山东山旺中新世植物群研究进展

 山旺盆地位于东经118º,北纬36º,是一个中新世中期内陆湖泊沉积盆地。地层内保存了丰富的植物及动物化石。自40年代至今,已对山旺中新世植物群中的大植物化石(87属125种),植物孢粉(41属71种),硅藻(16属45种)及真菌(9属15种)进行了详细的研究。考虑到山旺中新世植物群处于全球气候变化的转折期,对其进行埋藏学,古环境重建等深入细致的研究,对阐明全球中新世气候变化的机制具有重要意义。     

山旺中新世叶蜂科新属和新种（膜翅目：叶蜂科）

山旺,位于我国山东省临朐县东22公里,这里的中新世沉积的硅藻土页岩中含有大量动物和植物化石。山旺化石以其种类丰富、保存完美、具有较高的科学研究价值而闻名于世,一直得到国内外古生物工作者的重视和关注。山旺昆虫化石的研究对于恢复中新世山旺地区古地理、古气候、古沉积环境和寻找我国经济建设中急需的硅藻土矿等方面有重要意义。 本文所描述的叶蜂科1新属3新种,是山旺化石昆虫群中最新发现;标本由张希雨同志采集;现保存在山东地质博物馆。     

《山旺植物化石》

正值世纪之交的时刻 ,由山东科技出版社推出了一本我国晚新生代的著作———《山旺植物化石》（孙博主编 ,陶君容、王宪曾、李佳英等撰写 ,这是我国古生物研究中较全面系统地总结了这一重要中新世陆相沉积盆地的古植物研究成果 ,成为今后这一时期对山旺盆地乃至中国中新世植物化石研究的一本有指导性的著作。该书是在对前人工作的总结基础上 ,更系统全面地研究了产自山旺组的大植物化石、及所组成的古植物区系和古植被面貌 ;细致分析了山旺组孢粉植物区系的特点 ,并利用这些资料探讨地层时代 ,古气候特征等问题 ,运用硅藻土纹层中孢粉组合特…     

山东山旺蝉类和蝽类昆虫化石

一、前言山旺位于山东省临朐县城东22km,是世界上最著名的化石产地之一。这里的中新世山旺组硅藻土页岩中富含种类繁多,保存完美的化石。山旺昆虫化石的研究,不但在恢复中新世山旺地区古地理、古气候和古沉积环境等方面有重要意义,而且对找寻与硅藻土矿等有关的国民经济急需的矿产资源也有一定的作用。     

山东临朐中新世山旺组昆虫蛀蚀遗迹

本文研究的昆虫遗迹化石材料产自山东临朐中新统山旺组,是鞘翅目棘胫小蠹虫科单配类群的雌虫在成熟后钻入榆树皮内产卵及孵化的幼虫成长时食木质部而留下的幼虫室雕痕。此遗迹化石的发现证明在中新世时中国华北地区已有小蠧虫生存,为丰富的山旺昆虫化石又增加新记录。     

救救国宝

最近,笔者从山东省临朐县获悉,世界著名的“化石宝库”——山旺古生物化石产地,饱经风吹日晒、雨淋水浸,损失严重。国内外专家学者和管理部门呼吁:尽快采取有效措施,救救稀世国宝。山旺,位于山东省临朐县城东22公里处。这里的地层形成于距今大约1800万年,地质历史上属于中中新世,我国古人曾形象地将这里的地层比喻为“万卷书”。1934年秋,我国古生物学家杨钟健和卞美年教在访问齐鲁大学地质系主任Scott教授时获悉,临朐县山旺有保存很好的植物和鱼化石,翌年5月杨钟健追索至山旺,除植物和鱼化石外,又发现了昆虫、两栖、爬行和哺乳动物化石。1936年杨钟健发表了山旺地层古生物的第一篇科学论文,将角岩山下的砂砾岩和     

