New damsel-dragonflies with “calopterygid”-like wing shape from the Middle Jurassic of China (Odonata: Isophlebioidea: Campterophlebiidae)

The new damsel-dragonflies Zygokaratawia incompleta nov. sp. and Parazygokaratawia azari nov. gen., nov. sp., closely related to the campterophlebiid genus Zygokaratawia, are described from the Middle Jurassic locality of the Daohugou and Chentaizi villages, respectively (Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, NE China). Parazygokaratawia nov. gen. and Zygokaratawia share a narrowly reduced cubito-anal area, unique synapomorphy in the Isophlebioptera. Campterophlebiids with this character are only known from the Daohugou biota.     

Yanliaoa, an extinct genus of Cupressaceae s. l. from the Middle Jurassic,northeastern China

Yanliaoa is a common fossil in the Middle Jurassic of western Liaoning, eastern Inner Mongolia and northern Hebei Province, China. It is an important element of the Yanliao biota. The genus was established by Pan in 1977 for fossil plants from the Middle Jurassic Haifanggou Formation in Xiasanjiaochengzi, western Liaoning Province, and in present paper, the genus Yanliaoa is studied based on new material. Pan never designated a type specimen and his fossil material cannot be located. We designate a type specimen here for Yanliaoa, so that the genus name Yanliaoa remains valid. Yanliaoa sinensis Pan emend. Tan et al., is found in the same locality and formation as the lost specimens, Y. sinensis of Pan, 1977. Yanliaoa daohugouensis n. sp., a new species with epidermal anatomy, is from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou, Inner Mongolia. A holotype is also selected from the new material for this new species. Characters of the leafy shoots and ovulate cones of Yanliaoa are emended. The epidermal anatomy of this genus is described for the first time. Compared with other extant and extinct species of Cupressaceae s. l., the current species can be distinguished from any known species both by the leafy shoot characters and its epidermal anatomy. It further indicates that Yanliaoa is an extinct and endemic conifer found in the Middle Jurassic of northeastern China.     

A thalloid organism with possible lichen affinity from the Jurassic of northeastern China

Documentation of fossil lichens is rare, despite the fact that lichenization in fungi is believed to be ancient and many paleoecosystems should have provided ample suitable habitats for these organisms. Impression fossils of a cm-sized thalloid organism, Daohugouthallus ciliiferus nov. gen. et spec., are described from a Middle Jurassic deposit nearby Daohugou village, Inner Mongolia, China. The thallus comprises elongate primary axes from which extend lateral and terminal branches that fork once to repeatedly. Extending from all branches (mostly from the lateral margins and tips) are filiform appendages that closely resemble the cilia of certain extant lichens. Some branch tips appear ruptured and covered by minute irregularities, and appear similar to lichen soralia. One specimen is associated with a small seed cone and suggestive of epiphytic growth. The structural similarities with extant lichens, close association with land plants, and the environment in which the organism lived, suggest that the affinity of D. ciliiferus is with the lichens.     

New Phoenicopsis leaves (Czekanowskiales) from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota,China and their roles in phytogeographic and paleoclimatic reconstruction

The Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation, distributed in the Daohugou area, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China, is famous for yielding abundant, well-preserved fossil vertebrates and invertebrates. However, only a few fossil plants have been reported to date. In this paper, one new species of Czekanowskiales, Phoenicopsis (Windwardia) daohugouensis n. sp. is described based upon leaf morphology and epidermal characters. The new species represents the first record of Czekanowskiales from the Daohugou Biota. The discovery of the new species reveals the significance of the Daohugou flora as one of the deciduous forests in the temperate-warm temperate zone of Eurasia during the Middle Jurassic.     

Honghea xui gen. et sp. nov., the second Earliest Jurassic damsel-dragonfly (Odonata: Campterophlebiidae) from the Junggar Basin,NW China

A new campterophlebiid damsel-dragonfly, Honghea xui gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Lower Jurassic Badaowan Formation of the Junggar Basin, NW China. This is the second Chinese Campterophlebiidae recorded for the earliest Jurassic, reflecting the quick diversification and radiation of the damsel-dragonflies during this period. H. nouveau onghea gen. nov. is closely related to Chinese genera Zygokaratawia and Ctenogampsophlebia, both from the Middle Jurassic of the Daohugou Biota; but differs from these genera in having a larger wing size, RP2 slightly distal of Sn, and a narrower area between IR2 and RP3/4.     

