Trilobite Record of China

EDITORIAL PREFACE ·i· TRILOBITE RECORD OF CHINA Edited by Zhou Zhiyi and Zhen Yongyi Funded by Ministry of Science and Technology, PRC Chinese Academy of Sciences National Natural Science Foundation of China Science Press Beijing ·ii· Trilobite Record of China Responsible Editress: Hu Xiaochun Copyright © 2008 by Science Press Published by Science Press http://www. sciencep. com 16 Donghuangchenggen North Street Beijing 100717 P. R. China Printed in Beijing, 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. ISBN 978-7-03-022175-9 EDITORIAL PREFACE ·i· EDITORIAL PREFACE In the light of researches published up to 2005, this book aims to provide a review and a complete list of Chinese trilobite genera (or subgenera) with new information about their temporal and spatial distributions, in order to amplify the data compiled by Lu et al. (1965) in the Trilobites of China. We hope that our effort herein will be of significance for palaeontologists who wish to roam about the Chinese trilobite kingdom with ease. Lu et al. (1965) dealt with 376 trilobite genera that were known in China before 1963. By the beginning of 2006, however, there are altogether 1677 genera (or subgenera) recorded in China, with an increase of available generic (or subgeneric) names by 350% in the last 40 years. Many of these newly proposed taxa were published in various regional palaeontological atlases during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s with no full literature review undertaken, and the precise occurrences for most of them were not known. Some of them were even established on poorly preserved, fragmentary, or insufficient specimens, with morphological characters difficult to interpret. A radical revision of the Chinese trilobites is therefore required, and through the collective revisions presented in various chapters of this book, 1317 genera (or subgenera) belonging to 166 families are recognized as valid. The work is largely based on NIGP collections made from the type localities or nearby areas, from which the relevant original specimens were collected. Most of these Chinese trilobite genera were listed by Jell & Adrain (2003) with indication of their known synonyms, and two trilobite orders (Agnostida and Redlichiida) including Agnostina (Shergold & Laurie, 1997), Eodiscina (Jell, 1997), and Redlichiina (Chang et al., 1997) were revised in the second edition of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology edited by R. L. Kaesler (1997). These two comprehensive works have added significant amount of new data to our knowledge and provided us with much valuable information on Chinese trilobites. Layout This volume has been prepared since 1996 on the basis of data from the literature published before the end of 2004 and unpublished collections made more recently by the authors of various chapters in the volume, whose work was then coordinated and supplemented by us during 2005–2006. Except for the Cambrian agnostoids that are dealt with in an independent chapter (Chapter 2), Chinese trilobites are separately assembled into eight chapters according to their chronostratigraphic and/or bathymetric occurrences. There are different points of view held by authors of different chapters on the synonymies or the familial assignment of some genera, or even on the generic assignment of some species (see Chapter 11 for details). We have laid stress on uniformity of the presentation, style and format, as well as continuity of the overall account. However, each chapter may be read as a self-contained paper in its own right, and retains its individual viewpoints on the classification and synonymies of the relevant trilobite genera (or subgenera). As some chapters are closely related in contents, a few genera (or subgenera) may repeatedly be listed in different chapters, especially in the chapters 5 and 7. It is however inevitable. Each of these chapters consists mainly of two sections. One is the list of the genera (or subgenera) that were erected based on Chinese material. The other is allocated for a systematical list of all the trilobite genera (or subgenera) that have been recorded in China. At last, based on the updated data, the chronostratigraphic ranges of trilobite families, and the familial and generic biodiversity changes through the Palaeozoic in China are briefly reviewed in Chapter 11. ·ii· Trilobite Record of China Alphabetical list The available generic (or subgeneric) names, including both invalid (in italics) and valid (in boldfaced Roman letters), are alphabetically listed, and each followed by the author(s) and year of publication, and then in square brackets by the type species (prefixed with *) and its type specimen, horizon (series, stage, or biozone) and locality. In case of the entry of an invalid genus (or subgenus), a suggested senior subjective or objective synonym, or replacement name, is indicated, and, where necessary, a brief discussion is given at the end of the item. However, if authors do