追寻古脊椎动物与古人类的足迹

中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所(以下简称古脊椎所)标本馆是亚洲规模最大的古脊椎动物、古人类化石及石器标本的收藏中心,同时也以鲜明的区域性标本收藏闻名于世,如直立人化石、辽西热河生物群     

热河生物群的起源与发现

辽西朝阳丰富的化石资源 ,充分证明了 1.3亿年前 ,朝阳独特的地质结构和生态环境 ,促使陆生动、植物种群的大爆发 ,构成了当时地球物种的天堂 ,形成了“热河生物群”。自 2 0世纪中叶起 ,随着古生物化石的不断发现 ,使沉睡了 1亿多年的“热河生物群”重现生机和活力 ,为人类研究生物的起源、生物演化和地质变化提供了科学的依据。     

中国陆生脊椎动物野外调查的发展现状与文献分析

新中国成立以来,我国已开展了大量陆生脊椎动物的本底调查和多样性研究项目,取得了一系列成果,并有学者针对兽类、鸟类和两栖爬行类的野外调查监测进行了总结和展望,但尚缺乏对所有陆生脊椎动物类群的调查历史和现状的分析及基于文献收集的研究,特别是对调查方法和技术手段的对比与总结。因此,本文通过文献收集的方法,基于中国知网、Web of Science核心合集和以图书检索为主的读秀学术搜索,以“兽类”“鸟类”“爬行类”“两栖类”“动物资源”“调查”“监测”“新种”“新记录”和“物种多样性”作为检索词,检索并筛选了与兽类、鸟类、爬行类及两栖类陆生脊椎动物调查相关的文献资料共3,504篇,对陆生脊椎动物调查的研究文献在全国各省级行政区、生物多样性热点地区的分布,及其运用的调查方法和技术手段进行了系统的分析和比较。结果表明:相较兽类和两栖爬行类的调查,我国鸟类多样性的调查最多,发表文献占所有文献的70.26%。四川、云南的陆生脊椎动物调查最多,分别发表285篇、260篇文献。分布于我国的4个全球生物多样性热点地区的调查强度存在显著差异,印缅生物多样性热点地区和中国西南山地的研究文献较多,分别为348篇、...     

生态系统健康与生物多样性*

生态系统健康学是一门研究人类活动、社会组织、自然系统及人类健康的整合性学科,主要探讨资源环境管理对策,以及生态系统健康与人类健康的关系。生态系统健康是人类健康的基础,是人类可持续发展的重要前提,维护生态系统健康,保护生物多样性,也就是维护人类生存的机会。人类健康依附于健康的生态系统功能和服务日益为人们所认识,关注和理解生物多样性、生态系统健康、人类健康之间的相互联系已成为全球可持续发展的必要条件。本文着重综述了生态系统健康的研究内容及全球环境变化背景下生物多样性的变化对生态系统健康的影响效应。     

辽宁凌源及内蒙古宁城地区下白垩统义县组脊椎动物生物地层

辽宁凌源及相邻内蒙古南部宁城地区义县组发现多个重要脊椎动物化石地点,通过岩 石地层、脊椎动物生物地层和同位素年代地层对比,建立了该地区义县组地层层序。凌源一宁 城地区义县组有 ２个脊椎动物化石层位：下部道虎沟层含 Ｌｙｃｏｐｔｅｒａｅｒ Ｉｃｈｔｈｙｏｆａｕｎａ, Ｐｓｉｔｔａｃｏｓａｕｒｕｓ Ｆａｕｎａ和Ｃｏｎｆｕｃｉｕｓｏｒｎｉｓ Ａｖｉｆａｕｎａ等３个动物群,可以与北票尖山沟层的四合 屯脊椎动物化石群对比,层位相当于义县组一、三段;上部大王杖子（大新房子）层含 Ｌｙｃｏｐｔｅｒａ Ｉｃｈｔｈｙｏｆａｕｎａ和Ｌｉａｏｘｉｏｒｎｉｓ Ａｖｉｆａｕｎａ等２个动物群,为义县组中部沉积,在四合屯地 区缺失。冀北丰宁四岔口－森吉图地区义县组脊椎动物化石层对应于凌源大王杖子层;滦平 大北沟组为义县组最下部沉积,其上覆的大店子组相当于宁城道虎沟层和北票四合屯义县组 一、三段。热河群义县组和九佛堂组发现３个连续的鸟类群;义县组下部Ｃｏｎｆｕｃｉｕｓｏｒｎｉｓ Ａｖｉｆａｕｎａ、义县组中部Ｌｉａｏｘｉｏｒｎｉｓ Ａｖｉｆａｕｎａ和九佛堂组Ｃａｔｈａｙｏｒｎｉｓ－Ｃｈａｏｙａｎｇｉａ Ａｖｉｆａｕｎａ。义 县组和九佛堂组Ｌｙｃｏｐｔｅｒａ　Ｉ     

