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We describe here a new turtle from the early Eocene of Wutu, Shandong Province, China. This turtle with a full row of well-developed inframarginal scutes is assigned to the basalmost testudinoids while stem testudinoids were believed to disappear by the Palaeocene–Eocene boundary. This account shows that stem testudinoids crossed this boundary in their original range. The first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of stem and modern testudinoids performed here demonstrates that the stem testudinoids, previously placed in the family 'Lindholmemydidae', do not form a monophyletic group, and the two major clades of testudinoids (Emydidae and Geoemydidae+Testudinidae) split one from another well before the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary, prior to the Late Cretaceous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Descriptions of Lower Devonian plants from Yunnan, South China, have revolutionized concepts of diversity and disparity in tracheophytes soon after they became established on land. Sichuan assemblages have received little attention since their discovery almost 25 years ago and require revision. With this objective, fieldwork involving detailed logging and collection of fossils was undertaken in the Longmenshan Mountain Region, Jiangyou County and yielded the two new taxa described here. They are preserved as coalified compressions and impressions that allowed morphological but not anatomical analyses. Yanmenia (Zosterophyllum) longa comb nov is based on numerous rarely branching shoots with enations resembling lycophyte microphylls, without evidence for vasculature. The presence of sporangia is equivocal making assignation to the Lycopsida conjectural. The plant was recently described as a zosterophyll, but lacks strobili. These are present in the second plant and comprise bivalved sporangia. The strobili terminate aerial stems which arise from a basal axial complex displaying diversity in branching including H- and K- forms. These features characterise the Zosterophyllopsida, although the plant differs from Zosterophyllum in valve shape. Comparisons indicate greatest similarities to the Lower Devonian Guangnania cuneata, from Yunnan, but differences, particularly in the nature of the sporangium border, require the erection of a new species, G. minor. Superficial examination of specimens already published indicate a high degree of endemism at both species and generic level, while this study shows that Yanmenia is confined to Sichuan and Guangnania is one of the very few genera shared with Yunnan, where assemblages also show a high proportion of further endemic genera. Such provincialism noted in the Chinese Lower Devonian is explained by the palaeogeographic isolation of the South China plate, but this cannot account for differences/endemism between the Sichuan and Yunnan floras. Such an enigma demands further integrated geological, palaeobotanical and palynological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early Cenozoic was characterized by a very warm climate especially during the Early Eocene. To understand climatic changes in eastern Asia, we reconstructed the Early Eocene vegetation and climate based on palynological data of a borehole from Wutu coal mine, East China and evaluated the climatic differences between eastern Asia and Central Europe. The Wutu palynological assemblages indicated a warm temperate vegetation succession comprising mixed needle- and broad-leaved forests. Three periods of vegetation succession over time were recognized. The changes of palynomorph relative abundance indicated that period 1 was warm and humid, period 2 was relatively warmer and wetter, and period 3 was cooler and drier again. The climatic parameters estimated by the coexistence approach (CA) suggested that the Early Eocene climate in Wutu was warmer and wetter. Mean annual temperature (MAT) was approximately 16°C and mean annual precipitation (MAP) was 800–1400 mm. Comparison of the Early Eocene climatic parameters of Wutu with those of 39 other fossil floras of different age in East China, reveals that 1) the climate became gradually cooler during the last 65 million years, with MAT dropping by 9.3°C. This cooling trend coincided with the ocean temperature changes but with weaker amplitude; 2) the Early Eocene climate was cooler in East China than in Central Europe; 3) the cooling trend in East China (MAT dropped by 6.9°C) was gentler than in Central Europe (MAT dropped by 13°C) during the last 45 million years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eocene palynological samples from 37 widely distributed sites across China were analysed using co-existence approach to determine trends in space and time for seven palaeoclimate variables: Mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, mean temperature of the warmest month, mean temperature of the coldest month, mean annual range of temperature, mean maximum monthly precipitation and mean minimum monthly precipitation. Present day distributions and observed climates within China of the nearest living relatives of the fossil forms were used to find the range of a given variable in which a maximum number of taxa can coexist. Isotherm and isohyet maps for the early, middle and late Eocene were constructed. These illustrate regional changing patterns in thermal and precipitational gradients that may be interpreted as the beginnings of the modern Asian Monsoon system, and suggest that the uplift of parts of the Tibetan Plateau appear to have taken place by the middle to late Eocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Diverse palynomorphs and phytoliths recovered from coprolites of ovi-caprids (sheep, goat) collected from Yang-Hai Tomb at Xinjiang Province, China, have been used to elucidate