A revision of the white-toothed shrews (Crocidura) of Southern China

Many systematic relationships among Chinese white-toothed shrews of genus Crocidura are presently unresolved. In this paper, a taxonomic revision of Crocidura from Southern China is presented. We studied 338 specimens from Burma, China, Korea, Pakistan, Turkey, Middle and Central Asia, and Russia (Appendix I), 285 of which had complete skulls that were analyzed with principal component and discriminant analyses. Results indicated that 6 species of Crocidura can be recognized in South China. C. fuliginosa occurs in Southwestern and Eastern China, C. attenuata is broadly distributed throughout Southern China, and C. horsfieldii is restricted to the southern part of China. C vorax and C. rapax, usually placed as synonyms of the European C russula, are recognized as 2 valid species whose ranges overlap in Southwestern China. C. shantungensis of Eastern Asia extends to the northern part of Southern China and is distinct from C. suaveolens and C. gmelini of Middle and Central Asia, respectively.

西天山造山带古生代构造演化与地壳增生—来自花岗岩和蛇绿岩的证据

The Central Asian Orogen Belt (CAOB), which is different from the subductional orogen and the collisional orogen, is known as the most important site of crustal growth in the Phanerozoic, and it has been a ‘hot spot’ for studying the orogenic belts. The Chinese West Tianshan Orogen is occupying the west-southern part of the CAOB and is of great importances to understand the orogenic processes and the continental growth in the Central Asia. The West Tianshan Orogen had undergone complex tectonic evolutional processes in Paleozoic times and large volumes granitic rocks have recorded important information about these processes. Litter is known about Phanerozoic continental growth in the Western Tianshan area so far, compared with the other areas of the CAOB, such as eastern Junggar, western Junggar, Altai and Alakol. The aim of this dissertation is to set up the chronology frame of granitoids in western Tianshan, provide new evidence for the tectonic evolution and discuss the Paleozoic continental growth in this area, on the basis of the studies on the isotopic chronology, major element, trace element and Nd-Sr isotopic geochemistry of granitoids and the isotopic chronology and geochemistry of the ophiolites in this area, especially the Kule Lake ophiolites. 25 precise SHRIMP U-Pb zircon and LA-ICPMS U-Pb zircon ages have been obtained in this dissertation. The granitic rocks in western Tianshan had been formed during two periods: the granitic gneiss with an age of 896Ma, possibly representing the forming age of the Precambrian basement; the granitic rocks with ages varying from 479Ma to 247Ma, recording the Paleozoic orogenic process of western Tianshan. The granitoids in western Tianshan are composed of intermediate-basic rocks, intermediate rocks, intermediate-acid rocks and acid rocks, mainly intermediate-acid rocks and acid rocks. They are mostly granite, granodiorite, quartz syenite and monzodiorite. Different types of granitic rocks are exposed in different tectonic units. The granitoids on the northern margin of the Yili Plate mainly formed in late Paleozoic (413Ma ~ 281Ma), those with ages varying from 413Ma to 297Ma show continental arc affinities and the magnesian calc-alkalic metaluminous diorite of 281Ma display the geochemical characteristics similar to those of granites formed during the post-orogenic period. The granitiods on the southern margin of the Yili Plate include the adakite diorite of 470Ma which was formd by partial melting of thickened lower crust, the post-collisional alkali-feldspar granite of 430Ma, the volcanic arc granite of 348Ma and the