not accept some synonymies proposed in the literature, we may not quote the suggestions in the relevant chapters. For example, Fatocephalus and Yuepingia are both simply listed as valid genera in the chapters 6 and 7, regardless of the opinions of Jell (1985), Hughes & Rushton (1990) and Jell & Adrain (2003), who considered Fatocephalus and Yuepingia as junior subjective synonyms of Pseudokainella and Haniwoides respectively. Systematic list Genera (or subgenera) are grouped into families (or, in some cases, subfamilies), but their higher-level classification is omitted. Families and assigned genera (or subgenera) are again listed in alphabetical order, and each genus (or subgenus) is followed by the junior synonym(s) (if any) listed in square brackets. Next are data on the taxon’s chronostratigraphic and geographic occurrences, but those on lithostratigraphic horizons are, in general, omitted, as readers may reach the relevant information from the cited systematic publications. A full species list for most of the taxa is skipped, except for those from the Silurian. However, in most cases, if species that need to be transferred from one genus (or subgenus) and reassigned to another on the basis of critical revisions, detailed citations of those species names are given in the relevant entries. The temporal range of each genus (or subgenus) is further summarized in the attached table with indication of the tectonic or geographic unit(s) in which it occurs. In each table, geological ranges of the taxa are represented by thick or dotted lines that indicate respectively the confirmed or inferred occurrences; dashed lines signify gaps within ranges through which a genus or subgenus is assumed to continue; arrows indicate that the forms extend beyond ranges shown. Although major international Palaeozoic chronostratigraphic units have been established, some units within Cambrian and Ordovician remain to be formally named upon their GSSP delimitation (Gradstein et al., 2004). In this regard, international series (epoch) and stage (age) names are preferred for dating the Silurian-Permian trilobites, but some traditional or provincial Cambrian and Ordovician chronostratigraphic units have to be employed in this volume (see Chapter 1 for details) for the time being. Chronostratigraphic ranges of the Cambrian and Ordovician genera (or subgenera) are given as time intervals defined by international or provincial biozones, while of the Silurian-Permian forms as stages only. In the text, we give each genus (or subgenus) a geographic assignment to region (e.g. North China) or province (e.g. Shanxi) or nearby city (e.g. Huocheng), but more often it is further designated to part of a province (e.g. southern Shaanxi). However, as there are no physical boundaries to formally define these geographical areas within a province, some trilobite localities, such as Taian and Fuxian, may respectively be described as central Shandong and eastern Liaoning in one chapter but as western Shandong and southern Liaoning in the other. It should also be noted that Chongqing has become an administrative division that is independent of the Sichuan Province since 1997. It covers a wide area that was previously part of eastern Sichuan, from which quite many trilobites had been described. In this account, Chongqing is only quoted in chapters 8 and 9, but in other chapters authors prefer to follow the original literature in referring the relevant trilobite locations to as northeastern or southeastern Sichuan. The adoption of these dissimilar toponomical usages by different authors seems unavoidable and we prefer to maintain what they are using in the different chapters. In dealing with the spatial occurrence of trilobites, we consider it the most important to clarify their distribution in relation to the coeval tectonic or geographic units. For this reason, four maps to outline the related units are provided (Figs 1.3 to 1.6). Editorial preface ·iii· Bibliography and citations Cited references are listed in alphabetical order, including almost all the publications on (or related to) the taxonomy of Chinese trilobites. Those published in Chinese or in Russian are translated into English with indication of the original language at the end of the relevant items. According to convention, Chinese authors are listed family name first, which is directly followed by full given name. There were no regulations for the transliteration of Chinese characters into Roman letters before 1978, but the situation has been changed since then when the Chinese Government issued a standard to guide the spelling of Chinese names. Therefore, some authors’ names such as Chang, Chu and Chien that appear in the earlier literature may be changed respectively into Zhang, Zhu and Qian in their later publications. In this volume, we prefer to retain the spelling that a Chinese author has used in each of his (her) original issue, and it may help readers access and trace the exact reference without any confusions.

Load more