怀念敬爱的导师、杰出的地质学家和古生物学家尹赞勋先生

尹赞勋教授是我国一位杰出的地质学家和古生物学家,他把自己整个一生贡献给中国地质学的发展和进步。本文记述他在中国科学院地质研究所工作期间的部分学术生涯,并涉及他指导年青科学工作者如何进行化石的研究,如何有效地开展科学研究,如何阅读英文书籍和文献等。所有这些教导对正在从事地质和古生物研究的年青一代将有重要意义。     

Professor Roman Kozlowski: Seventy-fifth birthday

The distinguished career of the founder and director emeritus of the Institute of Paleozoology, Warsaw University, is summarized. As a young man he worked in South America (mainly Bolivia); the remainder of his career has been associated with Poland, where he initiated the monographic series, Palaeontologia Polonica and the quarterly "Acta." This outstanding geologist and paleontologist contributed greatly to knowledge of the biology of several groups of fossils (brachiopods, chitinozoas, hydrozoans, histrichospherids, scolecodonts) and is best known for his graptolite studies. He discovered several new orders of Graptolithina (Tuboidea, Camaroidea, Stolonoidea, Crustoidea) and proved the phylum belongs to Hemicordata. Twenty-one of his major paleontological works are listed. — L. M. Cumming.     

Enigmatic ribbon-like fossil from Early Cambrian of Yunnan,China

During the Late Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian, a series of paleogeographic and paleoecological events occurred associated with deglaciations and the evolution of life. The appearance of fossils representing diverse phyla, novel body plans and complex ecologies in Ediacaran and Cambrian sedimentary successions has sparked diverse hypotheses about potential drivers for the radiation of early animals during this interval. Recently, new macroscopic fossils of carbonaceous compressions with unique features have been found in Anning, Yunnan, China. The fossils’ bodies are ribbon-shaped and bilaterally symmetric, with dense longitudinal features and transversal features. The fossils occur 0.68 m below a bentonite interlayer which has been dated 535.2 ± 1.7 Ma by Ri-xiang Zhu and his team in 2009. The relatively simply morphology of these fossils, coupled with a lack of preserved internal structures challenge efforts taxonomically identify the precursor organism and definitively ally it to a living group. However, the symmetry and unusual features of the body are analogous to members of Platyzoa. The presence of ribbon-shaped fossils in the Zhongyicun Member in Anning indicates that these organisms were at least a locally significant component of Cambrian seafloor ecosystems, and may hold important implications for our understanding of the early evolution of Bilateria.     

Off the Shelves—new dinosaur species from Western Canada and the importance of museum collections,again

It seems almost on a weekly basis that a new discovery in palaeontology is announced. Perhaps, in part, this is because the outlets for publishing have increased, with new online publications, or at least—once paper and bound only—the traditional sources now have internet accessibility allowing priory viewing to the print version. There is also the fact that dinosaurs and other fossils (and the ideas that surround them) are a marketable item; for authors, and the institutions that house the specimens or researchers. The fact is that in a news cycle, which is almost below hourly, and amongst the sensational stress and despair of many of the stories, fossils are a quick ‘feel‐good’ or minimally distractive piece. Collectively, palaeontologists and their fossils are more often than not taking advantage of these public opportunities.     

Biotic characteristics of the Sinian-Cambrian boundary beds in China and the boundary problems

There is general agreement that the first appearance of various small shelly fossils should be used to help delineate the beginning of the Cambrian Period. The history of research on this stratigraphic topic in China is briefly outlined and leads on to a discussion of the boundary problem in the light of information available both inside and outside China.The sections across the Precambrian—Cambrian (Sinian—Cambrian) boundary are described with notes on fossils in: (1) Tianzhushan section, Yichang, Hubei; (2) Maidiping section, Emli, Sichuan; (3) Wangjiawan section, Jinning County, Yunnan; and (4) Kunyang section, Yunnan.This is followed by a consideration of the biotic characteristics of Sinian—Cambrian Period. The history of research on this stratigraphic topic in China is briefly outlined and leads on to a discussion of the boundary problem in the light of information available both inside and outside China. This is followed by a consideration of the biotic characteristics of Sinian—Cambrian boundary beds, with respect to stratigraphy as well as organic evolution. The Precambrian—Cambrian boundary in China is estimated to have an age of 615 ± 20 Ma.It is commented that the above sections are qualified to be important candidates for the selection of the Sinian—Cambrian boundary stratotype and are also important working reference sections for the international Precambrian—Cambrian boundary stratotype.     