The earliest fossil record of Panorpidae (Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of China

The early history of Panorpidae (Mecoptera) is poorly known due to sparse fossil records. Up to date, only nine fossil species have been described, all from the Paleogene, except the Early Cretaceous Solusipanorpa gibbidorsa Lin, 1980. However, we suggest S. gibbidorsa is too incompletely preserved to permit even family classification. A new genus with two new species, Jurassipanorpa impunctata gen. et sp. n. and Jurassipanorpa sticta sp. n., are described based on four well-preserved specimens from the late Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. These two new species are the earliest fossil records of Panorpidae. The new genus is erected based on a combination of forewing characters: both R₁ and Rs₁ with two branches, 1A reaching posterior margin of wing distad of the forking of Rs from R_1, and no crossveins or only one crossvein between veins of 1A and 2A. In all four specimens, long and robust setae ranging from 0.09 to 0.38 mm in length and pointing anteriorly, are present on anal veins of forewings. The function of these setae is enigmatic.     

A new lasiosynid beetle from the Middle Jurassic of China with remarks on the systematic position of Lasiosynidae

A new beetle species, Lasiosyne laxa n. sp., is described from the Jurassic Daohugou deposits in Inner Mongolia, China. Its morphological significance and systematic position within the genus Lasiosyne Kirejtshuk et al., 2010a, Kirejtshuk et al., 2010b and the family Lasiosynidae are discussed. The research history of Lasiosynidae is summarized for the first time. The affiliation of Lasiosynidae to the superfamily Byrrhoidea is discussed in detail.     

The natural history of oviposition on a ginkgophyte fruit from the Middle Jurassic of northeastern China

A distinctive pattern of oviposition lesions occurs on a ginkgoalean seed, Yimaia capituliformis,which likely was inflicted by a kalligrammatid lacewing with a long,sword-like,plant-piercing ovipositor.This newly recorded oviposition type,DT272, occurs in the 165 million-year-old Jiulongshan Formation,of Middle Jurassic age,in Northeastern China.DT272 consists from three to seven,approximately equally spaced lesions with surrounding callus tissue,the fabricator of which targeted fleshy outer and inner tissues ofa ginkgophyte fruit.This distinctive damage also is known from the fleshy attachment pad surfaces of basal bennettitalean bracts.Examination of the life history of this probable ginkgoalean-kalligrammatid oviposition interaction indicates that the spacing of the eggs in substrate tissues disfavored inter-larval contact,but little cart be said of defense and counterdefense strategies between the plant host and the newly hatched imrnatures.     

Insect herbivory and plant defense on ginkgoalean and bennettitalean leaves of the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Flora from Northeast China and their paleoclimatic implications

Interactions between terrestrial arthropods and plants play a significant role in terrestrial ecosystems. Research on plant–insect interactions through geologic time provides valuable information for studying insect behavior and plant structure, understanding their coevolution, as well as analyzing climate change. In this paper, we choose fossil ginkgoalean and bennettitalean leaves as the plant hosts to study insect herbivory in the Middle Jurassic Daohugou area. Seven damage types of four functional feeding groups have been identified. Of the four functional feeding groups, margin feeding is the most common, indicating an abundance of insects with chewing mouthparts. Ginkgoalean leaves, probably because of their chemical defense, suffered less severe insect damage than bennettitalean leaves. Physical defense has also been observed in various genera of the bennettitalean leaves. Significantly, leaves of Anomozamites had a shaggy indumentum on the abaxial leaf surface and long stiff hairs along the rachis protecting them from insect herbivory. Our results indicate that the climate in the Middle Jurassic of the Daohugou area was relatively warm and humid. This work contributes to the study of plant–insect coevolution in the Daohugou Biota and provides more proxy data for understanding the Middle Jurassic paleoclimate and paleoenvironment in Daohugou area.     

Tettigarctidae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadoidea) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

Three new species of Tettigarctidae from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, China are described: Shuraboprosbole daohugouensis nov. sp., S. minuta nov. sp., and S. media nov. sp. The revised diagnostic characters of Shuraboprosbole Becker-Migdisova are provided based on well-preserved whole-bodied fossil tettigarctids. So far, only four definitive species of Tettigarctidae are recorded from the Mesozoic of China. The pronotum concealing major of mesonotum seems to be an autapomorphy of Tettigarctinae. The “cicadellid-like tarsi” found in Cicadellidae and Brazilian Tettigarctidae are probably a parallel evolution.     

侏罗纪的施迈斯内果(Schmeissneria)是不是被子植物?

