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A Middle Eocene lowland humid subtropical "Shangri-La" ecosystem in central Tibet

Su, Tao; Spicer, Robert A.; Wu, Fei Xiang; Farnsworth, Alexander; Huang, Jian; Del Rio, Cédric; Deng, Tao; Ding, Lin; Deng, Wei Yu Dong; Huang, Yong Jiang; Hughes, Alice; Jia, Lin Bo; Jin, Jian Hua; Li, Shu Feng; Liang, Shui Qing; Liu, Jia; Liu, Xiao Yan; Sherlock, Sarah; Spicer, Teresa; Srivastava, Gaurav; Tang, He; Valdes, Paul; Wang, Teng Xiang; Widdowson, Mike; Wu, Meng Xiao; Xing, Yao Wu; Xu, Cong Li; Yang, Jian; Zhang, Cong; Zhang, Shi Tao; Zhang, Xin Wen; Zhao, Fan; Zhou, Zhe Kun

Authors

Tao Su

Robert A. Spicer

Fei Xiang Wu

Alexander Farnsworth

Jian Huang

Cédric Del Rio

Tao Deng

Lin Ding

Wei Yu Dong Deng

Yong Jiang Huang

Alice Hughes

Lin Bo Jia

Jian Hua Jin

Shu Feng Li

Shui Qing Liang

Jia Liu

Xiao Yan Liu

Sarah Sherlock

Teresa Spicer

Gaurav Srivastava

He Tang

Paul Valdes

Teng Xiang Wang

Meng Xiao Wu

Yao Wu Xing

Cong Li Xu

Jian Yang

Cong Zhang

Shi Tao Zhang

Xin Wen Zhang

Fan Zhao

Zhe Kun Zhou



Abstract

Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. Tibet's ancient topography and its role in climatic and biotic evolution remain speculative due to a paucity of quantitative surface-height measurements through time and space, and sparse fossil records. However, newly discovered fossils from a present elevation of ∼4,850 m in central Tibet improve substantially our knowledge of the ancient Tibetan environment. The 70 plant fossil taxa so far recovered include the first occurrences of several modern Asian lineages and represent a Middle Eocene (∼47 Mya) humid subtropical ecosystem. The fossils not only record the diverse composition of the ancient Tibetan biota, but also allow us to constrain the Middle Eocene land surface height in central Tibet to ∼1,500 ± 900 m, and quantify the prevailing thermal and hydrological regime. This "Shangri-La"-like ecosystem experienced monsoon seasonality with a mean annual temperature of ∼19 °C, and frosts were rare. It contained few Gondwanan taxa, yet was compositionally similar to contemporaneous floras in both North America and Europe. Our discovery quantifies a key part of Tibetan Paleogene topography and climate, and highlights the importance of Tibet in regard to the origin of modern Asian plant species and the evolution of global biodiversity.

Citation

Su, T., Spicer, R. A., Wu, F. X., Farnsworth, A., Huang, J., Del Rio, C., …Zhou, Z. K. (2020). A Middle Eocene lowland humid subtropical "Shangri-La" ecosystem in central Tibet. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(52), 32989-32995. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012647117

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 19, 2019
Online Publication Date Dec 7, 2020
Publication Date Dec 29, 2020
Deposit Date May 24, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Print ISSN 0027-8424
Electronic ISSN 1091-6490
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 117
Issue 52
Pages 32989-32995
DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012647117
Keywords Biodiversity; Fossil; Monsoon; Tibetan Plateau; Topography
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3698691

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