Triassic post-collisional granite. The granitoids in the Central Tianshan Plate formed in 479Ma ~ 247Ma, mainly in 433Ma ~ 321Ma. The granitic rocks with ages of 479Ma ~ 321Ma are magnesian calc-alkalic to alkalic rocks with continental arc affinities. A few post-collisional granitoids of 276Ma ~ 247Ma may have inherited the geochemical characteristics of pre-existing arc magma. The granitic rocks in Southern Tianshan (northern margin of the Tarim plate) formed two stages, 420Ma ~ 411Ma and ca. 285Ma. The magnesian calcic to alkalic granites of 420Ma ~ 411Ma may formed during the extension process of the continental margin. The granite of 285Ma includes mostly ferroan calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic rocks with high SiO2 and high alkaline contents, and obviously negative anomaly of Eu, Ba, Sr, P, Ti, similar to the geochemical characteristics of the A-type granite which is formed during post-collisional extension. The Kule Lake ophiolite in southern Tianshan shows the affinity of N-MORB. A SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age of 425±8Ma has obtained for gabbros. Some zircons have given another group of 206Pb/238U age 918Ma, which may indicate the information of the pre-exist old basement rock. The small oceanic basin represented by Kule Lake ophiolite probably developed on the split northern margin of Tarim block. A model for Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the West Tianshan Orogen has been proposed here on the basis of the new results obtained in this dissertation and the previous published data. In Early Cambrian, the Terskey Ocean occurred along the North Nalati fault (NNF), and it separated the Yili plate from the Central Tianshan plate which was probably connected with the Tarim plate. The Terskey Ocean probably subducted towards south under the Central Tianshan plate and towards north under the Yili plate simultaneously. In the early stage of Late Ordovician, the Terskey Ocean had been closed, and the Yili and Central Tianshan plates collided. Meanwhile, extension happened within the joint Central Tianshan and Tarim plates gradually and the Paleo-South Tianshan Ocean had been formed. In Early Silurian, the Paleo-South Tianshan Ocean began to subduct beneath the composite Yili-Central Tianshan plate, which was intruded by volcanic arc granitoids. In Middle Silurian, the Paleo-South Tianshan Ocean, which had reached a certain width, was subducting strongly. And this subduction may have produced voluminous granitoids in the Central Tianshan plate. In the latest stage of Carboniferous, the Paleo-South Tianshan ocean closed, and the Yili-Central Tianshan plate and Tarim plate collided. In Late Cambrian, Paleo-Junggar Ocean occurred to north of the Yili plate; and started to subduct towards south under the Yili plate in Ordovician. This subduction may have produced a magma arc on the northern margin of the Yili plate. In Late Carboniferous, the Paleo-Junggar Ocean had been closed. The Yili-Central and Junggar plates amalgamated together. The West Tianhan Orogen may undergo a post-collisional collapse since Permian. And the magmatic activities may continue to early Triassic. The initial 87Sr/86Sr ration of the granitic rocks in the western Tianshan Mountains varies from 0.703226 to 0.716343, and Nd（t）from -6.50 to 2.03. The characteristics of Sr-Nd isotope indicate that the source of granitic material is not a sole source, which may be produced by mantle-crust magma mixing. In Paleozoic time, lateral growth of the continental crust along active continental margins was dominant, whereas the vertical growth of continental crust resulted from post- collisional mantle derived magmas was not obvious.

