The Nanjing Institute of Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was more than pleased to announce that its five research projects were among the country’s top ten progresses of paleontology in 2019. The announcement was made Tuesday in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu province.
Ten major advances include the Qingjiang biota, the new Ediacaran fossil, the world’s first giant panda ancient genome, the origin of animal embryonic development, and many other major discoveries.
Cai Huawei, Secretary General of Chinese Palaeontological Society
These research results involve early animal evolution and Cambrian explosion, vertebrate evolution, Cretaceous amber biota, paleoplants and paleoecology, paleoanthropology, and molecular paleontology that will contribute to the understanding of the evolution of life in geological history.
The 10 progresses in 2019 are at the forefront of international academic circle.Through the study of biology we can not only explore the origin and evolution of the earth itself,but also provide a predictive role for the future development of humans and the earthChinese scientists, for example, have found the oldest sandgrouse fossil in Asia embedded in rocks dating back 6 million to 9 million years in northwest China's Gansu province.
The discovery of the new species in the arid environment near the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, gives clues as to how the ecosystem there developed.
The species, found by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology has been named Linxiavis inaquosus, and fills a gap in the sandgrouse fossil record.
The fossil of the partial skeleton includes the shoulder girdles, wishbone, bones from both wings, vertebrae, and part of a leg. Unfortunately, the skull is missing, researchers said.
The discovery was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
Chen Zhe, Researcher, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Nanjing Institute of Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences undertook 4 research projects and participated in one project.
Many achievements are major discoveries. For example, the mystery of the Cambrian life explosion has plagued humans for hundreds of years, and through years of research, the researchers have found direct evidence that reveals the origin of life in the pre-Cambrian period.
Chen Zhe, Researcher, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
We found the earliest animals on the earth with bilateral symmetry and subsections indicating that animals started to exist in the pre-Cambrian period.
