Tao Su
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
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
Mike Widdowson
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., Deng, T., Ding, L., Deng, W. Y. D., Huang, Y. J., Hughes, A., Jia, L. B., Jin, J. H., Li, S. F., Liang, S. Q., Liu, J., Liu, X. Y., Sherlock, S., Spicer, T., Srivastava, G., …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 | May 26, 2022 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Print ISSN | 0027-8424 |
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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Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
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