我国早期生命进化研究的进展和展望

概述了中国在晚前寒武纪——寒武纪生物化石群研究多方面(尤其是大化石)的主要成就。其中,近年发现的震旦纪陡山沱期化石生物(包括庙河生物群和蓝田植物群),对植物界的进化说来是个重要阶段;早寒武世澄江生物群(包括软躯体生物和软部保存的带骨骼生物)早于国外著名的布吉斯页岩生物群,逼近了带骨骼动物最初的爆发式辐射期。这些珍稀化石的研究将促进对早期生物进化历程的重新认识。这个研究领域有无可限量的前景。

PROGRESS AND PROSPECT IN THE STUDIES ON EARLY EVOLUTION OF LIFE IN CHINA

The many achievements in the study on. the fossils (in especial megafossils) of late Precambrian - Cambrian in China are outlined. Among them, the organic fossils (including Miaohe Biota and Lan-tian Flora) in the Doushantuo stage of Upper Sinian discovered in recent years demonstrated an important stage for the early diversification of the plant kingdom; the early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota (bearing the soft-bodied fossils and skeletal fossils but with well-preserved soft-parts) is earlier than the famous Burgess Shale fauna and very close to the first 'explosion' radiation of the metazoan with hard parts (so-called small shelly fossils) . The studies on such exceptional and valuable fossil communities will lead to reconsidering the evolutionary processes of early life. The prospectsin this field are then brilliant.