青藏高原常见早熟禾亚科植硅体形态特征初步研究

文章对采自青藏高原地区早熟禾亚科（Pooideae）常见的10属19种现代植物进行详细的植硅体形态描述、分类、统计、测量和对比。分析发现：青藏高原现生植物早熟禾亚科（Pooideae）特有的植硅体形态主要包括帽型、齿型、针茅哑铃型和针茅多铃型,同时发育塔型、棒型、尖型、刺球型等其它亚科常见的类型。初步明确了部分属一级的植硅体形态特点,例如,羊茅属（Festuca）、早熟禾属（Poa）等主要发育尖顶帽型;长芒草（Stipa bungeana Trin．）、赖草（Leymus secalinus（Georgi）Tzvel．）等主要发育平顶帽型;针茅属（Stipa）主要发育针茅哑铃型;早熟禾属（Poa）、三毛草属（Trisetum）同时发育较丰富的帽型和齿型。为进一步地深入研究该区草原植被群落的演替过程和规律提供了植硅体形态学分析的基础。     

内蒙古典型草原禾本科植硅体形态

运用地层中植硅体组合解释过去草原植被及气候变化的关键之一,是要了解研究区现代植硅体形态及表土植硅体组合与现代植被的关系。文中研究内蒙古典型草原禾本科植物根、茎、叶、芒以及种子等不同部位的植硅体,对其中的12种主要禾本科植物叶表皮短细胞硅酸体进行分类及统计。研究表明：内蒙古典型草原禾本科叶表皮短细胞硅酸体可分为8种特殊形态类型。C3植物早熟禾亚科的叶表皮短细胞硅酸体形态多样。几乎所有早熟禾亚科都能产生圆型硅酸体,以贝加尔针茅(85．5％)、大针茅(89．7％)、克氏针茅(90％)以及芨芨草(96．6％)中的圆型硅酸体含量最丰富。针茅哑铃型主要见于针茅植物叶表皮短细胞中,克氏针茅的针茅哑铃型含量相对较高。羊草中未见针茅哑铃型硅酸体。浴草、披缄草叶表皮短细胞硅酸体以齿型为主,分别含87．3％和57．2％,齿型在硬质早熟禾中也占一定比例。沙生冰草中的脊圆型占优势,含74．4％。C3植物早熟禾亚科的叶表皮短细胞产生的截锥型硅酸体含量较少。C4植物虎尾草亚科中的糙隐子草叶表皮短细胞硅酸体以黍哑铃型、简单哑铃型、鞍型为主;黍亚科狗尾草则以黍哑铃型占优势(82．9％)。     

山东山旺新发现的小哺乳动物化石

本文记述山东山旺新发现的小哺乳动物化石: Ansomys shanwangensis sp. nov.和 Plesiosiurus aff. sinensis (Qiu et Lin, 1986). 它们的形态特征,分别与江苏泗洪中中新世下草湾动物群中相应属的种接近,但明显具有较高的进化水平.两动物群中小哺乳动物的对比似乎表明,山旺动物群的地质时代比下草湾动物群的略晚.     

晚中新世甘肃黑犀(Diceros gansuensis)的食性——基于牙结石淀粉粒证据

古动物食性研究是动物系统演化过程研究中的重要问题。牙结石中的微体植物化石如淀粉和植硅体等是揭示古代动物食性的重要依据。分析了中国甘肃晚中新世最早期郭泥沟动物群发现的甘肃黑犀(Dicros gansuensis)牙结石中淀粉粒的形态及组合特征,并结合现生植物嫩叶淀粉粒形态对比,探讨了黑犀的食性及其环境意义。结果显示,晚中新世甘肃黑犀以进食灌木枝叶(如忍冬科的繁果忍冬和猥实)和一些乔木类嫩叶(如胡桃科的胡桃)为主,同时可能会涉及一些草本植物(如蓼科酸模和毛莨科耧斗菜),这一结论与之前形态学研究结果相一致,并有所补充。首次将淀粉粒的形态数据前推至距今11.6 Ma的晚中新世,扩展了牙结石研究的对象和时间范围,为有关哺乳动物食性的研究打开了新视野。     

The spread of grass-dominated habitats in Turkey and surrounding areas during the Cenozoic: Phytolith evidence

