First report on Guanshan Biota(Cambrian Stage 4) at the stratotype area of Wulongqing Formation in Malong County,Eastern Yunnan,China

Exceptionally preserved fossils,such as those from Cambrian Burgess Shale-type fossil-Lagerstatten are critical because of their unique contributions to knowledge of the phylogenetic radiation and palaeoecological expansion of metazoans during the Cambrian explosion.Critically,these deposits provide information that is usually unobtainable from shelly and skeletonized fossils alone.The Guanshan Biota(Cambrian Series 2,Stage 4)in the Yunnan Province of South China,has produced abundant and diverse,exquisitely preserved fossils that often retain soft tissues and organs.To date,most fossils from the Guanshan Biota have been collected from localities such as Gaoloufang and Gangtoucun,which have become inaccessible due to new urban expansions and constructions of residential buildings.Here we present the first report of soft bodied fossils from a new section at Kanfuqing,close to the Wulongqing village in Malong County,approximately 3 km east of the Wulongqing Formation stratotype section.Fossils retain soft morphology,and include brachiopods with delicate marginal setae,priapulids with well-preserved sclerites and vetulicolians with entire sections of body.In addition,this fauna includes rare occurrences of trilobites preserved with soft tissues replicated as pyrite pseudomorphs after weathering.This discovery represents an important palaeogeographical extension of soft-bodied fossils of the Guanshan fauna to the east of the Xiaojiang Fault(related to Tsinning tectonic movements ca.700 Ma).The fauna from the new Kanfuqing section is similar to that reported from the Wulongqing Formation west of the Xiaojiang Fault,and thus has significant implications for early Cambrian palaeogeography,faunal successions and palaeoenvironments of eastern Yunnan.     

A conodont-based Middle Triassic age assignment for the Luoping Biota of Yunnan,China

The Luoping Biota consists of abundant and well-preserved marine fishes, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants. It occurs in the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation in Daaozi Village of Luoping County, Yun-nan Province, China. Based on conodonts, the Luoping Biota is determined to lie within the Nicoraella kockeli Zone, which is assigned to the Pelsonian substage of the Anisian.     

Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in marine biota and coastal sediments from the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman

The composition and spatial distribution of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in biota and coastal sediments from four countries surrounding the Gulf (Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman). The levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), aliphatic unresolved mixture and PAHs in sediments and biota were relatively low compared to world-wide locations reported to be chronically contaminated by oil. Only in the case of the sediments collected near the BAPCO oil refinery in Bahrain, having concentrations of 779 μg g⁻¹ total petroleum hydrocarbon equivalents and 6.6 μg g⁻¹ ∑PAHs, can they be categorized as chronically contaminated. Some evidence of oil contamination was also apparent in sediments and bivalves around Akkah Head and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and near Mirbat in Oman. Contaminant patterns in sediments and biota indicated that the PAHs were mainly from fossil sources, with the exception of the high PAH concentrations in sediments near the BAPCO refinery that contained substantial concentrations of carcinogenic PAH combustion products.     

晚前寒武纪重要生物事件与事件地层界线

本文以生物绝灭及生物新生为主线,论述了国内外晚前寒武纪的几个主要生物出现事件——宏观藻类出现事件;后生软躯体动物出现与绝灭事件;带壳动物出现事件.通过这些生物事件,讨论了震旦-寒武系界线目前存在的几种看法,指出了震旦-寒武系界线选在A点是有足够的生物学基础的,同时此界线也是一条重要的事件地层界线.     

Guanling Biota: A Marker of Triassic Biotic Recovery from the end-Permian Extinction in the Ancient Guizhou Sea

After a slow recovery from the end-Permian extinction during the Early Triassic and rapid radiation in the Middle Triassic, evolution of organisms reached a new peak phase in the Late Triassic. The Guanling Biota from the Wayao Member （conodont Paragondolella polygnathiformis Zone）, Falang Formation, Xinpu, Guanling County, Guizhou Province, southwestern China corresponds to this peak that marks the full recovery from the end-Permian extinction of marine ecosystems. The biota is of high diversity, containing well preserved and completely articulated skeletons of vertebrates comprising marine reptiles, fishes, and invertebrates including crinoids, ammonites, bivalves, and other fossils, and is one of the best examples of marine ecosystem records in life history. The fossil marine reptiles and crinoids are most significant in this biota, especially the marine reptiles, which provide an important link between the Triassic Pacific and Tethys, and between Triassic basal forms and the Jurassic-Cretaceous marine top predators. The most remarkable fossils are the large completely articulated ichthyosaur skeletons up to and more than 10 m, and the first recorded thalattosaurs and placodonts in China. Following our review, of the 17 named reptilian taxa the eight listed here are considered to be valid： three ichthyosaurs （Qianichthyosaurus zhoui Li, 1999; Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae Cao and Luo in Yin et al., 2000, Guanlingsaurus liangae Yin in Yin et al., 2000）, three thalattosaurs （Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis Liu, 1999, Xinpusaurus suni Yin in Yin et al., 2000, Xinpusaurus kohi Jiang et al., 2004）, and two placodonts （Sinocyamodus xinpuensis Li, 2000, Psephochelys polyosteoderma Li and Rieppel, 2002）. Mixosaurus guanlingensis Cao in Yin et al., 2000 might be a junior synonym of Qianichthyosaurus zhoui Li, 1999, and Cymbospondylus asiaticus Li and You, 2002 and Panjiangsaurus epicharis Chen and Cheng, 2003 might be junior synonyms of Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae Cao and Luo in Yin et al., 2000. It needs to re-describe the holotypes after a complete preparation for clarifying the taxonomic status of Typicusichthyosaurus tsaihuae Yu in Yin et al., 2000, Xinpusaurus bamaolinensis Cheng, 2003, Neosinosaurus hoangi （Zhou in Yin et al., 2000）, Wayaosaurus geei Zhou in Yin et al., 2000, Wayaosaurus bellus Zhou in Yin et al., 2000 and Placochelys ？ minutus Yin and Luo in Yin et al., 2000.     

