PONTIAN MAMMALS OF WENQUAN,SINKIANG

Some mammalian fossils collected by the authors in Autumn of 1963 from thewestern part of Zungarica Basin in Sinkiang are described in the present notes.Thelocality lies in the extreme west of Zungarica Basin at Ta-ku-sze-tai valley of Wenquandistrict on the southern side of the Altao Mountains,and it is the first Tertiary localityin Sinkiang represented by a mammalian assemblage,the stratigraphic occurrence ofwhich is known.The fossils are rather well preserved and occur in a clay“pocket”intercalated as a lens in a series of sandstones,marls and conglomerates.The age ofthe fossil bearing Tertiary beds at Ta-ku-sze-tai is Early Pliocene as characterized bythe presence of Gazella dorcadoides,Indarctos sinensis and?Lycyaena dubia,which arethe common elements of Hipparion fauna in North China.     

BRACHIOPOD FAUNA OF THE NANPANJIANG LIMESTONE OF EASTERN YUNNAN AND ITS GEOLOGICAL AGE

The Nanpanjiang Limestone of eastern Yunnan has long been known as one of theimportant Devonian beds in South China.It was first proposed by Prof.Y.C.Sun in1943,and tentatively included in the upper member of the Miaokaoshan formation ofEarly Devonian age with Gypidula pseudogleata Hall as a leading fossil.Since thenmost geologists and palaeontologists have followed Sun's assignment,while few othershave held it to be Early Middle Devonian.At the type locality near Poshi districtalong the Nanpanjiang Valley the Nanpanjiang Limestone is composed of yellowish-greyor dark grey limestone with an approximate thickness of 40—70 meters,and is overlainby the Bothriolepis-bearing beds of Lunghuashan formation.     

A LEMUROID PRIMATE FROM THE EOCENE OF LANTIAN,SHENSI

From the Early Tertiary sandstones and clays underlain the Sinanthropus-bearingreddish clays at Chen-Chia-Ou,Lantian District,Shensi(Chang et al.,1964),some mam-malian fossils have recently been collected in a thin layer of intercating chocolate-coloredclays at two outcrops.One is in a ravine named Kongkouwan,from where a singlespecimen of mammalian upper jaw considered here as a new lemuroid primate has beenrecovered.The age of the Early Tertiary beds of the Lantian District,which consist of whitesandstones,buff sands and sandy clays,is not yet precisely known;but the fossil bearinghorizon may be regarded as Late Eocene on basis of the fossil primate noted here.     

SOME SILURIAN CORALS FROM THE VICINITY OF BEIYIN OBO,INNER MONGOLIA

The material dealt with in this paper was collected in 1955 by Mr.L.H.Wong and others of 241.Party of the Geological Bureau of North China,Ministry of Geology,at a locality about 20 km north-east of Beiyin Obo,InnerMongolia.According to the collectors'field observation,all the corals occur ina limestone imbedded in a red sandstone series,striking east to west and dip-ping to north.The thickness of the red sandstone series is unknown,it is over-lain by the Upper Carboniferous Triticites bed.The coral-horizon is estimatedat about 2,500 meters below the Triticites bed.No detailed stratigraphical dataare available.The corals described here comprise the following species:     

A MAMMALIAN LOWER JAW FROM THE JURASSIC OF LINGYUAN, LIAONING

<正> In 1976, a right mandible of a Mesozoic mammal was collected by Messrs. Cheng Zhengwu and Yue Zhao of Institute of Geology, the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, from the Middle Jurassic in Lingyuan County, Liaoning Province, Northeast China (fig. 1), When they were studying the Mesozoic stratigraphy of that area. This fossil site is most probably from the same locality as that of Yabeinosaurus tenuis reported by C.C. Young in 1958. Both fossils are derived from the same horizon.     