论淮南生物群

淮南生物群 (Huainan Biota)产于安徽淮南地区新元古代淮南群中 ,由宏观藻类 Chuaria- Tawuia组合和蠕形动物 Pararenicola- Paleolina组合组成 ,可与加拿大西北麦肯齐山新元古代小达尔群 (L ittle Dal Group)小达尔生物群 (L ittle Dal Biota)对比 ,为新元古代大冰期前的一个特有生物群落 ,地质时代为前震旦纪 (本文的震旦纪即目前的南华纪至震旦纪 ) ,时限约为 85 0— 75 0 Ma,从而将前人所定淮南生物群为青白口纪至震旦纪的时代结论修订为前震旦纪。这对我国乃至国际上新元古代地层层序的重新划分与对比 ,以及新元古代早期生命演化研究等都具有重大的理论意义和实际价值。文中还着重论述了淮南生物群的组合特征和特定的生物发展阶段 ,而区别于青白口纪和震旦纪的生物群落 ,并通过洲际对比 ,讨论了淮南生物群的地层学意义     

中国恐龙蛋化石及其生态地层浅析

文章系统地对中国恐龙蛋化石的地理分布作了总结,并将恐龙蛋化石类型归纳为９科,１３属,２１种。在此基础上,着重分析了恐龙蛋化石古生态特征,分别从蛋化石的排列方式,恐龙产蛋的方式,不同类型蛋化石间及蛋化石与骨骼化石共生几方面作了探讨,并进一步阐述恐龙蛋化石在晚白垩世地层划分对比所具有的直接指示意义     

New data on Late Riphean volcanism in northern part of the Yenisey ridge

New species of organic fossils are described from the Precambrian Valday series on the Onega peninsula. This ancient Precambrian faunal locality was discovered in 1973; the first fossils described from it were pteridinians, assigned somewhat tentatively to the species Pteridinium simplex Gürich (AN SSSR, Izvestiya ser. geol., no. 12, 1974). The present article describes scyphomedusas assigned to a new genus and species (Albumares brunsae Fedonkin), typical Pteridinium simplex Gürich, Dickinsonia costata Sprigg, and new arthropod genera and species — Onega stepanovi Fedonkin and Vendomia menneri Keller. The species assemblage found shows that the Valday series on the Onega peninsula is of the same age as the Pound sandstones of Ediacara province in Australia. —Authors.     

Curt Teichert - Dokumente zu einer Emigration (Dänemark - Australien - USA)

Curt Teichert (K?nigsberg 1905—Arlington, Virginia 1996) provides in his life story examples of the many hardships and difficulties encountered by emigrants who were fortunate to escape Hitler′s regime. He was a great paleontologist and stratigrapher whose fieldwork on four continents involved nearly every fossil group; his interests were focussed mainly on the Paleozoic and the Triassic. His results and critical remarks on many general topics filled numerous publications. Remarkably, he accomplished all this under partly very unfavorable working conditions. He donated his scientific correspondence from his times in Germany, Denmark and Australia to the Geological Archive in Freiburg. The following article makes use of these documents. Teichert’s professional career started in Germany in the scientifically exciting nineteen-twenties; he worked at the universities in K?nigsberg, Munich and Freiburg/Breisgau. In Freiburg, however, he had serious disagreements with the Director of the Geological Institute there—this in spite of his investigations having produced some excellent results. The times around 1930 were a period of a global economic crisis, and, like many others, he could only survive financially by getting fellowships from different institutions and payments for publications. In 1933, his situation in Germany became even more critical: this was because he had married a “Non-Aryan”. However, he was able to work in Copenhagen from the end of 1933; this was largely a result of his having participated in 1931–1932 in an expedition to Greenland led by the Dane Lauge Koch. Unfortunately, he could not get a permanent position in Copenhagen because the relations between him and the influential Koch became very unpleasant. Noting Hitler′s war preparation, Teichert tried to escape from Europe. He wrote many touching letters to correspondents around the globe, receiving mostly disappointing answers. Finally, in 1937, he succeeded in getting the post of a research paleontologist at the University of Perth, in Western Australia. There he worked very successfully, both in the field and in the laboratory. Additionally, he cooperated with the University in lecturing, and contributed much to its collections. His wife Gertrud assisted him always in his work, with great effectiveness. Yet tenure still eluded him, even after seven years of hard work—tenure was what he wanted, understandably, especially after such a long period of uncertainty. Finally, he succeeded in getting tenure in Eastern Australia , but moved then to the USA in 1954. There his outstanding scientific qualities were fully recognized, both in the Geological Survey and in several universities, also as an editor of several classic publications.     

Confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman imagery of ancient microscopic fossils

Among all problems confronting the study of ancient permineralized (petrified) microscopic fossils, two stand out, the need for (1) accurate documentation of their three-dimensional morphology, and (2) direct analysis of their chemical composition and that of their surrounding mineral matrices. To address these problems we demonstrate the use of two techniques that we have recently introduced to Precambrian paleobiology: confocal laser scanning microscopy and Raman imagery. These techniques, both of which are non-intrusive and non-destructive, can provide data by which to characterize, in situ and at micron-scale resolution, the cellular and organismal morphology of thin section-embedded organic-walled fossils. In addition, Raman imagery provides direct analyses of the molecular–structural composition of the kerogenous components of such fossils and of their surrounding matrices, and a means to assess quantitatively the geochemical maturity of the preserved organics. Use of these techniques for studies of ancient microscopic fossils can provide information in three dimensions at high spatial resolution about their morphology and cellular anatomy, taphonomy and fidelity of preservation, composition and mode of preservation, and their biogenicity and syngenetic origin with the rocks in which they occur.     

再论“建始人”时代

就施林峰同志对湖北建始龙骨洞“建始人”的时代提出的异议进行讨论。哺乳动物化石、古人类化石和沉积速率研究表明,龙骨洞古地磁柱的两个正极性事件应与奥都威亚时和留尼旺亚时对比。     

THE PERMIAN SYSTEM OF THE NUJIANG—LANCANGJIANG—JINSHAJIANG AREA, SOUTHWESTERN CHINA

THE PERMIAN SYSTEM OF THE NUJIANG—LANCANGJIANG—JINSHAJIANG AREA, SOUTHWESTERN CHINA     

Biogenicity of Earth's earliest fossils: A resolution of the controversy

The abundant and diverse assemblage of filamentous microbial fossils and associated organic matter permineralized in the ~ 3465 Ma Apex chert of northwestern Australia — widely regarded as among the oldest records of life — have been investigated intensively. First reported in 1987 and formally described in 1992 and 1993, the biogenicity of the Apex fossils was questioned in 2002 and in three subsequent reports. However, as is shown here by use of analytical techniques unavailable twenty years ago, the Apex filaments are now established to be bona fide fossil microbes composed of three-dimensionally cylindrical organic- (kerogenous-) walled cells. Backed by a large body of supporting evidence of similar age — other microfossils, stromatolites, and carbon isotopic data — it seems clear that microbial life was present and flourishing on the early Earth ~ 3500 Ma ago.     

兰州-民和盆地恐龙足印赋存特征及寻找方向

兰州—民和盆地恐龙足印化石形态具很大的不同。恐龙足印化石形态与古环境紧密相关。盆地扩张时期的滨岸环境是恐龙足印化石赋存的最佳环境。     

In the footsteps of Alexander the Great: searching for the origins of ancient zooplankton on the wild steppe of Central Asia

Rising above the modern town of Nurata, in Navoiy Province, eastern Uzbekistan is the ancient fortress of Alexander the Great, built as part of Alexander's campaigns to subjugate the Persian‐speaking Sogdian peoples that lived in this province of the Persian Empire in the 4th Century bc . Alexander passed this way in 327 bc , marching his ancient army through this beautiful but desolate landscape, and conquering all before him. His fortress was built in a strategic place at the boundary between fertile agricultural lands and a dry and uncompromising vastness of steppe that lies to the east. From Nurata, about one hour drive by car along a road that cuts eastwards across the desert, is the sleepy town of Jo'sh. In the mountains beyond Jo'sh sits the hamlet of Kanda, a few mud‐brick houses nestling at the head of a small valley where a spring emerges miraculously from a bone‐dry landscape. Hereabouts are telltale signs of ancient marine deposits yielding graptolites from rocks of the Silurian system. And in these rocks are the fossils of tiny arthropods that mark a fundamental shift in the marine arthropod zooplankton 425 million years ago. It is these fossils that we have chased halfway across the world to the steppe of Central Asia.     