中华施迈斯内果在辽西的发现为被子植物的历史添上了重要的一笔。施迈斯内果是一个具有近170年研究历史的植物化石属。新近发现的中华施迈斯内果中发现了以前没被认识到的新特征(未成熟的雌性器官的中央结构有一个纵向的隔壁和封闭的顶端)。新的特征促使人们重新审视该化石的系统位置。王鑫等人通过仔细分析被子植物的定义、结合新的化石特征认为施迈斯内果代表了一个具有被子植物特征的新类群。按照现有的被子植物定义,施迈斯内果可以归入被子植物。这样一来,被子植物的历史就会被前推到早侏罗世。当然也不排除未来被子植物的定义改变后为施迈斯内果建立一个与被子植物平行的种子植物新类群的可能性。文章简要地介绍了施迈斯内果的由来、特征以及王鑫等人如何判定其为被子植物的逻辑思维过程,以便大家论评。     

A new genus of the family Panfiloviidae (Insecta,Neuroptera) from the Middle Jurassic of China

Abstract: Epipanfilovia oviformis gen. et sp. nov. (Neuroptera: Panfiloviidae) is described from the Middle Jurassic locality of Daohugou (Inner Mongolia, China) based on six specimens. A revised diagnosis of this family is provided. It includes two genera, Panfilovia Makarkin and Epipanfilovia gen. nov.; Osmylogramma Ponomarenko is removed from the family. Panfiloviidae is most closely related to another Jurassic family Grammolingiidae, and both are provisionally assigned to the superfamily Osmyloidea.     

Isophlebiid dragonflies from the Late Mesozoic of eastern Transbaikalia (Odonata: Isophlebiidae)

Based on the study of more than 300 isophlebiid specimens from several Late Mesozoic sites in eastern Transbaikalia (Ukurei, Tergen’, Glushkovo, and Byankino formations), new genera and species are described: Xeta olovica, Dahurium draco, and Sinitsia sophiae. The insect-bearing deposits are dated Late Jurassic according to analysis of their odonatofauna.     

Middle Jurassic Ginkgo leaves from the Daohugou area,Inner Mongolia,China and their implication for palaeo-CO2 reconstruction

Well-preserved Ginkgo leaves with cuticle were collected from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation in the Daohugou area, Inner Mongolia, China, which form the common elements in the Daohugou flora. Three new species of Ginkgo are recognized and their leaf morphology and cuticular structure are described for the first time. Two different pCO₂ proxy models were applied to reconstruct palaeo-atmospheric CO₂ concentration by using these new Ginkgo material. NLE (nearest living equivalent) suggests a semi-quantitative pCO₂ estimate as 839 ± 99 ppmv with Carboniferous standardization and 419 ± 49 ppmv with Recent standardization. While Barclay’s revised SI-pCO₂ regression suggests the estimates as 405 ± 71 ppmv. The results show that the pCO₂ estimate is higher than today’s atmospheric CO₂ concentration but lower than most of the other results on the Jurassic Period. Combined with the floristic composition, the climate at 165 Ma in the Daohugou area is inferred to be warm temperate.     

Middle Jurassic (upper Bajocian) marine vetigastropods from the Western Saharan Atlas,Algeria

Whereas Middle Jurassic gastropods are very well known in Europe and other regions of the world, these faunas have been much less studied from northern Africa and most contributions available in literature have been based on relatively well-preserved material. Except a little lower Bajocian fauna from the Central High Atlas (Morocco) described at the turn of the 21th century, nothing is known about the Middle Jurassic gastropods of the southwestern Tethyan margin. The present paper aims to update the systematics of two vetigastropod species: Obornella cf. granulata (Sowerby, 1818) and Ambercyclus ornatus (Sowerby, 1819) recently found in the upper Bajocian succession of the Ksour Mountains (Tniet el Klakh Formation) at western Saharan Atlas (northern Algeria). The new Ambercyclus material found in well-preserved conditions confirms the absence of umbilicus in Ambercyclus; thus, we emend the original generic diagnosis. The specimens of Obornella cf. granulata and Ambercyclus ornatus represent the first occurrence of both genera and species in the upper Bajocian marine deposits of the western Saharan Atlas, and provide new taxonomic and palaeobiogeographic information about Middle Jurassic vetigastropods in Algeria.     

