Advances in Earth Science ›› 1993, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (2): 9-13. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.1993.02.0009

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PROGRESS AND PROSPECT IN THE STUDIES ON EARLY EVOLUTION OF LIFE IN CHINA

Chen Meng'e   

  1. Institute of Geology; Academia Sinica; Beijing 100029
  • Received:1992-04-10 Revised:1992-10-26 Online:1993-03-01 Published:1993-03-01

Chen Meng'e. PROGRESS AND PROSPECT IN THE STUDIES ON EARLY EVOLUTION OF LIFE IN CHINA[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 1993, 8(2): 9-13.

The many achievements in the study on. the fossils (in especial megafossils) of late Precambrian - Cambrian in China are outlined. Among them, the organic fossils (including Miaohe Biota and Lan-tian Flora) in the Doushantuo stage of Upper Sinian discovered in recent years demonstrated an important stage for the early diversification of the plant kingdom; the early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota (bearing the soft-bodied fossils and skeletal fossils but with well-preserved soft-parts) is earlier than the famous Burgess shale fauna and very close to the first `explosion',radiation of the metazoam with hard part(so-called small shelly fossils).The sturdies on such exceptional and valuable fossil communities will lead to reconsidering the evolutionary processes of early life. The prospectsin this field are then brilliant.

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