湖南、甘肃早石炭世几个直壳鹦鹉螺化石

The new genus Yushanograptus described in the present paper is a monotypic genuswith Yushanograptus separatus gen.et sp.nov.as the genotype which is represented by5 specimens securd by one of the writers(Han)in the summer of 1961 from the NingkuoShale at the locality near Lijiapeng of the Yushan district,northeastern Jiangxi(Kiangsi)Province(Field No.F61001).The marked features of the new genus are the two long and slender primary stipesand the Goniograptid type in branching.The young forms of this new graptolite bear astriking resemblance to the slender Didymograpti,such as Didymograptus gracilis T(?)rn-quist,D.cognatus Harris et Thomas etc.The same is the case in Zygograptus,particul-arly in Zygograptus irregularis Harris et Thomas.In the mode of branching of the     

湖北西部下二叠纪介虫类化石

The Upper Cambrian fossils were not known in South and SouthwesternChina before 1938,though a thick limestone series ranging from not less than100m to over one thousand meters known as the Ichang Limestone of the Gorgedistrict of the Yangtze and the Loushankwan Limestone of North Kueichou hasbeen partially referred by various authors to represent some part of the Upper     

MURID RODENTS FROM THE LATE PLIOCENE OF YANGQUAN AND YUXIAN, HEBEI

<正> Daodi is considered to be a late Pliocene locality near Nihewan, a classic site well known for its abundant and diverse Plio-Pleistocene mammalian fossils. An assemblage of micromammals was collected by the first author from eight quarries at Daodi by screen-washing in 1984. Preliminary reports on 26 species of small mammals collected and more detailed studies of lagomorphs have been given (see Cai, 1987; 1989). This paper deals with the material of the rodent family Muridae in the collections.     

NOTE ON A NEW PROETID FROM UPPER DEVONIAN OF KWANGSI

In 1950,some interesting specimens of small trilobites have been forwardedthe writer for examination by Prof.C.C.Y(?) which form the subject of the presentcommunication.The specimens were collected by Prof.Y(?) from the PisoliticLimestone Series near Fonglingshan,Lingchuan-Hsien,Kwangsi province.The trilobite fossils were found in association with some ostracods and smallChonetes.The ostracods have been recently identified by Y.T.Hou as Richterinasubstriatula Hou,R.subhemisphaerica Hou and Healdia lingchuanensis Houassigning to the Upper Devonian age.It is interesting that the evidence of thetrilobites points also to the Upper Devonian age.     

The R1947X mutation of NF1 causing autosomal dominant neurofibromatosis type 1 in a Chinese family

Neurofibromatosis type 1 is a common autosomal dominant disorder with a high rate of penetrance. It is caused by the mutation of the tumor suppressor gene NF1, which encodes neurofibromin. The main function of neurofibromin is down-regulating the biological activity of the proto-oncoprotein Ras by acting as a Ras-specific GTPase activating protein. In this study, we identified a Chinese family affected with neurofibromatosis type 1. The known gene NF1 associated with NF1 was studied by linkage analysis and by direct sequencing of the entire coding region and exon-intron boundaries of the NF1 gene. The R1947X mutation of NF1 was identified, which was co-segregated with affected individuals in the Chinese family, but not present in unaffected family members. This is the first report, which states that the R1947X mutation of NF1 may be one of reasons for neurofibromatosis type 1 in Chinese population.     

陕西府谷晚中新世Acerorhinus属(奇蹄目,犀科)一新种

记述的 Acerorhinus fuguensis sp. nov是 Acerorhinus属中一个相当进步的种。府谷 保存完整的标本使我们对Acerorhinus的特征有了更全面且准确的认识。新种以强烈外展的鼓后突和头骨顶面在眶前的骤然收缩区别于塞瓦斯托波尔的A. zernowi和柴达木的A.tsaidamensis。新种下门齿内刃上翻的特点显示Acerorhinus属有向Chilotherium属演化的趋势。     

内蒙古高特格上新世三趾马化石及其意义

描述了产自内蒙古高特格上新世地层中的三趾马属化石,分别归入两个种。下部层位的材料因吻部间颌突较高、犬齿粗壮并在其内侧前后缘形成嵴和沟、下颊齿齿冠较低、双叶较圆以及外中谷很深等特征而归入意外(笨重)三趾马(Hipparion(Baryhipparion)insperatum Qiuet al.,1987),其古地磁年龄为4.3Ma;上部层位的标本因下颊齿高冠、双叶贺风型、外中谷宽浅以及下马刺发育等特征而归入黄河(近)三趾马(H.(Plesiohipparion)huangheense Qiu etal.,1987),其年龄约为3.9 Ma。在此之前,这两种三趾马的分布局限,仅发现于山西榆社和陕西蒲城的上新世地层,高特格新材料的发现增加了人们对于其地理和地史分布以及特征演化的了解。此外,还对高特格颊齿标本进行了连续横切,结果显示,随着年龄增加H.insperatum的双叶一直较圆,下后尖逐渐大于下后附尖,但外中谷形态并不随磨蚀加深而有大的改变;H.huangheense的双叶稳定、贺风型,外中谷内端随着磨蚀的加深变得宽圆,下马刺渐弱而下反马刺逐渐显现,下内尖逐渐变得圆钝,其后的凹也逐渐变小。高特格地点相对较低齿冠的H.insperatum向极高齿冠的H.huangheense的转变,指示了内蒙古中部地区在上新世逐步干旱化和草原化的过程。     

