Achievements and frontiers of ichnological study during the innovating stage in China
Objectives:Trace fossils play a very important role in palaeontological study,and attract great attention from many researchers.Ichnological study went through three stages of abecedarian(1929～1978),systematic(1978～2004),and innovating(2004～now)stages in China.In this paper,we summarizes the main achievements and progresses of ichnological study in China during the innovating stage and provides an outlook on the future development of ichnology.Results:During the innovating stage,four aspects of achievements and progresses of ichnological research are summarized as follows:① the coevolution between environment and organism;② special trace fossils;③ the application of new techniques and methods;④ neoichnology.Moreover,based on the systematical regression and summary of the recent ichnological study in China,we propose that the future frontiers in ichnology may include:experimental ichnology,geobiological study of trace fossils,new theory of ichnology,terrestrial ichnology,and applications of big data and artificial intelligence.Conclusions:With the further research of trace fossils,ichnology can get more attention,and will certainly play a more significant role in palaeontology and palaeoenvironment.
万方数据
维普