陇西盆地晚第三纪风尘沉积的地层学研究

In Asia, the significant environment changes in Cenozoic include: uplift of Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, formation Asian monsoon system, Aridification in Central Asia. One of major advances in recent studies of eolian deposit on the Loess Plateau is the verification of the eolian origin for the Late Tertiary Hipparion Red-Earth (also called red-Clay) underlying the Quaternary loess. Thus, the Late Tertiary eolian deposit, which has been proven a nearly continuous terrestrial record and sensitive to climate change, provides us an important archive to understand these above Cenozoic environment events. The deposit in eastern Loess Plateau has been extensively studied, while the property and age of deposit underlying the Quaternary loess in western plateau remains unclear. In this paper, detail investigations were made on the Sedimentology, geochemistry of Longxi section, a typical section in western Loess Plateau, to address its origin, and on micromammalian fossils and magnetostratigraphy to address its age. The main conclusions are presented as following: 1. The sedimentological and geochemical properties in Longxi section are highly similar to typical Quaternary eolian deposit in Loess Plateau. Nearly 100 paleosols are recognized in the field, and the grain size are very fine with the median grain size centered at 4～7μm. There is a good agreement of both major and trace element compositions between Longxi deposit and the Quaternary Loess. The REE distribution patterns of Longxi deposit and the Quaternary loess are remarkably similar in shape, with enrichment LREE and fairly flat HREE profiles and clear negative Eu anomaly. The mangnetic minerals in Longxi deposit are mainly magnetite, hematite and maghematite, which are similar to those of the Hipparion Red-Earth and Quaternary Loess. The major difference among them is that the samples from Longxi section contain more hematite. The characteristics of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) in Longxi deposit is highly consistent with that of Quaternary loess, while values of the major AMS parameters, e.g. anisotropy degree, magnetic foliation and lineation, are significantly lower than those of fluvial and lake deposits. These evidences indicate an eolian origin for the sediment. 2. An investigation of micromammalian fossils was firstly carried out for determining the approximate age of the sequence because of lack of materials for accurate isotope dating. Three fossil assemblages were obtained which indicate a chronological range from the Middle Miocene to Late Miocene. The magnetostratigraphical study suggests that it is a near continuous terrestrial record for the period from 13.23 to 6.23 MaB.P. The obtained chronology is highly consistent with fossils assemblages. This section is the oldest eolian deposit presently known in Loess Plateau. 3. The magnetic susceptibly value is high in paleosols than in surrounded weak-weathered layers, which suggests that it may be a climate index on orbital time scale. While it cannot be used as a proxy to address the long-term, change of climate on tectonic time scale, as content of the magnetic minerals is highly variable in different parts of the section. 4. The appearance of Middle Miocene eolian deposit in the Loess Plateau marks the strengthening of aridification of Central Asia. The high degree of similarity between the geochemical properties of Longxi eolian deposit, Hipparion Red-Earth and Quaternary loess a suggests that a rather similar source provenance. The dust accumulation rate (DAR) of Longxi section, which is widely used as a proxy to document the aridity in source areas in marine and terrestrial record studies, recorded the aridity condition in northwestern China over a period from Middle Miocene to Late Miocene. The DAR of the section shows that the continent aridity remains moderate and relative stable over that period.

Pitfalls in the analysis of ancient human mtDNA

The retrieval of DNA from ancient human specimens is not always successful owing to DNA deterioration and contamination although it is vital to provide new insights into the genetic structure of ancient people and to reconstruct the past history. Normally, only short DNA fragments can be retrieved from the ancient specimens. How to identify the authenticity of DNA obtained and to uncover the information it contained are difficult. We employed the ancient mtDNAs reported from Central Asia (including Xinjiang, China) as an example to discern potentially extraneous DNA contamination based on the updated mtDNA phylogeny derived from mtDNA control region, coding region, as well as complete sequence information. Our results demonstrated that many mtDNAs reported are more or less problematic. Starting from a reliable mtDNA phylogeney and combining the available modern data into analysis, one can ascertain the authenticity of the ancient DNA, distinguish the potential errors in a data set, and efficiently decipher the meager information it harbored. The reappraisal of the mtDNAs with the age of more than 2000 years from Central Asia gave support to the suggestion of extensively (pre)historical gene admixture in this region.

Mitochondrial diversity and phylogeographic structure of Chinese domestic goats

China has numerous native domestic goat breeds, but so far there has been no extensive study on genetic diversity, population demographic history, and origin of Chinese goats. Here, we examined the genetic diversity and phylogeographic structure of Chinese domestic goats by determining a 481-bp fragment of the first hypervariable region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from 368 individuals representing 18 indigenous breeds. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that there were four mtDNA lineages (A-D) identified in Chinese goats, in which lineage A was predominant, lineage B was moderate, and lineages C and D were at low frequency. These results further support the multiple maternal origins of domestic goats. The pattern of genetic variation in goat mtDNA sequences indicated that the two larger lineages A and B had undergone population expansion events. In a combined analysis of previously reported sequences and our sequences belonging to lineage B, we detected two subclades, in which one was unique to eastern Asia and another was shared between eastern and southern Asia. A larger genetic variation in eastern Asia than southern Asia and the pattern of phylogeographic variation in lineage B suggest that at least one subclade of lineage B originated from eastern Asia. There was no significant geographical structuring in Chinese goat populations, which suggested that there existed strong gene flow among goat populations caused by extensive transportation of goats in history. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