the dietary pattern of ancient livestock and to reconstruct the paleovegetation and paleoclimate of this part of northwest China ca. 2500 14C yr BP. Palynological and phytolith data suggest that a rich dry temperate vegetation prevailed in the area during the said period. Climatic conditions and grassland vegetation type of the area are explored using phytolith indices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new species, Millerocaulis sinica, is established based on a specimen collected from Lanqi Formation (Middle Jurassic) near Changgao Town, Liaoning Province of China. The specimen represents a stem surrounded by a mantle of stipular petiole bases and adventitious roots. The stem, 11×12 mm in diameter, consists of ectophloic siphonostele with rare complete leaf gaps and a two-layered cortex containing 31–35 leaf traces. The pith consists of homogeneous parenchyma. The outer cortex is composed of sclerenchyma, and is thicker than the parenchymatous inner cortex. When departing from the stem, the leaf traces are flattened C-shaped, with an endarch protoxylem which bifurcates at the base of petiole. Sclerenchyma rings are heterogeneous. A crescent-shaped sclerenchymatous mass occurs in the concavity of petiolar vascular strands. A large sclerenchymatous mass and several small sclerenchymatous strands are aligned in each stipular expansion at the periphery of the specimen. M. sinica, which has thick band occupying abaxial semicircle of sclerenchyma rings as well as a heterogeneous sclerenchyma mass and several sclerenchyma strands scattered in the stipular expansions, is much closer to these of subgenus Osmunda than subgenus Plenasium and subgenus Osmundastrum in the genus Osmunda. Therefore, it is suggested that there is a possible phylogenetic relationship between M. sinica and subgenus Osmunda. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The morphology and epidermal structure of the type material of Ginkgoites obrutschewii (Seward) Seward (1911, 1919), a species established for isolated leaves from the Jurassic of Northwestern China, have been revised based on the type material and recent findings from a geographically close, coeval locality. A diagnosis, missing in the original publication, is provided and a lectotype is designated. Numerous specimens of Ginkgoites/Ginkgo leaves without epidermal structure, that were ascribed to this species over the last century solely on the basis of the leaf morphology, have to be classified as Ginkgoites sp. This change restricts the known distribution of G. obrutschewii to the Middle Jurassic of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A leaf of Alseodaphne cf. hainanensis Merrill was discovered in diatomitic sediments of middle Pliocene age at Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The fossil and modern leaves have the same elliptic shape and brochidodromous venation. The cuticle of the fossil leaf was intact. There are some anatomical differences such as the amount of wax, the position of subsidiary cells and the density of trichomes/trichome bases between the fossil and modern leaves. However, these characters could not be used as taxonomic criteria to distinguish the fossil leaf from the modern species. The restricted distribution of A. hainanensis suggests that this tree is stenoecious. The presence of A. cf. hainanensis indicates that the mid-Pliocene climate was much warmer than today and had a higher level of precipitation than eastern China at the present day. Based on the fossil records and the modern distribution it is suggested that the trees of A. hainanensis have retreated southwards since the middle Pliocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Foliated shoots of Sequoia are reported from the Eocene of Yilan, Heilongjiang Province, NE China and from the Miocene of Lühe, Yunnan Province, South China. The leaves from both Yilan and Lühe are linear in shape, coriaceous in texture and the leaf base is decurrent and attached obliquely to the axis of shoots. The walls of the epidermal cells are straight, and the long axis of stomata is mostly parallel to mid-vein in our specimens. It suggests that the new specimens are assignable to Sequoia rather than to the similar genera Metasequoia, Taxodium and Glyptostrobus. The leaves from Yilan tend to be straight, but they are bent outwards in specimens from Lühe, very similar to those of Sequoia sempervirens. The leaves from Lühe are amphistomatic, while those from Yilan are hypostomatic. The stomata of the leaves from Lühe possess guard cells with polar lamellae, a feature missing in the leaves from Yilan. The gross morphology of foliated shoots, female cones, and the epidermal features from Lühe agree with those of S. sempervirens, so the specimens from Lühe are assigned to S. cf. sempervirens. The foliated shoots and epidermises of the specimens in Yilan are fit within the diagnosis of Sequoia chinensis, and therefore, the specimens are assigned to this species. The presence of Sequoia during the Eocene in Yilan and Miocene in Lühe is proven by the cuticle, which resolves some problems of identification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Younger Dryas (YD) is one of the most abrupt climatic events in Earth's recent history. The warming at the end of the YD, in particular, is considered to be comparable to the global warming seen in the 21 st century. However, the YD termination has received little attention, particularly in the Hengduan Mountains of Southwestern China, a low latitude temperate biodiversity hotspot. Here we present evidence for a rapid response in the diversity and composition of vegetation to the warming at the YD termination, based on a continuous, well-dated pollen sequence and loss-on-ignition data (12.9–9.2 cal. ka BP) from Haligu wetland in the Hengduan Mountains. Our data