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All parts of this book have been derived from a major project on the “Origination, Radiation, Extinction, and Recovery in the Geological History” involving over 70 Palaeontoloists (mostly Chinese, with some non-Chinese nationals as collaborators). This 5-year project was approved by the Chinese National Ministry of Science and Technology in the spring of 2000, indicating a strong support of Chinese government to the study of palaeontology. It was completed in September 2005 and evaluated in October 2005. In the first three years of the programme (2000-2003) most of the participants investigated on one of the two major themes “Extinction and its subsequent recovery” based on the considerable material from South China. This led to the publication of two volumes of the book “Mass Extinction and Recover: Evidences from the Palaeozoic and Triassic of South China” including the end Ordovician, Frasnian-Fammenian, and the end Permian mass extinctions and their subsequent survivals and recoveries that were written in Chinese with an English abstract.

As a companion contribution, the focus of this book has turned to the other major theme of the project “Origination, radiation, and biodiversity” which forms the basis of the papers included in this book written in Chinese and an English summary. The present book involves the following contents: (1) the earliest known metazoan fossils of China. i.e. latest Precambrian Weng’an Fana from Guizhou, (2) the Early “Cambrian Explosion” including the Meishucun and Chengjiang faunas mostly from South China. (3) Ordovician radiation of marine biotas mainly of South China, (4) Late Palaeozoic radiation of some common marine organism groups (such as brachiopods, rugose corals, and fusulinids) (5) the Early Cretaceous vertebrates, in particular, the origination of birds, feather, and flight in pterosaurs, based on materials from the Jehol Biota, NE China, and (6) Ediacaran (latest Proterozoic) to Triassic biodiversity changes of the South China Block. Moreover, changes of Silurian and Early Devonian vascular plants, early evolutionary radiation of fish, depressive and improvement of Early Triassic marine ecosystem, evolutionary radiation of Middle and Late Triassic marine bivalves and reptiles in South China, and diversification and radiation of early Mesozoic Gingo have also been investigated in the light of new data from China.

 

Preface
Chapter 1 Introduction
The Chinese Fossil Record’s Bearings on Biotic Evolution
Chapter 2 Originations and Radiations of Early Life
2.1 Radiation of Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Eukaryotes
2.2 Origin of Skeletonization in Metazoa
2.3 Explosive Radiation of Early Cambrian Skeletal Faunas in South China
2.4 Earliest Evolutionary Lineage of Early Cambrian Univalved Mollusks
2.5 Punctuated Radiation, Possible Mechanism and Molecular Background in the Dawn of Animals
2.6 Preliminary Study on Phylogeny of Chengjiang Deuterostomes
2.7 The Early Body Plan, Origin and Evolutionary Radiation of Priapulida
2.8 Dinocaridids-Anomalous Arthropods or Arthropod-like Worms?
2.9 Phylochronological Analysis of Metazoan Groups: Combined Evidence from Molecular and Fossil Data
Chapter 3 Early Palaeozoic Radiations and Biodiversity Changes
3.1 A Brief Introduction to the Evolutionary Radiation of Ordovician Graptolites
3.2 Ordovician Trilobite Radiation in the South China Block
3.3 Ordovician Bivalve Radiation in Southern China, with a Discussion on the Causes of Diversification
3.4 Early to Mid Ordovician Brachiopod Radiation of South China
3.5 Evolutionary Radiation of the Early-Mid Ordovician Graptolites in South China
3.6 Radiation of Early-Middle Ordovician Acritarchs in South China
3.7 Sea-level changes During the Early-Mid Ordovician Radiation of South China
3.8 Early Silurian (Llandovery) Rugose Coral Radiation in the Upper Yangtze Region
Chapter 4 Late Palaeozoic Radiations and Biodiversity Changes
4.1 Diversity of Early Land Vascular Plants in the Silurian and Devonian of China
4.2 Early Diversification of Sarcopterygians and Trans-Panthalassic Ocean Distribution
4.3 Biodiversity of Devonian Rugose Corals from South China
4.4 Diversity and Evolutionary Characters of Devonian Brachiopods in South China
4.5 Diversity Pattern of Tournaisian Brachiopods in South China
4.6 Carboniferous and Permian Rugose Corals of South China: Diversity Pattern and Paleoenvironmental Implications
4.7 Brachiopod Diversity Pattern of South China from Carboniferous to Triassic
4.8 Radiation of the Fusulinoideans Between the Two Phases of the End-Permian Mass Extinction, South China
Chapter 5 Mesozoic Originations and Radiations
5.1 Early Mesozoic Radiation and Diversification of Ginkgoaleans
5.2 Middle and Late Triassic Bivalve Radiation in South China
5.3 Marine Ecosystem Evolution at the Beginning of the Mesozoic in South China
5.4 Radiation of Triassic Marine Reptiles in South China
5.5 Palaeobotanical Data-the Direct and Decisive Evidence for Solving the “ABOMINABLE Mystery” of Angiosperm Origin
5.6 Origin and Early Evolution of Feather and Feather-like Integuments
5.7 Non-avian Coelurosaurian Fossils from the Jehol Group of Western Liaoning the Comments on Origin of Birds
5.8 Phylogeny and Early Radiation of Mesozoic Lissamphibians from East Asia
5.9 Pterosaur Adaptive Radiation of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota
5.10 Evolution and Radiation of Late Mesozoic Conchostracans in East Asia
5.11 Adaptive Radiation of the Jehol Biota and Its Evolutionary Ecological Background
Chapter 6 Cenozoic Radiations
6.1 Paleogene Mammal Radiation in China
6.2 Evolutionary Process of Neogene Fossil Mammals in China
6.3 Evolution and Development of Some Representative Angiospermous Xerophytes in the Cenozoic of China
Chapter 7 Palaeobiodiversity Changes
Patterns of Lates Proterozoic to Early Mesozoic Marine Biodiversity changes in South China ‘
English Part P.819-P.962

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