随着中国经济的持续、稳定发展和国家政府对基础研究的日趋重视,我国科技投入力度正在逐年加大,包括古生物学在内的地球科学基础研究近十年来取得长足的进步和发展。近些年,我国的古生物学已开始在多门类起源、系统演化和环境背景研究中处于国际领先,在部分研究方向开始发挥重要国际引领作用。加之华南、华北保存的化石材料优势和若干国家重大项目的稳定、持续支持(Zhu et al.,2016a;Zhu and Li,2017),使我国在科研队伍、

Cambrian Explosion represents an astonishing burst of evolutionary innovation with the first 30 million years of the Cambrian witnessing the appearance of most bilaterian animal body plans,many of which still exist today.Alongside crown group phyla there are other bizarre stem group Cambrian forms which made sudden appearance,but soon became extinct.New data from a range of exceptionally preserved Cambrian K?nversat-Lagerst?tte of China provide crucial data to unravel the evolutionary and revolutionary scope of this milestone biological event.The fossils discussed in the Special Issue(SI)of Acta Palaeoontologica Sinica mainly come from the Cambrian Terreneuvian Fortunian Kuanchuanpu Biota of southern Shaanxi Province; the pre-trilobite Yanjiahe Biota(Terreneuvian,Stage 2)and the Cambrian first-trilobite age Shuijingtuo Formation(upper Stage 3-lower Stage 4)and the Shipai Biota(Stage 4)in the Three-Gorges area of Yichang,western Hubei Province;the Chengjiang(Stage 3)and Guanshan(Stage 4)biotas in the eastern Yunnan Province;and the Jialao Formation(Series 3,Stage 5)of Guizhou Province.

国家自然科学基金委员会杰出青年科学基金和国际(地区)合作与交流项目(批准号：41425008，41720104002)；国家自然科学基金委员会创新研究群体科学基金(批准号：41621003)；高等学校学科创新引智计划(111项目，编号：D17013)联合资助