贵州关岭动物群产出地层的地球化学特征及其对物源和沉积环境的指示意义

对贵州关岭晚三叠统法郎组瓦窑段底部的毛凹剖面系统地采集了105个岩石样品，测定了样品中的36种化学元素含量。作者对它们进行元素富集因子（EF）分析、R型聚类分析、R型因子分析、元素和氧化物的含量与Al2O3的含量比值以及δCe在剖面中垂向变化的分析，讨论了元素含量变化的制约因素、沉积物的来源、古海洋氧化还原条件的变化、关岭动物群的埋藏环境。结果表明：研究的5.2 ~17.7 m段剖面地层以陆源碎屑和生物碎屑混合沉积为主，沉积物来源于陆壳，而不是火山和热液的来源，其沉积的氧化还原条件多次反复变化；元素的含量变化主要受陆源物质、氧化还原条件、生物碎屑以及成岩作用控制；从元素地层学角度将所研究的剖面段从下到上可划分为4层，第1层至第4层元素对比值曲线呈现出平缓波动-频繁波动-平缓波动的周期性变化特征；该段偏还原的环境对海百合及海生爬行动物化石的保存和埋藏起了良好的作用。     

对西天山石炭纪地层及生物群的一些认识

据前人资料结合1∶25万区调新资料研究成果,对西天山石炭纪典型岩石地层单位及时代、基本特征形成一些新的认识.对新疆北部石炭系腕足“管孔石燕动物群”、“安加拉植物群”及腕足“拟穆武贝动物群”的分布范围、生物区系意义进行总结和讨论.利用多年来西天山陆续发现的菊石化石,建立了本区7个石炭纪菊石带,并结合“R带”为主的菊石化石资料对西天山上、下石炭统年代界线进行讨论.     

New Macroscopic Problematic Fossil from the Early Cambrian Yanjiahe Biota,Yichang, Hubei,China

Yanjiahella gen. nov., a distinctive fossil taxon from the Early Cambrian Yanjiahe Biota in Yichang, Hubei Province, is characterized by: 1) an overall body plan composed of a stalk and a calyx (also arms in some species); 2) a stalk with closely spaced, transverse wrinkles and a medial, longitudinal ridge; and 3) a calyx preserved with three-dimensional radiating striations, as well as a probable madreporite in some specimens. Three species that can be assigned to this genus, which are Y. ancarpa sp. nov., Y. monocarpa sp. nov., and Y. biscarpa sp. nov. Yanjiahella is comparable to certain echinoderm taxa in terms of morphology and some biological structures, which might indicate the early evolution and diversification of ancestral echinoderm lineages from the early Early Cambrian Yangtze Platform. The discovery of putative echinoderms in the Yanjiahe Biota provides significant clues about the origination and evolution of the deuterostome phylum Echinodermata.     

中国水生蜥与潜龙名称合法性之争

热河生物群中有一种水生爬行动物,以长颈、长尾、小头颅为主要特征。在研究中,不同学者使用了不同的学名,构成了同物异名。简要回顾它的研究历史,主要讨论究竟哪一个学名是合法有效名称。根据国际动物学命名法规,认为中国水生蜥(Sinohydrosaurus)命名在先,是合法有效名称,而潜龙(Hyphalosaurus)为无效名称,应当废弃。     

黔东北震旦纪陡山沱晚期庙河型生物群的生态特征及埋藏环境初探

贵州省东北部江口县桃映震旦纪陡山沱组上部发现的庙河型生物群,包括宏体藻类、可能的后生动物、遗迹化石以及其它生物化石等,进一步证实这类宏体生物群在扬子地区震旦纪陡山沱晚期有较为广泛的分布。通过与鄂西庙河生物群、皖南蓝田植物群的对比,震旦纪陡山沱晚期宏体生物群的生活环境主要为开阔浅海向台缘斜坡相过渡地带。通过对黔东北庙河型生物群的研究,认为陡山沱晚期的宏体生物群为以营固着生活方式为主,生活于透光性较好、具有一定水动力条件和一定含氧量的相对静水贫氧浅海环境;其固着基底为富含水份的未固结的粥性-软质基底。这些宏体生物群多呈半漂浮状竖立于海底,构成初步的“海底草原”,为生物群中依赖一定氧而生活、生长和繁殖的动物提供了必要的支持。生物死亡后,大部分生物躯体倒伏于沉积物表面,在贫氧和较快沉积速率的沉积环境中,生物遗体被较好保存,并很快被沉积物所埋藏。随着沉积物的增厚,生物遗体被完全封闭,导致生物遗体腐烂和分解过程终止,使其得以很好保存。较快的沉积速率、贫氧和相对平静水体的环境是生物群得以很好保存的重要因素。