested that the establishment of these mosquitoes in many parts of southern Europe was facilitated by substantial landscape changes which coincided with the spread of the disease as documented by written sources. The relationship of malaria to environmental change in northern Europe is also reviewed briefly.     

A New Material of Lindera (Lauraceae) of the Late Pliocene from Tengchong, Yunnan and the Genus' Biogeography Significance

Lindera is a large genus of graceful, pleasantly scented and common native trees and shrubs of southern China and neighboring regions of SE Asia. There is a well-documented Cenozoic fossil record not only in these regions but also from elsewhere. A new fossil leaf record has been found in diatomite beds from the Upper Pliocene Mangbang Formation of Tuantian, Tengchong County, Yunnan. The leaves are identified and assigned to Lindera acuminatissima K. Q. Dao et B. N. Sun sp. nov., by comparing their leaf architecture and epidermal characteristics with those of 51 extant Lauraceae species and with 15 known fossil Lindera taxa. The specimens have well-preserved cuticles, with typical leaf architecture and epidermal characteristics of the Lauraceae, including entire leaf margin, intramarginal veins, basal ternate acrodromous primary veins, one-cell trichome base, paracytic stomatal apparatus, sunken guard cells, subsidiary hardly staining cells and presence of oil cells. These characteristics are consistent with Lindera sect. Daphnidium but are different from reported fossil and extant species of Lindera. The cuticles of Lindera are fragile and delicate with only three Lindera fossils reported based on this tissue. In terms of paleobiogeography, the fossil record indicates that Lindera is distributed in high- to mid-latitude regions of the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene northern hemisphere. Coincidentally, the records of Lindera located on both sides of the Bering Land Bridge possibly support the hypothesis that ancient plants extended via transcontinental exchanges through the Bering Corridor. In the Eocene, ancient Lindera spread to Europe through the Northern Degeer Route and the Southern Thulian Route. At the same time, ancient Lindera spread into Central Asia. Climatic changes and tectonization since the Neogene prevented the propagation of Lindera throughout Asia, North America and Europe, and hence the distribution areas have just regressed to the low-latitude regions in Asia and North America. From the Paleogene to the Neogene, Lindera has changed its distribution by surviving extreme climate changes. Quaternary glaciations ultimately led to Lindera becoming extinct in Europe. The new record from Tengchong, Yunnan, with its lower latitude located in tropical and subtropical regions, indicates that Lindera has lived in those regions since the late Pliocene.     

柏科扁柏属(Chamaecyparis，Cupressaceae)的生物地理演化历史

现生扁柏属(Chamaecyparis)植物仅有5个种零星分布在北美东西部、日本和我国台湾地区,其现代分布区形成的原因一直是植物学家关注的问题。以往的研究利用现代分子生物学方法或化石记录对该属的分布区演化进行过一些探讨,但尚有争议。本文结合扁柏属最新的化石证据以及现代分子生物学的研究结果,对其生物地理演化历史进行了详细的分析。化石证据显示,地史时期该属种类较现在丰富,自早白垩世以来广泛地分布在北半球的中高纬度地区。根据化石记录推测扁柏属植物很可能在早白垩世起源于东亚地区,晚白垩世时已通过白令陆桥传播至北美西部并进一步传播至北美高纬度地区,北美东部目前尚缺少化石记录,该区域的扁柏植物可能是从欧洲或者北美高纬度地区迁徙而来。欧洲扁柏可能在渐新世由北美通过北大西洋陆桥传播而来,或从东亚地区传播而来。新近纪气候持续变冷以及受第四纪冰期的影响,使扁柏属在欧洲、亚洲中西部以及北美中部局部灭绝,东亚大陆的种不断向南迁移至日本岛和台湾岛,最后在亚洲大陆消失,最终形成了该属在北美东西部、日本和台湾局限分布的地理格局。     

A new crinoid from the Mississippian (Early Carboniferous) of South Pembrokeshire,Wales

A new species of cladid crinoid, Hylodecrinus cymrus, is described from the Pembroke Limestone Group (Mississippian, Tournaisian, Courceyan) of West Angle Bay in south Pembrokeshire, Wales. It has a medium bowl‐shaped aboral cup, with strong ridges extending across the basals and radials forming pits at the plate corners. It is most similar to the late Tournaisian H. carinatus (Hall, 1861) of North America but differs in having less strongly cuneate brachials that are longer than wide with more subtle carinae on the aboral side. This specimen represents the first report of this genus from Europe, which most probably migrated from North America. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Iberanaia iberica: The first record of the Trigonioidoidea Bivalvia: Unionoida from the Lower Cretaceous of Teruel, Spain

The first record of the superfamily Trigonioidoidea (Order: Unionoida) from the Lower Cretaceous of Teruel, Spain is described and compared to known taxa from Europe and Asia. This is a new record of the Trigonioidoidea from Europe, following material described from the Barremian of the Isle of Wight (southern England) and Aptian-Barremian from Iberian Range (Spain). The new material, recorded from the Albian of the Escucha Formation (“Barriada” Member) in Utrillas (Teruel, northeastern of Spain), comprises four specimens. Analysis of the main morphological characters including anterior musculature, dentition, and ornamentation indicates that this material constitutes a new genus and species, Iberanaia iberica. The palaeoenvironment in which the bivalves lived corresponds to a fluvial-palustral setting connected to a deltaic system.     

Occurrence of the Indian genus Hemibos (Bovini, Bovidae, Mammalia) at the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition in Italy

The morphology of the horn-core structure and section shape of the Bos galerianus type specimen, as well as the general anatomy of the frontal and occipital areas of the skull, suggest that the skull is better attributed to the Indian genus Hemibos. This finding contributes to our understanding of faunal dispersal patterns into Europe at the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition.     

The Serpukhovian Stage in the Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section,South Urals

The paper describes a Serpukhovian Stage section, exposed along the Ural River near the village of Verkhnyaya Kardailovka (Bashkortostan). The section is uniquely complete and is proposed as a GSSP candidate for the base of the Serpukhovian. The Upper Visean and Serpukhovian beds are represented by relatively deep facies, which contain ammonoids, conodonts, ostracods, foraminifers, and other fossils. The section is described bed-by-bed and subdivided into zones based on four faunal groups. The lower boundary of the Serpukhovian is placed at the base of the Lochriea ziegleri conodont zone. The stratigraphic units are correlated with synchronous beds of the East European Platform, the Donets Basin, Western Europe, Central Asia, and North America.     

新疆乌伦古河地区第三纪哺乳动物群初析及地层年代确定

新疆准噶尔盆地北缘乌伦古河地区第三纪含有 7个哺乳动物群 :可可买登动物群 ,哈拉玛盖动物群 ,索索泉组顶部动物群 ,索索泉动物群 ,索索泉组底部 990 0 5动物群 ,铁尔斯哈巴合动物群和乌伦古河动物群。依据动物群分析初步确定 5个岩石地层单元的地质时代分别为 :可可买登组——中中新世晚期 ;哈拉玛盖组——中中新世早期 ,索索泉组——最早中新世至早中新世最晚期或中中新世最早期 ;铁尔斯哈巴合组——晚渐新世 ;乌伦古河组——早始新世至早渐新世。