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The Lantian Biota ,The -600-million-year-old Lantian biota hosts some of the earliest forms of macroscopic eukaryotes characterized by multicellularity and complex morphologies. The evolution of eukaryotes around 2500 million years ago when atmospheric oxygen rose to unprecedented levels (although still orders of magnitude below modern levels) terminated the monopoly of Earth's biosphere by eubacteria and archaebacteria.The rise of multicellularity among eukaryotes represents a major transition in evolution, allowing the evolution of macroscopic organisms with cell, tissue, and organ differentiation and eventually leading to the appearance of animals. The Lantian biota witnessed this major transition.

The Lantian biota is preserved in black shales of the ediacaran Lantian Formation in Xiuning County of southern Anhui Province. The Proterozoic-Cambrian succession in this area includes the Xiuning, Leigongwu Lantian, Piyuancun, and Hetang formations. Of these, the Leigongwu Formation consists of glaciogenic diamictites deposited during a major ice age dubbed the snowball Earth. Shortly after the ice thawed about 635 million years ago, multicellular eukaryotes flourished in warm, still, and photic marine environments and these organisms were preserved in the Lantian Formation.

Most fossils in the alantian biota are likely benthic algae but a few are similar to and may represent putative animals such as cnidarians and worms.The Lantian fossils tell a vivid story about the burgeoning multicellular eukaryotes and the rising yet fluctuating oxygen levels in the wake of the snowball Earth. Continuing study of the Lantian biota and its environmental context will teach us about the Earth's past and inform us about its future.

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前言
绪言
参考文献
1  蓝田生物群的研究历史
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2  蓝田生物群的地质背景与地层时代
2.1  地质背景
2.2  也层序列
2.3  也层时代
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3  蓝田生物群的化石生物学
3.1  宏体藻类
3.2  后生动物
3.3  疑难化石
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4  蓝田生物群的古环境
4.1  新元古代重大地质事件和生物事件
4.2  蓝田组黑色页岩的古环境
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5  蓝田生物群的古生态
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6  多细胞生物的起源与早期演化模式
6.1  以往的认识
6.2  蓝田生物群赋予的新认识
6.3  讨论
参考文献
索引

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