Evolution of vegetation and climate variability on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 1.74 million years.

The Tibetan Plateau exerts a major influence on Asian climate, but its long-term environmental history remains largely unknown. We present a detailed record of vegetation and climate changes over the past 1.74 million years in a lake sediment core from the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau.

A new genus of sinogaleaspids (Galeaspida, stem-Gnathostomata) from the Silurian Period in Jiangxi, China.

Galeaspids are an endemic clade of jawless stem-gnathostomes known as ostracoderms. Their existence illuminates how specific characteristics developed in jawed vertebrates. Sinogaleaspids are of particular interest among the galeaspids but their monophyly is controversial because little is known about .

Spatiotemporal variations of nitrate sources and dynamics in a typical agricultural riverine system under monsoon climate.

Nitrogen pollution is a serious environmental issue in the Danjiangkou Reservoir region (DRR), the water source of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project of China. In this research, seasonal surveys and a bi-weekly time series survey were conducted in the Qihe River Basin, one of the most densely populated agricultural basins in the DRR. Hydrochemical compositions (NO and Cl), dual isotopes (δD-HO, δO-HO, δN-NO, and δO-NO), and a Markov Chain Monte Carlo isotope mixing model were jointly applied to unravel the sources, migrations, and transformations of the nitrate (NO) in the basin.

Response of tree rings to earthquakes during the past 350 years at Jiuzhaigou in the eastern Tibet.

Trees growing in the tectonically active and climatically sensitive regions, such as the Tibetan Plateau, frequently suffer damage from strong earthquakes and extreme hydro-climatic events. Spruce trees in the Jiuzhaigou National Park exhibited abrupt periods of growth suppression with durations of 3-9 years, which was demonstrated to have recorded five seismic events during the last 350 years after excluding the climatic impacts. The ring-width reductions occurred immediately after earthquakes in the growing seasons of 1748, 1879 and 2017, and one year later in 1961 when the earthquake occurred after the growing season in 1960.

Making a mammalian ear. Modular decoupling of the mammalian middle ear and jaw discovered in a new species of Cretaceous stem therian mammals.

Evolution of the definitive mammalian middle ear (DMME) as a textbook example in vertebrate evolution has been extensively studied during the last 200 years. Fossils provide the direct evidence on evolutionary stages of the DMME, but because of delicacy of the miniscule ossicles, unequivocal evidence about them has always been rare. Recent work on a stem therian mammal (124 million years old) shows presence of the surangular bone in the basal mammals as a primitive feature and potentially retained in the embryonic stage of some extant mammals.

Ultramicrostructural reductions in teeth: implications for dietary transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds.

Background: Tooth morphology within theropod dinosaurs has been extensively investigated and shows high disparity throughout the Cretaceous. Changes or diversification in feeding ecology, i.e.

Distal spinal nerve development and divergence of avian groups.

The avian transition from long to short, distally fused tails during the Mesozoic ushered in the Pygostylian group, which includes modern birds. The avian tail embodies a bipartite anatomy, with the proximal separate caudal vertebrae region, and the distal pygostyle, formed by vertebral fusion. This study investigates developmental features of the two tail domains in different bird groups, and analyzes them in reference to evolutionary origins.

New anatomical information on Young, 1964 with focus on the palatal region.

Pterosaur specimens with complete and well-preserved palatal region are rare. Here we describe new and previously collected specimens of the pterodactyloid pterosaur that are three-dimensionally preserved and provide new anatomical information for this species. Among the unique features is a lateral process of the pterygoid divided into two parts: an anterior thin, parabolic arc shaped element that separates the secondary subtemporal and the subtemporal fenestrae, followed by a dorsoventrally flattened portion that is directed inside the subtemporal fenestrae.

Evidence of proteins, chromosomes and chemical markers of DNA in exceptionally preserved dinosaur cartilage.

A histological ground-section from a duck-billed dinosaur nestling () revealed microstructures morphologically consistent with nuclei and chromosomes in cells within calcified cartilage. We hypothesized that this exceptional cellular preservation extended to the molecular level and had molecular features in common with extant avian cartilage. Histochemical and immunological evidence supports preservation of extracellular matrix components found in extant cartilage, including glycosaminoglycans and collagen type II.

Genome-wide association mapping for dominance effects in female fertility using real and simulated data from Danish Holstein cattle.

Exploring dominance variance and loci contributing to dominance variation is important to understand the genetic architecture behind quantitative traits. The objectives of this study were i) to estimate dominance variances, ii) to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) with dominant effects, and iii) to evaluate the power and the precision of identifying loci with dominance effect through post-hoc simulations, with applications for female fertility in Danish Holstein cattle. The female fertility records analyzed were number of inseminations (NINS), days from calving to first insemination (ICF), and days from the first to last insemination (IFL), covering both abilities to recycle and to get pregnant in the female reproductive cycle.

Early Silurian chondrichthyans from the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang, China).

The Sinacanthida ordo nov. and Mongolepidida are spine- and scale-based taxa whose remains encompass some of the earliest reported fossils of chondrichthyan fish. Investigation of fragmentary material from the Early Silurian Tataertag and Ymogantau Formations of the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China) has revealed a diverse mongolepidid and sinacanthid fauna dominated by mongolepids and sinacanthids in association with abundant dermoskeletal elements of the endemic 'armoured' agnathans known as galeaspids.

The first pterosaur basihyal, shedding light on the evolution and function of pterosaur hyoid apparatuses.