From bone to pixel—fossil restoration and reconstruction with digital techniques

Fossils represent the only physical evidence for the existence of extinct life, and hold a vast potential to reconstruct organisms and ecosystems vanished a long time ago. Yet fossils are not as complete as they might appear in museum exhibits, documentaries or Hollywood blockbusters. Millions of years of fossilization have left their marks on the fossils, which might no longer resemble the condition of the organism when it was alive. A key challenge in palaeontology is therefore to restore and reconstruct the morphology of fossils. Luckily, novel digital visualization and reconstruction techniques offer powerful tools to bring extinct organisms back to life in unprecedented detail.     

柴达木盆地东北缘中新统遗迹化石组合及其沉积环境

研究遗迹化石对于恢复古生物活动方式、习性和古环境具有重要意义。在柴达木盆地东北缘双湖地区中新统发现了遗迹化石。经鉴定,研究区的遗迹化石主要包括2大类4属4种:居住迹Palaeopycus heberti（赫伯特古藻迹）,Skolithos verticalis（垂直石针迹）;进食迹Scoyenia gracilis（纤细斯柯茵迹）和Taenidium satanassi（箱形条带迹）。根据研究区的遗迹化石分布及沉积环境分析,该地可划分出一个遗迹组合:Scoyenia-Taenidium-Skolithos遗迹组合, 代表了潮湿气候条件下的浅湖环境。当前化石的发现填补了柴达木盆地东北缘双湖地区中新世遗迹化石研究的空白。     

贵州遵义寒武系底部硅质岩中细菌状化石的发现

通过扫描电镜精细观测,在贵州遵义松林地区早寒武世黑色岩系剖面,于其底部的硅质页岩中发现了可能的细菌状化石,直径200～500 nm,形态不一,具有细菌的大小和形状,有机碳含量丰富,大部分细菌含磷.通过与已有报道中具相似形态生物体的对比,认为其可能是原生的、具有细菌生物结构的微生物小球体(Microbioids),本文称之为细菌状化石.这类细菌状化石可以赋存于石英颗粒表面、石英颗粒间,甚至嵌入石英颗粒中.据前人的模拟实验推测,细菌在石英颗粒沉淀过程中可能起到过重要促进作用,这从微观上为硅质岩的形成提供了新信息.     

Discovery of Trace Fossils from the Sinian—Cambrian Boundary Beds in Eastern Yunnan and Their Significance for Global Correlation1

Abstract There are abundant and highly varied trace fossils in the Sinian—Cambrian boundary beds in eastern Yunnan. Collections from 27 sections and their study give altogether 45 ichnogenera and 87 ichnospecies. Among them, 2 ichnogenera and 7 ichnospecies are new, and 31 known ichnogenera and 38 known ichnospecies first found in the region. According to their order of appearance in the boundary beds and their assemblage features, the trace fossils in the Sinian—Cambrian boundary beds in the region may fall into 4 trace fossil assemblage zones in ascending order. In the paper they are correlated with those in the equivalent horizons abroad and their geological significance is discussed preliminarily.     

中国人类化石研究对古人类学的贡献

中国人类化石研究为古人类学增添大量具体资料,并且促进了人类进化理论的发展。北京直立人化石的研究将人类的化石记录肯定地推前到0．50MaB．P。对大量化石的研究将中国人类进化归纳为“连续进化附带杂交”的模式。这是对近年古人类学两大热点之一的现代人起源争论中关于东亚现代人来源的一项重要的贡献。此外,中国人类化石的研究还揭示在各个时期中中国的古人类存在明显的地区间差异。