中国沙棘(Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. sinensis)天然群体的遗传变异分析

近十年，植物群体遗传学的研究飞速发展，然而与海拔相关的植物群体遗传结构和遗传变异研究却相对较少。到目前为止，还不清楚遗传变异与海拔之间是否有一个通用的格局。在山区，各种生态因子，如温度、降水、降雪、紫外线辐射强度以及土壤成分都随海拔梯度急剧变化，造成了即使在一个小的空间区域，植被类型变化显著，这种高山环境的异质性和复杂性为我们研究植物群体遗传结构和分化提供了方便。沙棘(Hippophea)属于胡颓子科(Elaeagnaceae)为多年生落叶灌木或乔木，雌雄异株，天然种群分布极为广泛。中国沙棘(H. rhamnoides subsp. sinensis)是沙棘属植物中分布较广的一个亚种，种内形态变异非常丰富，加之其具有独特的繁育系统和广泛的生态地理分布，是研究沙棘属植物遗传变异和系统分化的理想材料。本文从1,800 m 到3,400 m 分5 个海拔梯度进行取样，用RAPD 和cpSSR 分子标记研究了卧龙自然保护区中国沙棘天然群体的遗传结构和遗传变异。5 个取样群体依次标记为A、B、C、D 和E，它们分别代表分布在海拔1,800，2,200，2,600，3,000 和3,400 m 的5 个天然群体。RAPD实验用11 条寡核苷酸引物，扩增得到151 个重复性好的位点，其中143 个多态位点，多态率达94.7%。在5 个沙棘群体中，总遗传多样性值(HT)为0.289，B群体内的遗传多样性值为0.315，这完全符合沙棘这种多年生、远交的木本植物具有高遗传变异的特性。5 个群体内遗传多样性随海拔升高呈低－高－低变异趋势，在2,200 m海拔处的B群体遗传多样性达最大值0.315，3,400 m海拔处的E群体则表现最小仅0.098。5 个群体间的遗传分化值GST＝0.406，也即是说有40.6%的遗传变异存在于群体间，1,800 m海拔处的A群体与其它群体的明显分离是造成群体间遗传分化大的原因。UPGMA聚类图和PCoA散点图进一步确证了5 个群体间的关系和所有个体间的关系。最后，经过Mantel检测，遗传距离与海拔表现了明显的相关性(r = 0.646, P = 0.011)。cpSSR 实验中，经过对24 对cpSSR 通用引物筛选，11 对引物能扩增出特异性条带，只有2 对引物(ccmp2 和ARCP4)呈现多态性。4 个等位基因共组合出4 种单倍型，单倍型Ⅰ出现在A 群体的所有个体和B 群体的8 个个体中，C、D、E 三个群体均不含有，而单倍型Ⅱ出现在C、D、E 三个群体的所有个体及B 群体的18 个个体中，A 群体不含有。另外两种单倍型Ⅲ和Ⅳ为稀有类型，仅B 群体中的4 个个体拥有。这种单倍型分布模式和TFPGA 群体聚类图揭示了，C、D、E 群体可能来源于同一祖先种，而A 群体却是由另一祖先种发展起来的，B 群体则兼具了这两种起源种的信息，这可能是因为在历史上的某一时期，在中国沙棘群体高山分化的过程中，B 群体处某个或者某些个体发生了基因突变，具备了适应高海拔环境的能力，产生了高海拔沙棘群体的祖先种。 In recent ten years, studies about population genetics of plants developed rapidly,whereas their genetic structure and genetic variation along altitudinal gradients have beenstudied relatively little. So far, it is uncleared whether there is a common pattern betweengenetic variation and altitudinal gradients. In the mountain environments, importantecological factors, e.g., temperature, rainfall, snowfall, ultraviolet radiation and soil substratesetc., change rapidly with altitudes, which cause the vegetation distribution varying typically,even on a small spatial scale. The mountain environments, which are heterogeneous andcomplex, facilitate and offer a good opportunity to characterize population genetic structureand population differentiation.The species of the genus Hippophae L. (Elaeagnaceae) are perennial deciduous shrubs ortrees, which are dioecious, wind-pollinated pioneer plants. The natural genus has a widedistribution extending from Northern Europe through Central Europe and Central Asia toChina. According to the latest taxonomy, the genus Hippophae is divided into six species and12 subspecies. The subspecies H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis shows significant morphologicalvariations, large geographic range and dominantly outcrossing mating system. Thesecharacteristics of the subspecies are favourable to elucidate genetic variation and systemevolution. To