The pterosaur is the first known vertebrate clade to achieve powered flight. Its hyoid apparatus shows a simplification similar to that of birds, although samples of the apparatus are rare, limiting the ability to make an accurate determination. In this study we reveal a new pterosaur specimen, including the first definite basihyal.

A new possible megalosauroid theropod from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Chongqing, People's Republic of China and its implication for early tetanuran evolution.

Tetanurae is a special group of theropod dinosaurs that originated by the late Early Jurassic. It includes several early-diverging groups of generally large-bodied predators (megalosauroids, allosauroids, tyrannosauroid coelurosaurs) as well as morphologically disparate small-bodied coelurosaurs, including birds. Aspects of the evolutionary history of tetanurans remain contested, including the topology of their deep phylogenetic divergences (among Megalosauroidea, Allosauroidea and Coelurosauria).

New titanosauriform (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) specimens from the Upper Cretaceous Daijiaping Formation of southern China.

Titanosauriform sauropod dinosaurs were once considered rare in the Upper Cretaceous of Asia, but a number of titanosauriforms from this stratigraphic interval have been discovered in China in recent years. In fact, all adequately known Cretaceous Asian sauropods are titanosauriforms, but only a few have been well studied, lending significance to any new anatomical information that can be extracted from Asia's Cretaceous sauropod record. Here we give a detailed description of some titanosauriform bones recovered recently from the Upper Cretaceous Daijiaping Formation of Tianyuan County, Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, southern China.

Integrated hearing and chewing modules decoupled in a Cretaceous stem therian mammal.

On the basis of multiple skeletal specimens from Liaoning, China, we report a new genus and species of Cretaceous stem therian mammal that displays decoupling of hearing and chewing apparatuses and functions. The auditory bones, including the surangular, have no bone contact with the ossified Meckel's cartilage; the latter is loosely lodged on the medial rear of the dentary. This configuration probably represents the initial morphological stage of the definitive mammalian middle ear.

Cranium and Vertebral Column of Xingxiulong chengi (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) from the Early Jurassic of China.

The Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation in Yunnan Province of southwestern China provides one of the most abundant records of sauropodomorphs in the world. However, most of them have not been fully described. Xingxiulong chengi is among the most complete non-sauropodan sauropodomorphs ever discovered from Lufeng Formation and is represented by three partial skeletons.

Reappraisal of the Silurian placoderm and insights into the dermal neck joint evolution.

, a Silurian jawed vertebrate originally identified as an antiarch, is here redescribed as a maxillate placoderm close to and is anteroposteriorly reversed as opposed to the original description. The cuboid trunk shield possesses three longitudinal cristae, obstanic grooves on the trunk shield and three median dorsal plates, all uniquely shared with . Further preparation reveals the morphology of the dermal neck joint, with slot-shaped articular fossae on the trunk shield similar to and antiarchs.

Dinosaur paleohistology: review, trends and new avenues of investigation.

In the mid-19th century, the discovery that bone microstructure in fossils could be preserved with fidelity provided a new avenue for understanding the evolution, function, and physiology of long extinct organisms. This resulted in the establishment of paleohistology as a subdiscipline of vertebrate paleontology, which has contributed greatly to our current understanding of dinosaurs as living organisms. Dinosaurs are part of a larger group of reptiles, the Archosauria, of which there are only two surviving lineages, crocodilians and birds.

Synchronous 500-year oscillations of monsoon climate and human activity in Northeast Asia.

Prehistoric human activities were likely influenced by cyclic monsoon climate changes in East Asia. Here we report a decadal-resolution Holocene pollen record from an annually-laminated Maar Lake in Northeast China, a proxy of monsoon climate, together with a compilation of 627 radiocarbon dates from archeological sites in Northeast China which is a proxy of human activity. The results reveal synchronous ~500-year quasi-periodic changes over the last 8000 years.

A comparative study on auditory and hyoid bones of Jurassic euharamiyidans and contrasting evidence for mammalian middle ear evolution.

The holotypes of euharamiyidan Arboroharamiya allinhopsoni and Arboroharamiya jenkinsi preserve the auditory and hyoid bones, respectively. With additional structures revealed by micro-computerized tomography (CT) and X-ray micro-computed laminography (CL), we provide a detailed description of these minuscule bones. The stapes in the two species of Arboroharamiya are similar in having a strong process for insertion of the stapedius muscle.

Simulation of dissolved organic carbon concentrations and fluxes in Chinese monsoon forest ecosystems using a modified TRIPLEX-DOC model.

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) plays an important role in global and regional carbon cycles. However, the quantification of DOC in forest ecosystems remains uncertain. Here, the processed-based biogeochemical model TRIPLEX-DOC was modified by optimizing the function of soil organic carbon distribution with increasing depths, as well as DOC sorption-desorption efficiency.

Cranial endocast of a stem platyrrhine primate and ancestral brain conditions in anthropoids.

Understanding of ancestral conditions for anthropoids has been hampered by the paucity of well-preserved early fossils. Here, we provide an unprecedented view of the cerebral morphology of the 20-million-year-old , the best-preserved early diverging platyrrhine known, obtained via high-resolution CT scanning and 3D digital reconstruction. These analyses are crucial for reconstructing ancestral brain conditions in platyrrhines and anthropoids given the early diverging position of Although small, the brain of is not lissencephalic and presents at least seven pairs of sulci on its endocast.