Tremadocian (Ordovician) biostratigraphy and graptolites at Dayangcha (Baishan,Jilin, NE China)

Based on a systematic study of Tremadocian graptolites from the Early Ordovician Yehli Formation at Dayangcha, Baishan of Jilin, NE China, a revised graptolite zonation is proposed for the Tremadocian rocks in the area. In ascending order, the graptolite zones include theRhabdinopora flabelliformis parabola Zone, theAnisograptus matanensis Zone, thePsigraptus jacksoni Zone and theAorograptus victoriae Zone. The first three zones are discussed with their definitions and durations clarified, whereas the last zone is introduced for the first time as a replacement of the formerAdelograptus-Clonograptus Zone. The entire Yehli Formation is considered to be older than the late Tremadocian Hunneberg Substage of Scandinavia, the latter being represented by the carbonate-dominated basal part of the overlying Liangchiashan Formation where no graptolites have so far been discovered. The Tremadocian succession in the Dayangcha area is regarded as being representative of the North China (Sino-Korea) Palaeoplate, and a correlation of the Tremadocian graptolite sequence with those of other continents is suggested. Nine species belonging toDendrograptus, Aspidograptus, Callograptus andAirograptus of the family Dendroidae, and eight species ofPsigraptus, Adelograptus, Aorograptus andKiaerograptus of the family Anisograptidae are described and some are revised in the present paper. Among the important revisions are the reconstructed proximal development ofPsigraptus jacksoni based on partially three-dimensional specimens from the area, and the complex thecal structures ofAspidograptus.      

Biostratigraphy of the Peri-Gondwana Cambrian trilobite fauna (northern Kerman,Iran) and correlation with other countries

Polymeroid trilobite fauna from two stratigraphic sections (Godbondar and Kuhbanan) of the Kuhbanan Formation in northern Kerman (central Iran) were studied and subjected to biostratigraphic analysis. Eleven genera and species are recognised from the latest Early Cambrian and Middle Cambrian Peri-Gondwanian successions of the study sections. The recognised fauna includes Afghanocare lategenatum, Blountia blountia, Iranoleesia sp., Iranoleesia pisiformis, Kermanella kuhbananensis, Kermanella lata lata, Kermanella lata minuta, Kermanella sp., Redlichia chinensis, Redlichia noetlingi and Redlichia sp. Based on trilobite distribution, three trilobite biozones were recognised in the study sections, namely Redlichia noetlingi biozone, Kermanella kuhbananensis biozone and Iranoleesia pisiformis biozone. The age of the study sections is late Early Cambrian to late Middle Cambrian based on the recognised trilobite biozones. The recognised late Early Cambrian trilobite assemblages (especially Redlichia and Kermanella) from northern Kerman are similar to those found from some other parts of Gondwana or Peri-Gondwana terrains (north India, Pakistan, northwestern Kashmir, Tajikistan, South Australia, South China and Afghanistan) and show affinities with fauna found in some other parts of Iran (Alborz, northern Iran; Tabas, eastern Iran; southeast Karman).     

New discoveries of cycads and advancement of conservation of cycads in China

From 1997 to 1999Cycas debaoensis Y. C. Zhong & C. J. Chen andC. changjiangensis N. Liu were described from South China. The wild populations ofCycas szechuanensis were discovered in Fujian.Cycas guizhouensis K. M. Lan & R. F. Zou at the higher elevations andC. segmentifida D. Y. Wang & C. Y. Deng at the lower elevations along the Nanpanjiang River should be good species, which were treated by Chen and Wang (1995) and Chen and Stevenson (1999) as synonyms forC. szechuanensis. However, 11 other new species have been reduced by Chen and Stevenson (1999) and the present authors. They areC. longlinensis Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong,C. xilinensis Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, C.multifida Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, C.longiconifera Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, andC. acuminatissima Huang T. Chang & Y. C. Zhong, all treated as synonyms ofC. segmentifida. Cycas spiniformis J. Y. Liang,C. longisporophylla F. N. Wei,C. septermsperma Huang T. Chang & H. X. Zhang,C. brevipinnata Huang T. Chang et al. should be synonyms forC. exseminifera F. N. Wei.Cycas miquelii Warb, andEpicycas miquelii (Warb.) de Laub, should be the synonyms forC revoluta because their “stype” specimens are somewhat likeC. revoluta. The Honghe Nature Cycad Reserve forCycas multipinnata andC. hongheensis was recently established in Yunnan. The Debao Cycad Reserve will be established soon. However, most existing cycad reserves in China have not been so successful because of shortages of funding and poor management. In ex situ conservation the Qingxiushan Cycad Garden in Nanning, Guangxi, was established. Cycad nurseries have begun to appear in some villages in South China.     