The arrival of hipparionine horses in the eastern Mediterranean region around 11 Ma was traditionally thought to mark the simultaneous westward expansion of savanna vegetation across Eurasia. However, recent paleoecological reconstructions based on tooth wear, carbon isotopes, and functional morphology indicate that grasses played a minor role in Late Miocene ecosystems of the eastern Mediterranean, which were more likely dry woodlands or forests. The scarcity of grass macrofossils and pollen in Miocene floras of Europe and Asia Minor has been used to support this interpretation. Based on the combined evidence, it has therefore been suggested that Late Miocene ungulate faunal change in the eastern Mediterranean signals increased aridity and landscape openness, but not necessarily the development of grass-dominated habitats.

To shed new light on the Miocene evolution of eastern Mediterranean ecosystems, we used phytolith assemblages preserved in direct association with faunas as a proxy for paleovegetation structure (grassland vs. forest). We extracted phytoliths and other biogenic silica from sediment samples from well-known Early to Late Miocene ( 20–7 Ma) faunal localities in Greece, Turkey, and Iran. In addition, a Middle Eocene sample from Turkey yielded phytoliths and served as a baseline comparison for vegetation inference.

Phytolith analysis showed that the Middle Eocene assemblage consists of abundant grass phytoliths (grass silica short cells) interpreted as deriving from bambusoid grasses, as well as diverse forest indicator phytoliths from dicotyledonous angiosperms and palms, pointing to the presence of a woodland or forest with abundant bamboos. In contrast, the Miocene assemblages are dominated by diverse silica short cells typical of pooid open-habitat grasses. Forest indicator phytoliths are also present, but are rare in the Late Miocene (9–7 Ma) assemblages. Our analysis of the Miocene grass community composition is consistent with evidence from stable carbon isotopes from paleosols and ungulate tooth enamel, showing that C₄ grasses were rare in the Mediterranean throughout the Miocene. These data indicate that relatively open habitats had become common in Turkey and surrounding areas by at least the Early Miocene ( 20 Ma), > 7 million years before hipparionine horses reached Europe and arid conditions ensued, as judged by faunal data.     

Morphological variations of lobate phytoliths from grasses in China and the south-eastern United States

Abstract. Phytolith analysis of grasses is a useful tool in palaeoenvironmental and archaeobotanical research. Lobate phytolith is one of the most important morphotypes of grass phytoliths. This study describes morphological variations of diagnostic lobate phytoliths and produces a tentative classification scheme based on 250 modern grass species from China and the south‐eastern U.S.A. Eighty‐five grass species were found to contain lobate phytoliths. They are derived mainly from Panicoideae, but also include the Chloridoideae, Oryzoideae and Arundinoideae subfamilies. Twenty‐five lobate morphological types were observed from different subfamilies, genera or tribes of grasses, based on two important parameters: (1) the length of the lobate shank and (2) the shape of the outer margin of the two lobes. The identification of grass tribe or even genus is possible based on the differences in lobate shape parameters or the composition of assemblages. However, not all of the lobate assemblages have a definite relationship with the genera that produce them, because grasses can only produce a limited range of lobate shapes that often overlap from one genus to another. Several C₃ grasses and Chloridoideae subfamily grasses also produce characteristic lobate phytoliths. The variations of lobate morphologies can be related to environmental factors, especially moisture. Typical hygrophytic grasses tend to yield lobate phytoliths with very short shank, whereas typical xerophytic grasses tend to produce lobate phytoliths with a very long shank. The potential link between phytolith morphology, grass taxonomy and environmental conditions opens the possibility that phytolith morphology may be used as a proxy in palaeoclimatic reconstruction.     

