In a paper published online 23 January in the journal of Science Bulletin, Dr. XU Guanghui, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his collaborator reported a new sexually dimorphic primitive neopterygian fish, Venusichthys comptus, based on 30 exceptionally well-preserved specimens from the Middle Triassic (Pelsonian, Anisian) Luoping Lagerst？tte of eastern Yunnan, China. The discovery represents the oldest known secondary sexual characteristics in Neopterygii, and provides an important addition for understanding the behavior, reproduction, and early diversification of Neopterygii.

Scientists have discovered a “well-preserved” Homo erectus skull, teeth and other skull bones at the Hualongdong archaeological site in Zhongzhi County of Anhui Province, eastern China, which was estimated to be between 150,000 and 412,000 years old, as announced in a news conference on November 20 in Anhui Province.

In a paper published October 15 online in Nature, Dr. LIU Wu, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his international team announced the discovery of human teeth between 80,000 and 120,000 years old from the newly excavated Fuyan Cave in Daoxian, southern China, and provided the earliest evidence of fully modern humans outside Africa. This discovery indicated that Homo sapiens trekked into Asia far earlier than previously known and much earlier than into Europe, providing important evidence for the study of dispersal routes of modern humans.