Dating the “red beds” of the Eastern Moroccan High Plateaus: Evidence from late Late Cretaceous charophytes and dinosaur eggshells

A new locality in the poorly known “red beds” of Tendrara (High Plateaus, Morocco) has yielded four charophytes species (Feistiella anluensis, Lamprothamnium stipitatum, Peckisphaera portezueloensis, Platychara caudata) and dinosaur eggshells (Pseudomegaloolithus atlasi). These red beds, which overly the Cenomanian-Turonian marine deposits, generally assigned to “Senonian” based on geometric position, are directly dated by these fossils: the charophytes species and dinosaur oospecies association indicates a Campano-Maastrichtian or Maastrichtian age for these calm floodplain deposits.     

Ademosynoides asiaticus Martynov, 1936, the earliest known member of an extant beetle family (Insecta, Coleoptera, Trachypachidae)

Fossil beetles are described from Kedrovka beds of the locality Babii Kamen’, Kuznetsk Basin, Siberia. According to different authors, this locality is dated to the terminal Permian or basal Triassic. SEM studies have shown that Ademosynoides asiaticus Martynov, 1936, described from this locality, should be placed in the family Trachypachidae, which makes it the earliest known extant family of beetles. In addition to the re-studied holotype, further material is described for this species; a new species of the same genus and a new genus and species of the same family are also described. As a result, almost 10% of the 78 beetle fossils known from this locality are identified as belonging to Trachypachidae. Unfortunately, the study of these beetles is complicated by the rather poor preservation quality and very small size of the majority of the fossils, which usually cannot be properly studied without using SEM. However, even in this case there is no full certainty that the results are absolutely reliable.     

Review of the non-tritylodontid synapsids from bone beds in the Rhaetic Sandstone,southern Germany

Since the nineteenth century, bone beds in the Rhaetic Sandstone (Rhätsandstein) exposed around Bebenhausen near Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, have been a source of small vertebrate fossils. These bone beds were part of deltas formed during a stillstand in a marine transgression from the western and northern parts of the Germanic Basin. The fossils in these bone beds appear to be time-averaged assemblages of Rhaeto-Liassic or older age. A collection of fossils from excavations at Olgahain made in 1948 augmented those reported by E. von Huene (Jahreshefte des Vereins vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 84:65–128, 1933). The synapsids, other than tritylodonts, represented by fossils from the Olgahain locality include Tricuspes, a non-mammaliaform eucynodont; the haramiyid Thomasia antiqua is the most abundantly represented mammaliaform, and a morganucodontid. Tricuspes tuebingensis was based on a tooth found at the nearby Gaisbrunnen locality. Tricuspes tuebingensis, Thomasia antiqua, and a probably different morganucodontid are known from the Hallau bone bed (Switzerland), which apparently is older than the Olgahain bone bed in Baden-Württemberg.     

Les empreintes de pas de Dinosauriens dans le Jurassique moyen du Haut Atlas central (Maroc): Nouveaux gisements et precisions stratigraphiques

Ten new Dinosaur foot prints fields have been discovered in Middle Jurassic red beds of Central High Atlas (Morocco). Ovoid prints (Sauropod) are there more common than tridactyle (Theropod). The trace fossils appear at two distinct levels of the red beds which have been previously rattached to Cretaceous.     