广西早泥盆世节甲鱼类及胴甲鱼类化石及华南早泥盆世脊椎动物生物地层对比

描述了早泥盆世的3个属种,其中节甲鱼类Yujiangolepisliujingensisgen．etsp.nov.采自广西六景,Buchanosteussp．及胴甲鱼类？Chuchinolepissp.采自广西玉林。该3件标本均产自海相地层中,与海相无脊椎动物化石共生。还讨论了华南区几个主要产脊椎动物化石（包括脊椎动物微体化石）剖面的生物地层对比。     

微生物的生物多样性及应用前景*

根据微生物的特性,从物种、生理代谢类群及遗传背景几个方面简述了它们的生物多样性及其研究的重要意义。并从基因组学的研究发展展望了对微生物多样性的认识和其资源利用的前景,希望能引起科学界和全社会对这个生物资源的重视。     

基于DNA条形码技术构建王朗国家级自然保护区陆生脊椎动物遗传资源数据库及物种鉴定

DNA条形码(DNA barcode)是基因组中较短的、种内变异相对稳定的基因序列,已经成为生物多样性保护研究中物种鉴定、生物多样性评估的有力手段之一。四川王朗国家级自然保护区地处青藏高原东缘,属于世界生物多样性热点地区,具有丰富的生物资源,在我国珍稀动物保护领域具有重要地位。目前保护区已累积了大量的陆生脊椎动物监测数据,但缺乏遗传资源本底调查和基础的遗传资源数据库。本研究基于DNA条形码技术,以四川王朗国家级自然保护区为主要研究区域,基于样线法和博物馆标本调研,对所采集的314份样品进行DNA条形码分析,共鉴定兽类、鸟类、两栖类18目35科74种,首次获得了王朗齿突蟾(Scutigerwanglangensis)的线粒体基因(COI、12S-16S、16S、Cytb)及核基因(RAG1)的条形码序列信息,并通过比较不同监测方法说明了DNA条形码技术在动物多样性调查中的应用前景。本研究基于DNA条形码技术最终获得了216份DNA条形码数据,初步建立了保护区陆生脊椎动物遗传资源数据库,该数据库将为评估保护区生物多样性提供基础信息,为动物保护和管理工作提供技术支持。     