峡东地区寒武纪水井沱组下段双瓣壳类节肢动物系统古生物与个体发育研究

双瓣壳类节肢动物在全球寒武纪海洋中广泛分布,是寒武纪时期布尔吉斯页岩型化石生物群的重要组成类群和典型代表。它们的起源、演化及生态学研究是对早期后生动物演化研究的重要内容。本文详细描述了峡东地区寒武系第二统第三阶水井沱组下段两种双瓣壳类节肢动物,Caudicaella bispinata (Cui and Huo,1990) comb.nov.和Sunella grandis Huo,1965。依据新建的Caudicaella属征,对孙氏虫科的鉴定特征进行了修订。首次研究了孙氏虫科两属种壳瓣的生长发育模式,揭示了壳瓣高长比的等速生长和C.bispinata基刺相对于壳长的异速生长关系。元素扫描分析研究表明,长阳地区天柱山村剖面化石为碳质压膜保存。功能形态学研究认为,C.bispinata是远洋浮游型生物,其广泛的古地理分布有望为寒武纪早期全球生物地层对比提供新的化石依据。     

Problematic cap-shaped fossils from the Lower Cambrian of North-East Greenland

Three species ofOcruranus Liu, 1979 are described from the Bastion Formation of North-East Greenland, of late Early Cambrian (middle Dyeran of North American usage) age, representing the youngest record of a genus originally described from the earliest Cambrian Meishucunian Stage of China. An accompanying species, tentatively assigned toXianfengella He &Yang, 1982, seems also to be present in South Australia in strata of late Early Cambrian (Botoman of Siberian usage) age, although also this genus was described originally from the Meishucunian.Ocruranus andXianfengella from China have been interpreted as possibly parts of coeloscleritophoran scleritomes, perhaps halkieriids, rather than individual molluscan shells. Their shell form is not typical of helcionelloids which otherwise dominate the Early Cambrian molluscan record, but conclusive evidence of affinity is not forthcoming from the Greenland records. New taxa:Ocruranus septentrionalis n. sp. andOcruranus tunuensis n. sp.      

The bivalved arthropods Isoxys and Tuzoia with soft‐part preservation from the Lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte (Kangaroo Island,Australia)

Abstract: Abundant material from a new quarry excavated in the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale (Kangaroo Island, South Australia) and, particularly, the preservation of soft‐bodied features previously unknown from this Burgess Shale‐type locality, permit the revision of two bivalved arthropod taxa described in the late 1970s, Isoxys communis and Tuzoia australis. The collections have also produced fossils belonging to two new species: Isoxys glaessneri and Tuzoia sp. Among the soft parts preserved in these taxa are stalked eyes, digestive structures and cephalic and trunk appendages, rivalling in quality and quantity those described from better‐known Lagerstätten, notably the lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna of China and the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of Canada.     

Advances in Cambrian stratigraphy and paleontology: Integrating correlation techniques, paleobiology, taphonomy and paleoenvironmental reconstruction