南召发现的人类和哺乳类化石

本文记述的人类化石是一枚右下第二前臼齿,发现于河南省南召县鸡河右岸第二级阶地的堆积中。一起发现的哺乳类化石有剑齿虎、中国鬣狗、肿骨鹿、剑齿象、三门马和巨等二十一种。时代为中更新世。     

The Cambrian of Malaysia

The Cambrian of Malaysia is best represented by the quartzose Machinchang Formation in Langkawi, Kedah, northwest Peninsular Malaysia. It is divisible into three members. The oldest Hulor Member (>1260 m thick) is a coarsening upward succession of rhythmically interlayered graded siltstone, mudstone and clayey sandstone deposited as a prograded prodelta deposit. The middle Chinchin Member (>1575 m thick) is a fining upward succession of quartzose conglomerate and sandstone subdivisible into three beds. The lowest Anak Datai Bed (575 m thick) is made up of graded bedded, cross-bedded pebbly sandstone and conglomerate of estuarine channel-fills and thin to thick beds of low angle, planar cross-bedded sandstone with heavy mineral concentrations deposited as upper shoreface to beach deposits. The Temurun Bed (340 m thick) is of upper estuarine deposits of wavy-bedded sandstone and pebbly sandstone, fine tuffs and thin argillites. The upper Tengkorak Bed (>200 m thick) spans the Cambro-Ordovician boundary and consists of thick tabular bedded upper shoreface to beach fine sandstone with interbeds of fine rippled sandstone, acid tuff beds and mudstone belonging to a series of barrier beach complexes. The youngest Jemurok Member (>420 m thick) is a fining upward succession of siltstone, mudstone and hummocky cross-bedded sandstone and thin limestone deposited in storm influenced shoreface to back barrier lagoon with tidal channel environments. It has fragmentary trilobites, brachiopods, abundant trace fossils and the Kinneyian wrinkle marks.The overall sequence belongs to a highly destructive, wave-influenced delta deposit with a series of preserved beach-ridge complexes. Clastic sedimentation was reduced by peneplation of the source area as shown by the finer and thinner beds that grade into limestone of the overlying Ordovician Setul Formation.     

Jurassic dinosaurs of Transbaikalia and prospects of searching for them in Mongolia

Three Transbaikalian localities of dinosaur remains confined to concretions of the Tarbagatai Coal Field, coal deposits of the Arbagarskaya deposits, and tuffaceous sedimentary deposits of the Ukureiskaya Formation of the Olov Depression (Kulinda locality) are considered. In concretions, dinosaur fossils co-occur with fragmentary and complete skeletons of Salmo and Palaeoniscidae and tuffaceous sedimentary beds of volcanic lakes have yielded fossils of temporary inhabitants, such as notostracans, conchostracans, izophlebiid dragonflies, ostracods, and plants with index species of the Late Jurassic Unda–Daya Assemblage. These characteristics can be used in searching for Jurassic dinosaur burials in Mongolia. The horizons with concretions are known in the Tormkhon, Tevsh, Unduruhin, Anda-Khuduk, and Ulanereg formations. Remains of notostracans and izophlebiid dragonflies were recorded in the Ulugei Formation and terrigenous deposits of the Khalgyn-Ula locality and mass burials of large izophlebiid dragonflies and Palaeoniscidae have occur in the Dorogot Formation.     

Scientific drilling and biological evolution in ancient lakes: lessons learned and recommendations for the future

Scientific drilling to recover sediment core and fossil samples is a promising approach to increasing our understanding of species evolution in ancient lakes. Most lake drilling efforts to date have focused on paleoclimate reconstruction. However, it is clear from the excellent fossil preservation and high temporal resolution typical of lake beds that significant advances in evolutionary biology can be made through drill core studies coordinated with phylogenetic work on appropriate taxa. Geological records can be used to constrain the age of specific lakes and the timing of evolutionarily significant events (such as lake level fluctuations and salinity crises). Fossil data can be used to test speciation and biogeographic hypotheses and flesh out phylogenetic trees, using a better-resolved fossil record to estimate timing of phylogenetic divergences. The extraordinary preservation of many fossils in anoxic lake beds holds the hope of collecting fossil DNA from the same body fossils that improve our understanding of morphological character evolution and adaptation. Moreover, fossils allow calibration of molecular clocks, which are currently largely inferential. Lake Malawi Drilling Project results provide some guideposts on what might be expected in a drilling project for studies of evolution. The extreme variability in lake level and environmental history that most ancient lakes experience (exemplified by the Lake Malawi record) demonstrates that no one drilling locality is likely to provide a complete record of phylogenetic history for a radiating lineage. Evolutionary biologists should take an active role in the design of drilling projects, which typically have interdisciplinary objectives, to ensure their sampling needs will be met by whatever sites in a lake are ultimately drilled.