Phytolith assemblages in grasses native to central Argentina

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Phytolith reference collections are a prerequisite for accurate interpretation of soil phytolith assemblages aimed at reconstructing past vegetation. In this study a phytolith reference collection has been developed for several grasses native to central Argentina: Poa ligularis, Piptochaetium napostaense, Stipa clarazii, Stipa tenuis, Stipa tenuissima, Stipa eriostachya, Stipa ambigua, Stipa brachychaeta, Pappophorum subbulbosum, Digitaria californica, Bothriochloa edwardsiana and Aristida subulata. METHODS: For each species, phytoliths present in the leaf blades were classified into 47 morphotypes, and their relative frequency determined by observing 300-400 phytoliths per sample (n = 5). Data were analyzed by complete linkage cluster analysis, using the Morisita Index as measure of association. KEY RESULTS: The results showed differentiation among phytolith assemblages at species level or at plant functional type level. Cluster analysis separated C3 from C4 species and palatable from non-palatable species. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the possibility of reconstructing past vegetation in central Argentina grasslands through the analysis of soil phytolith assemblages.     

内蒙古宁城中侏罗世九龙山组昆虫群落生态的初步研究

对内蒙古自治区宁城县山头乡中侏罗世九龙山组中昆虫群落进行了分析,共鉴别出3个昆虫群落：水生昆虫群落Mesobaetis sibirica-Yanliaocorixa chinensis,土壤昆虫群落Anthoscytina longa-Palaeointinodes haifanggouensis和森林草地昆虫群落Rhipidoblattina hebeiensis-Sinoprophalangopsis reticulata。根据定性和定量相结合的方法对各个昆虫群落的物种丰度,优势度和分异度等进行了分析。结果显示化石产地当时为近岸,浅水的湖泊环境,气候温暖,潮湿。     

Do soil phytoliths accurately represent plant communities in a temperate region? A case study of Northeast China

Modern soil phytoliths can potentially provide analogues for phytolith assemblages from archaeological and palaeoecological contexts. To assess the reliability of soil phytoliths for representing different plant communities, we analysed phytoliths in surface soils and parent plants at 65 sites representing five types of regional vegetation in Northeast China. The results demonstrated that surface soil phytolith assemblages could clearly differentiate samples from herbaceous and woody communities, and samples from Poaceae and non-Poaceae communities could be separated statistically. In addition, woody communities could be differentiated into a broadleaf-Poaceae community, a broadleaf-non-Poaceae community and a conifer and broadleaf-non-Poaceae community, except for some overlapping samples. Soil phytolith assemblages are thus able to differentiate regional vegetation types into different plant community types. In the present study, soil phytoliths represented about 30% of the phytoliths present in the aboveground vegetation. In addition, soil phytoliths from different communities reflected the aboveground vegetation with slightly different degrees of accuracy, and in addition different morphotypes exhibited different degrees of representational bias. Some morphotypes (e.g. rondel, elongate psilate, lanceolate) overrepresented the abundance of the associated plant taxa; morphotypes such as tracheid, conical epidermal, stomata and others under-represented the original plant richness; and other morphotypes, e.g. saddle, trapeziform sinuate, scutiform, were in good agreement with the numbers of plant taxa in the plot inventory. Thus, any quantitative palaeovegetation reconstruction using phytoliths should begin with the calibration of soil phytolith assemblages. We conclude that our findings provide improved phytolith analogues for different plant communities, with applications in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, and they also provide additional insights into the mechanisms of phytolith production and deposition.     

Phytolith analysis of Coprinisphaera,unlocking dung beetle behaviour,herbivore diets and palaeoenvironments along the Middle Eocene–Early Miocene of Patagonia