indicate that variations in plant diversity were correlated with relative humidity during this period, and suggest a distinct shift from Pinus-Abies-Picea forest to Pinus -dominated forest at the YD-Holocene transition, accompanied by an increase in coverage of generally temperate taxa such as Salix and Betula . This finding provides insights that may be of relevance to biodiversity conservation under future warming scenarios in similar mountain ecosystems worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new euphyllophyte, Planatophyton hujiersitense gen. et sp. nov., is described on the basis of adpression fossils collected from a late Early or Middle Devonian locality from the Hujiersite Formation in the Hujiersite area, Hoboksar County, North Xinjiang, North-West China. The plant is possibly rhizomatous and comprises main axes with alternately inserted lateral branching systems. All axis orders bear large triangular enations all over their surface. Lateral branching systems are up to six times dichotomous. Dichotomies in lateral branching systems occur in the same plane, which results in bilaterally symmetrical, two-dimensionally branched organs, with limited overlapping between any segments. Distal segments in sterile lateral branching systems look slightly flattened and/or webbed. The ultimate segments of fertile lateral branching systems bear Psilophyton-like pairs of pendulous twisted sporangia. Anatomy and spores of the plant are unknown. The implications of the new plant for the early evolution of multiveined leaf are evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fossil fruits of Schima (Theaceae) and seeds of Toddalia (Rutaceae) have been described as Schima nanlinensis sp. nov. and Toddalia nanlinensis sp. nov. respectively, from the Miocene of Nanlin Formation in Longchuan Basin, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The former are 5-loculed capsules with loculicidal dehiscence and remains of calyx at the base, as well as reniform flat seeds, while the latter are boat-shaped seeds with tegmen that is composed of thin-walled cells with fine criss-crossed spiral lignifications. The genus Schima Reinwardt ex Blume is known from the Palaeogene and Neogene of Germany and Austria, but today it is confined to South, East and Southeast Asia. Schima nanlinensis sp. nov. represents the first fossil record of the genus in Asia. The genus Toddalia, known to have existed in Europe from Eocene to Pliocene, is now widely distributed from Africa to Asia. Toddalia nanlinensis sp. nov. is the first fossil record of the genus in Asia and suggests that the genus probably extended the geographic distribution from Europe to Asia at least in the Miocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes a fossil liverwort in the Posongchong Formation, Lower Devonian (Pragian), Yunnan, China preserved as a partially permineralized compression in gray arenaceous mudstone. The plant comprises a regularly-bifurcating flat ecostate multilayered thallus with entire margins. Following comparisons of this fossil with gametophytes of extant and fossil liverworts, a new genus Riccardiothallus was established in the family Aneuraceae (Jungermanniopsida). The fossil, which appears to be closely similar to several members of the extant genus Riccardia, is the earliest unequivocal megafossil evidence of a liverwort. Considering the sedimentary environment of Riccardiothallus devonicus and the habitats of many extant Riccardia species, we conclude that Riccardiothallus devonicus probably lived in a warm and humid riverine environment. The age (Pragian, 407–411Ma) of Riccardiothallus devonicus suggests that the differentiation of Jungermanniopsida and Metzgeriidae was in the Early Devonian, significantly earlier than the assumptions derived from analyses of chloroplast DNA sequences of modern liverworts and current total evidence phylogenies (Late Devonian, 359–385Ma; Late Carboniferous, 299–307Ma). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Newly collected material of Comptonia leaves and fruits (C. naumannii and C. tymensis, respectively) from the lower Miocene of Weichang, China, are studied in detail. The leaves show great similarities in morphology and cuticular structures to those of the single extant species C. peregrina. It suggests a close genetic relationship between C. numannii and C. peregrina. Comptonia was widespread over the Northern Hemisphere during most of the Cenozoic, and obviously migrated into Asia from North America via a continental connection in the Eocene. Due to the cooling of global climate, it may have later gradually evolved into two ecotypes (thermophilous and cold tolerant). In the early Miocene C. naumannii was recorded from Northeast Asia and Alaska, but it disappeared from Alaska in the latest Miocene. The records suggest that plant exchange between Northeast Asia and North America may have ceased after the early Miocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: By applying the Coexistence Approach (CA) to palynological data from the Laohutai, Lizigou, Guchengzi, Jijuntun and Xilutian Formations in Fushun, northeastern China, a quantitative reconstruction of the Palaeocene to Eocene climate is made. During that time, Mean Annual Temperature changed from 11.3 to 21°C, Mean Annual Precipitation from 654 to 1540mm, Mean Temperature of the Warmest Month from 19.4 to 28.2°C, Mean Temperature of the Coldest Month from 3.6 to 13.9°C, Mean Annual Range of Temperature from 12.8 to 23.5°C, Mean Maximum Monthly Precipitation from 175 to 354mm, and Mean Minimum Monthly Precipitation from 8 to 27mm. All the parameters in the five formations indicate a subtropical climate. This situation is different from the current climate at the same site, a mid-temperate and continental monsoon climate, with a Mean Annual Temperature of 6.6°C and a Mean Annual Precipitation of 804mm. In addition, the climatic parameters obtained from megafossil data (only found in the Jijuntun Formation) were analyzed and approximate those from the palynological data. The parameters from the palynological data support the view that the Palaeogene climate of Northeast Asia and North America was similar, but unlike that of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Extant Berberis is a member of the basal eudicots with a South America (group Australes)-Old World (group Septentrionales) disjunctive distribution pattern. