HKU PALEONTOLOGIST DISCOVERED THE OLDEST TETRAPOD FAUNA IN EAST ASIA
2024.08.13
Dr. Jianye Chen, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences at HKU, made a groundbreaking discovery—an early Permian tetrapod track assemblage known as the Mentougou Fauna in the suburb of Beijing. This remarkable find, dating back approximately 300 million years, stands as the earliest known record of tetrapod fossils on the
North China Plate. This significant breakthrough, published in the National Science Review (NSR), fills a critical gap in early tetrapod record of East Asia. It offers new, compelling insights into the land connection between the North China Plate and supercontinent Pangaea, supporting the hypothesis that the North China Plate and the main body of Pangaea had already connected at the beginning of the Permian period. This discovery provides a new paleogeographic model for studying the tectonic history, paleobiology, and paleoclimate of the Late Paleozoic. Furthermore, the Mentougou Fauna holds monumental evolutionary importance, including East Asia's earliest record of amniotes.
 |
|
Reconstruction of Mentougou Fauna |
 |
|
Footprints from Mentougou Fauna |
 |
|
Paleogeographic reconstruction of the Early Permian |
Additional information: Dr. Jianye Chen, jianye@hku.hk