The analysis of the total number of phytoliths, and the absolute frequencies of the different morphotypes, extracted from fossil dung beetle brood balls (Coprinisphaera) from the Middle Eocene–Early Miocene Sarmiento Formation (Patagonia, Argentina), revealed that this trace fossil represents a concentrated locus for phytolith sampling. Particularly, differences found in the total number of phytoliths among parts of that trace fossil and the bearing paleosol, allowed to infer that the infilling represents mostly a sample of the original surrounding soil, whereas in most cases the wall shows a significantly higher number of phytoliths than in the paleosol or infilling. Modern brood balls also revealed that in an environment with high density of grasses, the walls, composed of soil and dung fibres, showed a lower concentration of phytoliths than the soil. In contrast, in other environment with scarce grass coverage, the dung, which had a higher concentration of phytoliths than the soil, added to the wall produced an increase in the number of phytoliths in it. Accordingly, the larger number of phytoliths of the Coprinisphaera wall in comparison with that of the paleosol, would be reflecting the addition of dung fibres to the wall in palaeoenvironments with moderate to poor presence of phytolith-bearing plants. The absence of differences in the total number of phytoliths between the internal and the external layer of the brood ball wall, suggests that the dung fibres would have been uniformly distributed in most of the wall, due to the addition of dung fibres during the brood ball construction by the dung beetle. In contrast, the absence of differences among wall and paleosol or infilling, could be suggesting that no dung fibres were added to construct the wall, that those added had no phytoliths, that the Coprinisphaera involved could had been a brood ball of a necrophagous scarab, or that the soils were richer in phytoltihs than the dung. Those balls that showed evidence of increased numbers of phytoliths in the wall, likely caused by dung fibres added to it, enable the study of diet preferences of the herbivores that produced the dung. Differences found in the phytolith morphotype frequencies among the wall, and the other two samples (infilling and paleosol), allow to infer that some herbivores were more generalists among phytolith-bearing plants feeding on the most abundant grasses and palms, whereas others preferred more rare grasses and dicots.     

Palaeoecological interpretation of the late Miocene landscapes and vegetation of northern Greece: A comment to Merceron et al., 2016 (Geobios 49, 135–146)

Recent works on feeding habits of ungulates, isotopic composition of equid tooth enamel, and phytoliths from late Miocene localities of northern Greece suggested the presence of savannah and excluded dense forests. Furthermore, Mediterranean-like climates were advocated for the late Miocene of Greece. Here, I compare palaeoenvironments inferred for two mammal localities from Chalkidiki and the Axios Valley (Nikiti, upper Vallesian and lower Turolian; Dytiko, upper Turolian) with evidence from contemporaneous plant assemblages from adjacent areas in Greece and Bulgaria. I use vegetation units inferred from pollen and spore, fruit and seed, and leaf assemblages and compare them with the vegetation inferred from mammal and phytolith data. Open vegetation as inferred from mammal and phytolith data is also part of the range of vegetation units discovered from the pollen and spore, seed and fruit, and leaf record (here called the palaeobotanical record). Poaceae are consistently present in late Vallesian to late Turolian pollen records of northern Greece. Further, a number of vegetation units are indicative of forest vegetation ranging from lowland to upland forests dominated by woody angiosperms and mixed coniferous-angiosperm forests. The presence of such forests is not in conflict with the results from mammal and phytolith studies, but it broadens the view on landscapes present in the late Miocene of northern Greece. In addition to a generalized vegetation type commonly inferred by mammal studies, the palaeobotanical record demonstrates the presence of various complementary vegetation types. A comprehensive view on late Miocene landscapes in northern Greece shows that there is no conflict in inferring open herb dominated landscapes and light to dense forests and provides new opportunities for the ecological interpretation of late Miocene ungulates.     

Taxonomic assessment of opal phytoliths from grasses of deltaic West Bengal,India

In the present study, taxonomic potential of opal phytoliths was examined in grasses from lower Gangetic delta, West Bengal, India. The study revealed that finer classification of phytoliths can increase the efficacy of opal silica as taxonomic proxy by minimizing the influences of multiplicity and redundancy. We isolated 187 phytolith sub‐morphotypes, categorized under 10 major groups, from 110 grass species belonging to 45 genera, 21 sub‐tribes, 13 tribes and 7 subfamilies. Cluster and correspondence analyses showed that all the significantly represented subfamilies can be clearly distinguished on the basis of either principal morphotypes or sub‐morphotypes. However, genus/species level discrimination may only be possible by deploying phytolith based identification key developed by utilizing detailed grass phytolith micro‐morphometry and frequency attributes. We conclude that grass phytolith characteristics provide useful and significant information for distinguishing grass taxa of deltaic West Bengal.