关岭及相关生物群沉积与生态环境的探讨

根据近年来对黔东南至滇东关岭、兴义、贞丰和罗平等地中一晚三叠世含海生爬行动物骨架和(或)深水海百合黑色岩系(通常所称黑色页岩)化石库的研究,现将该区岩石地层单位划分.以及这些黑色岩系化石库生物组合特征、时代、分布、沉积和古地理环境概括如下:1)在关岭-兴义地区中-晚三叠世(安尼期、拉丁期和早卡尼期)地层中,至少夹有3层、甚至4层含海生爬行动物的黑色岩系化石库(或黑色"页岩"化石库),自下而上产盘县生物群、兴义生物群和关岭生物群.云南罗平地区中三叠统关岭组中新发现的"罗平生物群"与盘县生物群层位大致相当.贞丰龙场赖石科组上部新挖掘出的30m厚产创口海百合、双壳类及菊石的黑色岩系,应该是研究地区最高层位的海相三叠纪黑色岩系,时代似属晚三叠世早卡尼期晚期;2)推测这些含海生爬行动物骨架的黑色岩系化石库是在印支造山运动影响下,伴随南盘江前陆盆地隆升和闭合,在扬子克拉通台地边缘所形成的一个或几个边缘凹陷、或边缘盆地之中形成的,这些凹陷或盆地形成之初,表层水充氧,且具有很好的食物链结构,有利于各类海生生物生活;后来的海平面上升至最大海泛期,以及由此引起缺氧和含硫化氢水位的上升,导致这些凹陷逐渐变成安静、滞流的死亡之海和黑色岩系化石库;3)关岭生物群产于晚三叠世卡尼期早期小凹组下段上部黑色岩系之中,是一个典型的在滞流、缺氧且海底没有食腐动物边缘局限盆地中所形成的黑色页岩化石库,以产大量海生爬行动物和深水假浮游海百合为特征,此外还有个别的两栖类和原始龟类发现;4)产于竹杆坡组近底部黑色岩系中的兴义生物群,以产大量肿肋龙类为特点,尤以个体较小的贵州龙最为常见,共生的还有多种鱼类化石,在生物组合和产出层位上,可与阿尔卑斯南部Meride灰岩所夹黑色含沥青页岩化石库对比,时代似应归属拉丁期早或中期;大量米虾在竹杆坡组近底部含贵州龙层的发现.推测兴义生物群可能形成于台地边缘早期并不缺氧,且具有理想食物链结构的浅水、超盐的凹陷或盆地之中.由于存在浮游生物-虾-贵州龙-欧龙-虾-浮游生物所组成的生态组合和食物链结构,从而为解释以肿肋龙类为代表的兴义生物群的繁衍和多生提供了依据;接踵而来的沉积速率下降和缺氧水位的上升,以及间歇性火山作用,导致该特有生态体系的崩溃和化石库的形成.根据对贞丰挽澜竹杆坡组底部首次发现的棘皮动物的化石库的研究,指出该化石库系由海星、细小蛇尾、底栖海百合茎、海胆和海参等5类棘皮动物化石和含贵州龙骨架碎片组成,其下为8m厚夹有薄层的骨层的凝缩层沉积,后者位于硬底之上.此种沉积和埋藏模式与德国上壳灰岩早拉丁期的棘皮动物化石库类似,是在近岸海水不太浅的内陆棚的环境下,由于风暴潮作用所形成的化石库,他们与在滞流、缺氧海底、通过化石聚集所形成的化石库是不同的;5)产盘县生物群的黑色岩系化石库主要见于盘县羊件和普安青山中三叠世(安尼期)关岭组中,与云南罗平地区的"罗平生物群"在层位及生物组合上大致相当,均以含大量混鱼龙、幻龙和欧龙.以及鱼类为特点,共生的还有大量节肢动物.所不同的是后者由于靠近滨岸,故而出现大量幼年期的鱼类以及虾类和鲎类化石,推测他们形成于靠近古陆或滨岸的台缘浅水表层充氧的正常、且有时超盐的凹陷之中,时代上早于阿尔卑斯南部安尼期/拉丁期比塞娄组;其集群死亡除因后期盆地滞流、缺氧外,可能还与风暴和火山作用有关.     

西南地区下寒武统划分与对比——兼论早寒武世系列生物群的时代*

根据世界主要地区近年来下寒武统生物地层和三叶虫序列研究的最新成果 ,将我国西南地区下寒武统与世界重要地区 (摩洛哥、西伯利亚和劳伦古陆 )下寒武统进行了对比 ,列出了对比方案 ,为确定早寒武世系列生物群的时代提供了正确的依据 ,对早期后生动物起源、演化的研究具有重要的意义     

The evolution of the modern avian digestive system: insights from paravian fossils from the Yanliao and Jehol biotas