共生有生殖器官的Anomozamites的新发现

海房沟异羽叶的新联合(Anomozamites haifanggouensis (Kimura et al.) comb. nov.)是辽西和内蒙古东部中侏罗统海房沟组一种特有的本内苏铁类植物.仅发现一块标本(正、反面印痕).标本上保存3枚营养羽叶,它们同几个苞片状的小叶和一些小孢子叶联合在一起,但球果的雌蕊群部分未被保存.标本被收集于内蒙古东部的宁城县山头乡道虎村附近,产于中侏罗统海房沟组.以往在辽西葫芦岛市的南票和白马石乡上三角城等地的同一层位中也曾发现过很多分散保存的苞片状小叶和相似的小孢子叶.它们最初被潘广(1983)认为是一种双子叶的半被子植物(Cycadicotis),并将小孢子叶视为"具皱纹的雌性种囊".后来,又经Kimura等(1994)详细研究,因未找到任何与被子植物有关的证据,将它们归入一个分类位置不明的形态属Pankuangia,并被描述在P. haifanggouensis种名之下.研究结果表明,本文中被研究的标本是同本内苏铁类的Anomozamites异羽叶相连,从而为这些分散保存的生殖器官的确切分类位置的确定提供了有力的证据.     

The presence of the recurrent veinlet in the?Middle Jurassic Nymphidae (Neuroptera): a unique character?condition in Myrmeleontoidea

A well-developed recurrent veinlet is found in the forewing of two species of Nymphidae from the Middle Jurassic locality of Daohugou (Inner Mongolia, China), Liminympha makarkini Ren & Engel and Daonymphes bisulca gen. et sp. n. This is the first record of this trait in the clade comprised of the superfamilies Myrmeleontoidea and Chrysopoidea. We interpret the recurrent veinlet in these species as a remnant of the condition present more basally in the psychopsoid + ithonoid + chrysopoid + myrmeleontoid clade (i.e., as a plesiomorphy). Other venational character states of Daonymphes bisulca of interest include the configuration of subcosta anterior (ScA), which is very similar to that of extant Nymphidae. We consider the short ScA terminating on ScP to be an autapomorphy of Neuroptera.     

First evidence of an ankylosaur (Dinosauria,Ornithischia) from the Jurassic Qigu Formation (Junggar Basin,NW China) and the early fossil record of Ankylosauria

The first evidence of an ankylosaur from the Late Jurassic Qigu Formation of the southern Junggar Basin (Xinjiang, northwestern China) is described, based on an isolated caudal vertebra that was discovered together with fragmentary remains of other dinosaurs, including stegosaurs, sauropods, and theropods. The caudal vertebra is characterized by the following features: (i) elliptical morphology of the centrum, being wider than high; (ii) short antero-posterior length of the centrum; (iii) pronounced transversely extending ventral groove; (iv) massive transverse process, that is longer than the centrum diameter; (v) transverse process meeting the centrum high at the dorsal half and at a relatively flat angle; (vi) transverse process making a broad contact with the neural arch without forming a proximo-dorsal projection; and (vii) notochordal prominence present in the centre of the anterior articular surface. The study specimen represents only the second record of an ankylosaur from the Jurassic of Asia — aside from the slightly older Tianchisaurus from the early Upper Jurassic Toutunhe Formation, equally from the Junggar Basin. It helps to fill a gap in our knowledge of the early evolution of these armoured dinosaurs. Additionally, this discovery highlights the potential of the southern Junggar Basin to yield a rich vertebrate fauna and thus to provide an important insight into Late Jurassic ecosystems of Central Asia.     

A new crocodilianfrom the Jurassic of Thailand, Sunosuchus thailandicus n. sp. (Mesosuchia,Goniopholididae)), and the palaeogeographical history of South-East Asia in the Mesozoic

A crocodilian jaw fragment from the Jurassicof Thailand is referred to a new species of the genus SunosuchusYoung,, 1948, S. thailandicus.. The genus Sunosuchus,, which is interpreted here as belonging to the family Goniopholididae (Mesosuchia),, was previously known only from the continental Jurassic of north-central China. The occurrence of this freshwater crocodilian in the Khorat Group of Thailand provides evidence that, whatever its previous palaeogeographical history may have been, by Jurassic times South-East Asia was part of Laurasia.     

Two new species of Trichoceridae from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia,China

Two new species, Eotrichocera (Archaeotrichocera) longensis sp. n. and Eotrichocera (Archaeotrichocera) amabilis sp. n. of Trichoceridae are described based on a combination of the following characters: Sc ending proximad of the forking of R₂, shape of d cell and A₂ rather short and bending sharply toward posterior margin. These fossil specimens were collected from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou in Inner Mongolia, China.