Papers resulting from the Fourth International Symposium on the Cambrian System, held in Nanjing, China, in 2005 cover three major aspects of geology and paleontology: (1) the developing global standard for Cambrian chronostratigraphy or regional correlation schemes; (2) regional lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and paleoenvironments; (3) organismal paleobiology, phylogenetic affinities and taphonomy.A generalized curve of carbon isotopes (δ¹³C) through the Cambrian suggests a relationship between major biotic events, sea level history and the development of deposits of exceptional preservation (Lagerstätten). Recognition of this relationship increases the importance of the δ¹³C profile as a tool for intercontinental and intracontinental correlation. Significant δ¹³C excursions in the Cambrian are: BACE (negative excursion at the base of the Cambrian System); ZHUCE (positive excursion in the lower part of Stage 2); SHICE (negative excursion in the middle part of Stage 2); CARE (positive excursion near the base of Stage 3); MICE (positive excursion in the lower part of Stage 4); AECE (negative excursion in the middle part of Stage 4); ROECE (negative excursion near the base of Stage 5); DICE (negative excursion beginning near the base of the Drumian Stage); SPICE (positive excursion beginning at the base of the Paibian Stage); TOCE (negative excursion near the top of Stage 10). All acronyms other than SPICE are newly proposed.     

广西被子植物新资料

桂西南喀斯特地区是广西也是中国生物多样性保护优先区域。基于该地区关键区域的深入调查，该文报道了广西被子植物新记录20种，即木姜叶征镒木[Wuodendron praecox(Hook. f.&Thomson) B. Xue, Y. H. Tan&X. L. Hou]、大果楠(Phoebe macrocarpa C. Y. Wu)、国楣铁线莲(Clematis fengii W. T. Wang)、方籽栝楼(Trichosanthes tetragonosperma C. Y. Cheng&Yueh)、枥叶花楸(Sorbus yunnanensis L. T. Lu)、长苞楼梯草(Elatostema longibracteatum W. T. Wang)、富宁槭(Acer paihengii Fang)、云南山茱萸(Cornus eydeana Q. Y. Xiang&Y. M. Shui)、长梗杜鹃(Rhododendron longipedicellatum Lei Cai&Y. P. Ma)、粉花安息香(Styrax roseus Dunn...     

Cambrian Acritarchs from the Col di Foglia (Agordo) southalpine metamorphic basement, Italian Eastern Alps: the oldest biostratigraphic record in the alps

Abstract  The Lower Palaeozoic biostratigraphic records in the Alps are briefly reviewed and the result of a new study of the acritarch assemblage found by Sassi et al. (1984) in the greenschist facies black metapelites of the Southalpine metamorphic basement at Col di Foglia, and studied by Kalvacheva et al. (1986), is presented. The new  taxonomic and biostratigraphic study indicates a late Cambrian age, which is the oldest unquestionable, recently assessed, biostratigraphic dating of the entire Alps, as well as of the Italian peninsular. Keywords Alps, Southalpine metamorphic basement, Eastern Alps, Agordo, Acritarchs, Cambrian Subject codes: G17002     

中国香港17种植物新记录

报道了香港17种植物新记录:无配膜叶铁角蕨[Hymenasplenium apogamum(N.Murak.&Hatan.)Nakaike]、似薄唇蕨(Leptochilus decurrens Blume)、穿心藤[Amydrium hainanense(H.Li,Y.Shiao&S.L.Tseng)H.Li]、毛背...     

中国橐吾属(菊科-千里光族)的分类学研究(五):君范橐吾、长毛槖吾和南川橐吾原白中一些排印错误的改正

对我国菊科橐吾属(Ligularia Cass.) 3种植物原白中模式标本引证的排印错误进行了改正。君范橐吾(L. lingiana S.W. Liu)原白中错误地将主模式标本引证为赵清盛82946,实际应为赵清盛、牟克平和杨亚斌8294。长毛槖吾(L. changiana S.W. Liu ex Y. L. Chen & Z. Yu Li)(=L. heterophylla C. C. Chang,为L. heterophylla Rupr.的晚出同名)主模式为蔡希陶59771,但L. heterophylla C. C. Chang 的原白中错误地将主模式标本引证为蔡希陶59711;该号标本属于唇形科的灯笼草[Clinopodium polycephalum (Vaniot) C. Y. Wu & Hsuan]。南川橐吾(L. nanchuanica S. W. Liu)原白中引证的副模式标本熊济华和周子林93871实际应为李国凤63871,前者属于桤叶树科的城口桤叶树(Clethra fargesii Franch.)。     

Functional morphology,ontogeny and evolution of mantis shrimp‐like predators in the Cambrian