estimate genetic variation and genetic structure of H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensisat different altitudes, we surveyed five natural populations in the Wolong Natural Reserve at altitudes ranging from 1,800 to 3,400 m above sea level (a.s.l.) using random amplifiedpolymorphic DNA markers (RAPDs) and cpSSR molecular methods. The five populations A,B, C, D, and E correspond to the altitudes 1,800, 2,200, 2,600, 3,000 and 3,400 m,respectively.Based on 11 decamer primers, a total of 151 reproducible DNA loci were yielded, ofwhich 143 were polymorphic and the percentage of polymorphic loci equaled 94.7%. Amongthe five populations investigated, the total gene diversity (HT) and gene diversity within population B equaled 0.289 and 0.315, respectively, which are modest for a subspecies of H.rhamnoides, which is an outcrossing, long-lived, woody plant. The amount of geneticvariation within populations varied from 0.098 within population E (3,400 m a.s.l.) to 0.315within population B (2,200 m a.s.l.). The coefficient of gene differentiation (GST) amongpopulations equaled 0.406 and revealed that 40.6% of the genetic variance existed amongpopulations and 59.4% within populations. The population A (1,800 m a.s.l.) differed greatlyfrom the other four populations, which contributes to high genetic differentiation. A UPGMAcluster analysis and principal coordinate analyses based on Nei's genetic distances furthercorroborated the relationships among the five populations and all the sampling individuals,respectively. Mantel tests detected a significant correlation between genetic distances andaltitudinal gradients (r = 0.646, P = 0.011).Eleven of the original 24 cpSSR primer pairs tested produced good PCR products, onlytwo (ccmp2 and ARCP4) of which were polymorphic. Four total length variants (alleles) werecombined resulting in 4 haplotypes. The haplotype was present in all individuals of Ⅰpopulation A and 8 individuals of populations B, the other three populations (C, D and Epopulations) did not share. The haplotype was present in all individuals of populations C, D Ⅱand E and 18 individuals of populations B, population A did not share. The other twohaplotypes and were rare haplotypes, which were only shared in 4 individuals of Ⅲ Ⅳpopulation B. The distribution of haplotypes and TFPGA population clustering map showedthat the populations C, D and E might be origined from one ancestor seed and population Amight be from another, whereas population B owned information of the two ancestor seeds. Itwas because that gene mutation within some individual or seed in the location of population Bwas likely to happen in the history of H. rhamnoides, which was the original ancestor of thehigh-altitude populations.