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the formation of this pattern. Recent molecular studies suggest that this pattern was caused by a vicariance event in the Cretaceous. More fossil evidence is required to evaluate these hypotheses. Here a new species of Berberis from the Palaeocene Wuyun flora is established based on a detailed comparison with all other fossil and related living Berberis. The occurrence of a Palaeocene Berberis in NE China and other fossil data suggest that 1) the genus originated in eastern Asia, 2) the leaf venation of the genus probably evolved from pinnate to acrodromous, leaf margins from densely spinose teeth to only occasionally toothed or even entire, 3) the genus would appear to have migrated from eastern Asia to North America in the Oligocene, via Beringia. Berberis probably arrived in Europe from Asia during the late Oligocene when Eurasia was reunited after the retreat of the Turgai Straits. Berberis could have migrated to India from eastern Asia, arriving before the last major upheaval of the Himalayas in the Pleistocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ever since the pits of terracotta warriors and horses in China were discovered and opened to the public, a number of questions remained unsolved: what kinds of wood were selected for building the pits, how the wood was used in the pits'' architecture and where was the giant volume of wood collected from? In this study, twenty pieces of charcoal specimens from Pit 1 and Pit 2 were examined with the Scanning Electron Microscope and identified as Abies, Tusga, Picea (all three genera in Pinaceae) and Phoebe (Lauraceae) woods. With the former works, it is concluded that the woods in the pits were mainly from the group of gymnosperms (95%) and few from that of angiosperms (5%). It is deduced that the wood in the pits was probably collected from the areas nearby. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Seed clumps of Capparis spinosa L. together with shoots, leaves and fruits of Cannabis sativa L. were unearthed in the Yanghai Tombs, Turpan District in Xinjiang, China. This is the first time that plant remains of Capparis spinosa have been discovered in China and the eastern part of Central Asia. Based on the joint occurrence of Capparis spinosa and Cannabis sativa, and the pharmacological value of the seeds of Capparis spinosa, it is deduced that caper was utilized for medicinal purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The provenance of more than 2200-year-old terracotta warriors and horses in the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is still a mystery, even though some researchers have inferred that the terracotta figures were produced near the mausoleum. The sporomorphs (pollen and spores) extracted from terracotta fragments of a warrior and a horse and compared with those obtained from soil samples from the Qin Dynasty layer in Pit No. 2 of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum indicate that the pollen spectrum from the terracotta horse is different from that of the warrior, but similar to the local soil samples. Herbaceous pollen was dominant in the warrior sample, while arboreal pollen predominates in the horse and soil samples. Palynological evidence suggests that the terracotta horses were produced at a locality near the mausoleum, while the warrior came from a site which was further afield. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study concerns the palynological analysis of 19 spider webs, which were collected from the northwestern, central and southern parts of Yunnan, China. Pollen grains and spores of 20 taxa belonging to 16 families were recorded from northwestern Yunnan and 28 taxa from 23 families from central Yunnan. Spider webs from southern Yunnan yielded 28 taxa belonging to 25 families from Mengla County, 38 taxa in 34 families from Wangtianshu Garden and 11 taxa representing 10 families from Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden. The pollen grains and spores extracted from spider webs reflect the distinct characteristics of the regional vegetation which changes from north to south Yunnan. This demonstrates the potential of spider webs as a natural trap for the study of modern pollen rain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fruits glued on two wooden tubs were discovered in the Yanghai Tombs of Xinjiang, China. The tombs were built about 2500years ago. Morphological and anatomical features of fruits show them to be Lithospermum officinale L. The fruits were assembled into obtriangular shapes along the tub mouth. This is a report of people using plant fruits for decorative purposes 2500years before present. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A cache of shoots, leaves and fruits dated by 14C at 2500 years B.P. were unearthed in the Yanghai Tombs, Turpan District in Xinjiang, China. By comparing the morphological and anatomical characteristics of the plant remains found in the tomb and specimens of modern plants, it is shown that the remains belong to Cannabis. Based on the shamanistic background of the deceased man and ancient customs, it is assumed that the Cannabis was utilized for ritual/medicinal purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]