Abstract: We redescribe the morphology of Yohoia tenuis (Chelicerata sensu lato) from the Cambrian Burgess Shale Lagerstätte. The morphology of the most anterior, prominent, so‐called great appendage changes throughout ontogeny. While its principal morphology remains unaltered, the length ratios of certain parts of the great appendage change significantly. Furthermore, it possesses a special jack‐knifing mechanism, i.e. an elbow joint: the articulation between the distal one of the two peduncle elements and the most proximal of the four spine‐bearing claw elements. This morphology might have enabled the animal to hunt like a modern spearer‐type mantis shrimp, an analogy enhanced by the similarly large and protruding eyes. For comparison, details of specimens of selected other great‐appendage arthropods from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte have been investigated using fluorescence microscopy. This revealed that the morphology of the great appendage of Y. tenuis is much like that of the Chengjiang species Fortiforceps foliosa and Jianfengia multisegmentalis. The morphology of the great appendage of the latter is even more similar to the morphology developed in early developmental stages of Y. tenuis, while the morphology of the great appendage of F. foliosa is more similar to that of later developmental stages of Y. tenuis. The arrangement of the elbow joint supports the view that the great appendage evolved into the chelicera of Chelicerata sensu stricto, as similar joints are found in various ingroup taxa such as Xiphosura, Opiliones or Palpigradi. With this, it also supports the interpretation of the great appendage to be homologous with the first appendage of other arthropods.     

贵州寒武系第二统杷榔组有壳变形虫的新发现*

有壳变形虫(testate amoebae)的演化历史最早可追溯至新元古代早期, 以该时期北美、华北、挪威以及澳洲等多个地区浅海相碳酸盐岩、页岩中发现的瓶状微体化石(vase-shaped microfossils)为标志。此前认为, 显生宙的有壳变形虫最早出现在早泥盆世。长期以来, 早古生代的地层中未发现这类原生生物的明确化石证据。本研究通过对岩石样品进行常规孢粉酸泡分析处理和切磨岩石薄片, 获取原位保存的化石标本的技术方法, 从贵州东部剑河县交榜剖面出露的寒武系杷榔组(第2统第4阶)中获得数枚有壳变形虫(testate amoebae)化石标本。基于标本的显微形态特征, 并结合激光拉曼光谱等研究, 对原先记述为疑源类的Plagasphaera balangensis和P. sp. A两形态种进行重新认识和描述。由于它们在结构和形态上与一些现生的鳞壳虫目(Euglyphida)有壳变形虫极为相似, 因此将先前定为疑源类的Plagasphaera balangensis和P. sp. A两形态属、种名, 分别修订为Palaeoassulina balangensis gen. et sp. nov.和?Palaeoassulina sp. A。该发现不仅将显生宙有壳变形虫的原有化石记录从晚古生代泥盆纪向前延伸至寒武纪早期, 还为调查研究有壳变形虫的系统演化提供关键的生物化石证据。     

Chirita tiandengensis (Gesneriaceae) sp. nov. from Guangxi,China

Chirita tiandengensis Fang Wen & Hui Tang, a new species of Chirita from Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is similar to C. napoensis Z. Y. Li, C. lunglinensis W. T. Wang and C. obtusidentata W. T. Wang, but differs by leaf blades ovate‐lanceolate, both surfaces sparsely strigulose; cymes 5‐ or 8‐flowered, bracts narrowly lanceolate, 6–8×1.5–2.0 mm; larger flowers (3.8–4.6 cm long), pink corolla, infundibuliform‐tubular tube; backside of anthers puberulous, filaments straight; staminodes glabrous, fused on the capitate top; stigma bipartite to the base with narrowly lanceolate lobes.     

