Language: Chinese with English summary
ISBN/ISSN: 7116017933
Published on: 1994-01
Paperback
I Preface
The study of many important problems of paleontology are based on the fossil record. In order to understand the paleoecology and geographical distribution, the first thing to do is also to study the fossil. Fossil was formed by thanatocoenose and taphocoenose through a long and complex geological history. Compared with biocoenose lived at geological age, oryctocoenose has changed a great deal. The bias between oryctocoenose and Biocoenose was caused mainly by the taphonomic process. The subject to study the process is taphonomy.
Taphonomy studies how animal remains transported from the biosphere to the lithosphere and it pays much attention to the process of preservation and how it was affected in the fossil record. Through the study of taphonomy, the total understanding about the process of fossil preservation will be much more deepened, and it is possible to find out the cause of the bias. Furthermore through the materials supplied by the taphonomy, the information lost before will be compensation.
Briefly taphonomy is important basis of paleontology and paleoecology. Only through the total and correct understanding of the postmortality history of the animal, we can figure out the completeness and fidelity of fossil assemblage. The successful study of the paleozoogeography and evolution is based on the ability of the researchers removing bias caused by the taphonomic process. From this point of view, a paleontologist should be a taphonomist first.
There are more than 50 years since taphonomy was put forward. It has been developed into a independent and vital subject from a branch of paleontology. It has become a popular field of paleontology, archaeology, anthropology, paleoecology and sedimentology abroad, but in China it is still under development, some research has just stared.
The materials studied in this paper were collected fifty years ago by Prof. Wang Yongyan near Longjiagou, Wudu County, Gansu Province. According to the dressing of fossils at present. there are 4537 specimen in total, in which 2292 specimen can be classified, 640 specimen can' t be classified but identified into the parts of the animals and1605 specimen are fragment bone unidentified.
II. Geological and Geographical Outline of Fossil Locality
III. Age of Longjiagou Hipparionine Fauna
IV. Age Distribution of Population of Longjiagou Hipparionine Fauna
V. Taphonomy of Longjiagou Hipparionine Fauna