The avian digestive system, like other aspects of avian biology, is highly modified relative to other reptiles. Together these modifications have imparted the great success of Neornithes, the most diverse clade of amniotes alive today. It is important to understand when and how aspects of the modern avian digestive system evolved among neornithine ancestors in order to elucidate the evolutionary success of this important clade and to understand the biology of stem birds and their closest dinosaurian relatives: Mesozoic Paraves. Although direct preservation of the soft tissue of the digestive system has not yet been reported, ingested remains and their anatomical location preserved in articulated fossils hint at the structure of the digestive system and its abilities. Almost all data concerning direct evidence of diet in Paraves comes from either the Upper Jurassic Yanliao Biota or the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Biota, both of which are known from deposits in north-eastern China. Here, the sum of the data gleaned from the thousands of exceptionally well-preserved fossils of paravians is interpreted with regards to the structure and evolution of the highly modified avian digestive system and feeding apparatus. This information suggests intrinsic differences between closely related stem lineages implying either strong homoplasy or that diet in each lineage of non-ornithuromorph birds was highly specialized. Regardless, modern digestive capabilities appear to be limited to the Ornithuromorpha, although the complete set of derived feeding related characters is restricted to the Neornithes.     

Global associations between terrestrial producer and vertebrate consumer diversity

In both ecology and conservation, often a strong positive association is assumed between the diversity of plants as primary producers and that of animals, specifically primary consumers. Such a relationship has been observed at small spatial scales, and a begetting of diversity by diversity is expected under various scenarios of co-evolution and co-adaptation. But positive producer-consumer richness relationships may also arise from similar associations with past opportunities for diversification or contemporary environmental conditions, or from emerging properties of plant diversity such as vegetation complexity or productivity. Here we assess whether the producer-consumer richness relationship generalizes from plot to regional scale and provide a first global test of its strength for vascular plants and endothermic vertebrates. We find strong positive richness associations, but only limited congruence of the most diverse regions. The richness of both primary and higher-level consumers increases with plant richness at similar strength and rate. Environmental conditions emerge as much stronger predictors of consumer richness, and after accounting for environmental differences little variation is explained by plant diversity. We conclude that biotic interactions and strong local associations between plants and consumers only relatively weakly scale up to broad geographical scales and to functionally diverse taxa, for which environmental constraints on richness dominate.     

Vertebrate invaders and their ecological impacts in Chile

The South American country of Chile has been subjected to relatively few invasions in historic times. In comparison to the ca 610 vertebrate species found in continental Chile, only 24 species (3.9%) have invaded the country. Except for two bird and two or three mammal species that expanded their range and crossed the Andean Ranges from Argentina, the remaining 20 species were all introduced, or aided, by humans. Of the 24 invader species that currently occur in Chile, 11 (46%) were first introduced in central Chile, two (8%) in the northern part of the country, nine (38%) in the southern part, and two (8%) in Juan Fernández Archipelago. For ten (42%) of those species there is no information about their effects on the native flora, vegetation, or fauna. For eight species (33%), the information regarding the effects of the invaders is anecdotal. For six species (25%), there is adequate quantitative documentation available on their effects. Of a total of seven convincingly repo rted cases, two involve positive effects (increase in the prey base for native predators) and five have negative effects, of which three are on native vegetation and the remaining two on native fauna.     

Links between global taxonomic diversity,ecological diversity and the expansion of vertebrates on land

Tetrapod biodiversity today is great; over the past 400 Myr since vertebrates moved onto land, global tetrapod diversity has risen exponentially, punctuated by losses during major extinctions. There are links between the total global diversity of tetrapods and the diversity of their ecological roles, yet no one fully understands the interplay of these two aspects of biodiversity and a numerical analysis of this relationship has not so far been undertaken. Here we show that the global taxonomic and ecological diversity of tetrapods are closely linked. Throughout geological time, patterns of global diversity of tetrapod families show 97 per cent correlation with ecological modes. Global taxonomic and ecological diversity of this group correlates closely with the dominant classes of tetrapods (amphibians in the Palaeozoic, reptiles in the Mesozoic, birds and mammals in the Cenozoic). These groups have driven ecological diversity by expansion and contraction of occupied ecospace, rather than by direct competition within existing ecospace and each group has used ecospace at a greater rate than their predecessors.     