Phospholipase C-dependent hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxides to diacylglycerol hydroperoxides and its reduction by phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase

Abstract

We have shown that 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides activate protein kinase C (PKC) as efficiently as does phorbol ester [Takekoshi S, Kambayashi Y, Nagata H, Takagi T, Yamamoto Y, Watanabe K. Activation of protein kinase C by oxidized diacylglycerol. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1995; 217: 654-660]. 1,2-Diacylglycerol hydroperoxides also stimulate human neutrophils to release superoxide whereas their hydroxides do not [Yamamoto Y, Kambayashi Y, Ito T, Watanabe K, Nakano M. 1,2-Diacylglycerol hydroperoxides induce the generation and release of superoxide anion from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. FEBS Lett 1997; 412: 461-464]. One of the proposed mechanisms for the formation of 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides is the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxides by phospholipase C (PLC). To confirm this hypothesis, we incubated 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (PLPC) liposomes containing PLPC hydroperoxides (PLPC-OOH) with Bacillus cereus PLC and found 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoylglycerol (PLG) and its hydroperoxide (PLG-OOH) were produced. PLC hydrolyzed the two substrates without preference, as the yields of PLG and PLG-OOH were the same even though cholesterol was incorporated into liposomes to increase bilayer integrity. Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPX) reduced PLG-OOH to its hydroxide in the presence of glutathione while the conventional cytosolic glutathione peroxidase did not. These data suggest that PLC hydrolyzes oxidized biomembranes to give 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides for PKC stimulation but PHGPX may prevent neutrophil stimulation by reducing 1,2-diacylglycerol hydroperoxides to their hydroxides.     

The seasonal cycle of Thermocyclops crassus (Fischer, 1853) (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) in a shallow,eutrophic lake

The seasonal cycle of Thermocyclops crassus was studied from 1985 to 1987, in the Gronne, a shallow, productive lake. T. crassus was present from late April to early October, while water temperature was above 10 °C. It produced three generations per year. Population peak was usually reached by the second generation, in August. Abundance was positively correlated with water temperature. Females carried 18.3 to 32.3 eggs on average. Reproduction rates were highest in July and August. Sex ratio was low, as females generally outnumbered males. Between October and April copepodites 4 went in diapause, predominantly in the deepest part of the lake and 0–4 cm deep in the bottom mud. Variations in body size were low across the year. T. crassus coexisted with the cyclopids, Cyclops vicinus and Mesocyclops leuckarti. In 1985 and 1986, abundances of M. leuckarti were low, while those of T. crassus and C. vicinus were high. In 1987 lower water temperatures, caused by cold weather, resulted in a marked decrease of the population density of T. crassus, while the abundance of M. leuckarti increased, and density of C. vicinus remained high. Comparison of the egg duration times of T. crassus, C. vicinus and M. leuckarti showed that at 15 °C and below T. crassus may be outcompeted by its comparatively longer egg development times. However, experiments in limnocorrals showed that T. crassus has an advantage over C. vicinus when fish predation is high.Department of Biology III, University of Ulm     

The cuticle of the enigmatic arthropod Phytophilaspis and biomineralization in Cambrian arthropods

Lin, J.‐P., Ivantsov, A.Y. & Briggs, D.E.G. 2011: The cuticle of the enigmatic arthropod Phytophilaspis and biomineralization in Cambrian arthropods. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 344–349. Many non‐trilobite arthropods occur in Cambrian Burgess Shale‐type (BST) biotas, but most of these are preserved in fine‐grained siliciclastics. Only one important occurrence of Cambrian non‐trilobite arthropods, the Sinsk biota (lower Sinsk Formation, Botomian) from the Siberian Platform, has been discovered in carbonates. The chemical compositions of samples of the enigmatic arthropod Phytophilaspis pergamena Ivantsov, 1999 and the co‐occurring trilobite Jakutus primigenius Ivantsov in Ponomarenko, 2005 from this deposit were analysed. The cuticle of P. pergamena is composed of mainly calcium phosphate and differs from the cuticle of J. primigenius, which contains only calcium carbonate. Phosphatized cuticles are rare among large Cambrian arthropods, except for aglaspidids and a few trilobites. Based on recent phylogenetic studies, phosphatization of arthropod cuticle is likely to have evolved several times. □arthropod cuticle, Burgess Shale‐type preservation, fossil‐diagenesis, phosphatization.     

Pleurospermum tripartitum sp. nov. (Umbelliferae) from western Yunnan,China

Pleurospermum tripartitum Pu, R. Li & H. Li, a new species of Umbelliferae from western Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. It is closely similar to P. macrochlaenum K. T. Fu & Y. C. Ho, but differs by having unbranched stem, conspicuous calyx teeth, and white petals.