China News Service, Nanjing, May 6 (Yang Yanci) According to news from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences on the 6th, paleontologists from China, Britain, Germany and other countries have discovered a fossil treasure house about 15 million years ago in Fujian-Zhangpu Biota.
A large number of amber and plant fossil specimens are preserved in this biota, which "unlocks" the "jungle life" of the ancient tropical rainforest.
After 10 years of continuous field collection, the team obtained more than 25,000 insect-containing amber and more than 5,000 plant stamped/imprinted fossil specimens.
"Science Progress" published online the latest research results of the team led by researcher Wang Bo and researcher Shi Gongle from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Wild outcrops and various fossils in the habitat of Zhangpu Biota.
Photo courtesy of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
According to scientific researchers, the climatically suitable period of the Miocene occurred in the middle of the Miocene, between 17 million and 14 million years ago. It was a strong warming event during the geological historical period.
At that time, the atmospheric carbon dioxide content was significantly higher than the current level, and the global average annual temperature was 3-7°C higher than today, which is very similar to the current forecast of the climate environment in 2100.
Therefore, understanding the changing process of climate and biota during this optimum period is of great significance to predicting future changes in climate and biota under the background of global warming, and fossils are undoubtedly the most important key among them.
Although many fossil groups of the mid-Miocene have been discovered, the paleontologists still have very limited understanding of the tropical biota of this period.
Representative plant fossils of Zhangpu Biota.
Photo courtesy of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The research shows that the Zhangpu Biota is an extremely rich tropical monsoon forest fossil reservoir, among which the Zhangpu Amber Biota is one of the world’s four largest amber biotas. This study aims to understand the evolution of modern Asian tropical rainforest ecosystems and how It provides a reference for responding to future climate warming.
Ecological restoration map of Zhangpu Biota.
Photo courtesy of Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The results of the study support the view that "Tropical Rainforest is a Museum of Biodiversity".
The vast majority of arthropods in the Zhangpu Biota (especially ants, bees, springworms, crickets, mosquitoes, etc.) are living genus, which provides a good time correction point for molecular systematic studies of various groups.
The stability of the genus-level elements indicates that the Asian tropical rain forest biota reached the current ecological structure as early as 15 million years ago, which shows that the forest ecosystem has the evolutionary characteristics of "discontinuous equilibrium", and supports that "tropical rain forests are biological The “Museum of Diversity” view.
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