摘要
欧亚大陆东部新近纪对于全面认识现代全球气候与生物群的形成过程起到重要的作用。最近的研究表明，该地区在整个新生代不仅是动植物发源地，而且也是周围大陆之间的生物地理通道。有科学家提出在上新世／更新世期间该地区也可能是人类演化的中心。新近纪青藏高原的隆升深刻地影响了全球气温与降雨的分布格局，导致了亚洲季风的形成与加剧以及中亚干旱化。这些气候的变化推动了草原植被及相关生物群在欧亚大陆的扩展，以及晚中新世C4植物的生态扩张。最近几十年来，越来越多的科学家致力于对上述问题的研究。古生物学家们研究或修订了自20世纪早期以来发现的大量动植物化石并逐步纳入到数据库中，如NOW（欧亚大陆新近纪数据库）。新的发现不断填补着空间、
The Neogene of eastern Eurasia plays a key role in our understanding of the processes that led to the establishment of modern climates and biotas worldwide. Recent work indicates that this region was as a source of new plant and animal taxa, as well as a biogeographic gateway between the surrounding land masses （Europe, Africa, North America） throughout the Cenozoic （e. g., Jacobs et al., 1999; Tiffney and Manchester, 2001 ; Beard, 2002）. Indeed, some authors have argued that eastern Eurasia may have been a center for human evolution during the Plio-Pleistocene （ Dennell and Roebroeks, 2005 ）. It is also thought that the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau during the Neogene profoundly impacted global temperature and rainfall patterns, leading to the onset, or intensification of the Asian monsoon and increased aridification of central Asia （Ramstein et al., 1997; Fluteau et al., 1999; Dettman et al., 2003 ）. These climate changes may have promoted the spread of grassland vegetation and associated faunas across the Eurasian continent and, in the latest Miocene, the ecological expansion of C4 grasses （Dettman et al., 2001 ; An et al., 2001 ; Wang et al., 2006）. The transformation of environments further stimulated zoogeographic differentiation and affected patterns of diversity in the region （ Qiu and Li. 2003. 2005： Zhang et al.. 2006）.
出处
《古脊椎动物学报》
CSCD
北大核心
2007年第2期93-97,共5页
Vertebrata Palasiatica