The floristic of the family Gramineae of Karakorum and Kunlun area, China

There are 47 genera and 161 species of Gramineae except the cultivated species in the area of the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains. The results of research on the distribution of the genera and species of Gramineae in the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains show that (1) The Gramineae mainly contains elements of North Temperate, rich Old Word Temperate and other Temperate. It is obvious that the floristic nature of Gramineae in the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains is the North Temperate; (2) All Pantropic genera can stretch to the Temperate Zone in this region, which all parts of the Pantropic type are the Temperate nature to a certain degree. For example, Erianthus ravennae from mediterranean to the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains through the Central Asia; (3) As most genera of Grasses are the type of Temperate and the Frigid Zone, they have distinct floristic characteristics of mountainous and plateau flora such as Orinus, Alopecurus, Elymus, Trisetum, Littledalea, Elytrigia, Stephanachne and Paracolpodium etc. All of these indicate adaptive phenomenon of alpine specialization and cold-xerophilization on Grasses in this area; (4) Endemic genus of Gramineae is absent due to its nature and history and the endemic species are also rare in the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains. Most of the genera with one or fewer species have originated from its relative and widespread genera, such as Ptilagrostis from Stipa, Timouria from Achnatherum, and so on; (5) Flora of the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains is most closely related to the flora of Tibet, and is also extensively to its adjacent areas.

东北亚构造-盆地演化及油气资源控制作用

The oil and gas potential of Northeast Asia is enormous, but the degree of exploration is very low in Northeast Asia (the degree is below 3%-10%).The reasons are as follows: First, it is relatively difficult to study the oil and gas bearing basins(OGB), which are of multiple types, in different tectonic settings, with complex geologic frameworks and with long-term geologic evolution. Secondly, because of the non-equilibrium in development of economy and regional market, application of theories and techniques and the research levels in different countries, the conclusions are not conformable, and even contradictory. Thirdly, most of the former researches were limited to one territory or one basin, and lack of systematical and in-depth study on geotectonic evolution, classification of basins, and the evaluation of hydrocarbon resources. In this thesis, integrated study of the regional tectonic feature and basin features of Northeast Asia was done, to understand the basin evolution history and the controlling action on oil and gas. Then, new conclusions are and exploration proposals are as following: 1. Geotectonic evolution in Northeast Asia: The main structural motion system in Paleozoic Era was longitudinal, and in Meso-cenozoic was latitudinal with the Pacific Ocean. The whole evolution history was just the one of pulling-apart, cutting-out, underthrusting and collision of the Central Asia- Mongolia Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. 2. The evolution characteristics of basins in Northeast Asia: mainly developed from longitudinal paste-up, collision and relaxation rifting motion in Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic Era and from underthrust, accretion, and receding of subducted zone of the Pacific Ocean in Late Mesozoic Era-Cenozoic Era. 3. The research in basin classification of Northeast Asia: According to geotectonic system, the basins can be classified into three types: intracratonic, pericratonic and active zone basin. And they can be further classified into 18 different types according to genetic mechanism and dynamic features. 4. The master control factors of oil and gas accumulation in Northeast Asia: high quality cap-rock for craton and pericrationic basin, the effective source rock and high quality cap-rock for Mesozoic rifted basins, intra-arc, fore-arc and back-arc basins. Graded exploration potential of oil and gas for basin in Northeast Asia according to 7 factor, hereby, divided the oil and gas potential of basins into 5 levels. 5. Evaluation of hydrocarbon resources: The difference of resource potential among these basins is huge in Northeast Asia. The evaluation of Mesozoic rifted basin and Pacific Ocean basin showed that the large scale rifted basin and retroarc basin(including backarc marginal sea basin) have great resource potential. 6. The writer believes that the next step should pay more attention to the evaluation of petroleum resource in Far East part of Russia and trace them. On the other hand, according to integrated analysis of oil/gas resource potential and the operation difficulty in this area, suggests that East-Siberia basin, East-Gobi-Tamchag basin, Sakhalin basin, North-Okhotck basin, West-Kamchatka basin could be as cooperation priority basins in future.