拟浒苔在澄江生物群中的发现及其生态学意义

报道了早寒武世澄江生物群中的一种新的化石藻类－肠拟浒苔（Enteromophites intestinalis sp.nov）,丰富了对该时期生物多样性的认识,通过现生浒苔属和石拟苔属藻类形态学的研究表明,这两个属在系统演化上可能有密切的亲缘关系,并阐述了澄江生物群可能发生了一个海水环境。     

Recovery of amphibian,reptile, bird and mammal diversity during secondary forest succession in the tropics

In tropical regions, many studies have focused on how vegetation and ecosystem processes recover following the abandonment of anthropogenic activities, but less attention has been given to the recovery patterns of vertebrates. Here we conduct a meta‐analysis (n = 147 studies) of amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal recovery during tropical secondary forest succession (i.e. natural regeneration). For each taxonomic group, we compared changes in species richness and compositional similarity during natural secondary succession to reference forests (mature or old growth forest). In addition, we evaluated the response of forest specialists and the change in bird and mammal functional groups during natural secondary succession in the tropical moist forest biome. Overall, species richness of all groups reached levels of the reference forests during natural secondary succession, but this was not the case for species compositional similarity. The delay in recovery of forest specialists may be the reason for the delay in recovery of species compositional similarity. Overall, vertebrate recovery increased with successional stage, but other potential predictors of diversity recovery, such as, the geographical setting (amphibian and reptile species compositional similarity recovered more rapidly on islands), rainfall (mammal species richness and compositional similarity recovered faster in regions of low rainfall), and the landscape context (amphibian, reptile and mammal species compositional similarity recovered faster in regions with more forest patches) influenced vertebrate recovery. These results demonstrate the important role of secondary forests in providing habitat for many vertebrates, but the slow recovery of species compositional similarity, forest specialists and some functional groups (e.g. insectivorous birds) highlighted the challenge of secondary forest persistence, and strongly argues for the continued protection of old growth/mature forest as habitat for forest specialists and as sources for secondary forest sites.     

A new holocrinid (Articulata) from the Paris Biota (Bear Lake County,Idaho, USA) highlights the high diversity of Early Triassic crinoids

After the end-Permian crisis and the extinction of their four Paleozoic subclasses, crinoids rapidly recovered. This group is classically believed to have radiated from a small surviving clade and to have diversified during the Middle and Upper Triassic from two lineages. Nevertheless, recent findings suggested that several lineages of crinoids had already diversified during the Early Triassic, and that their diversity has been overlooked. Here we describe a new form of holocrinid, Holocrinus nov. sp., from the earliest Spathian (Early Triassic) of southeastern Idaho (USA). So far, the exceptional completeness of sampled specimens, with skeletal elements of arms and stem in connection, is unique for the Early Triassic. They show that derived morphological features had already evolved ∼1.3 million years after the Permian–Triassic boundary, supporting the scenario of a rapid Early Triassic diversification of crinoids.     

Conservation implications of divergent global patterns of ant and vertebrate diversity

Aim

Global conservation planning is often oriented around vertebrates and plants, yet most organisms are invertebrates. To explore the potential conservation implications of this bias, we assessed how well patterns of diversity for an influential group of invertebrates, the ants, correspond with those of three vertebrate groups (birds, mammals and amphibians).

Location

Global.

Methods

We compiled data on the number of genera of ants and the three vertebrate groups for 370 political regions across the world. We then compared their correlations both for overall diversity and between subsets of genera likely to be of conservation concern. We also developed generalized additive models (GAM) to identify regions where vertebrates and ants diverged in their diversity patterns.

Results

While ant and vertebrate diversity do positively correlate, the correlations are substantially weaker for the ant lineages of the greatest conservation concern. Vertebrates also notably fail to predict ant diversity in specific geographic areas, including Australia and Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and Madagascar, and south‐western China. These failures may be genuine differences in diversity patterns, or they may indicate important gaps in our knowledge of ant and vertebrate diversity.

Main conclusions

We conclude that it is currently unwise to assume that global conservation priorities based on vertebrates will conserve ants as well. We suspect that this also applies to other invertebrates.