Hou Xian-guang(alternativelyXianguang;Chinese:Hầu trước quang;born 26 March 1949)[1]is a ChinesepaleontologistatYunnan Universitywho made key discoveries in theCambrian lifeof China around 518myr.[2][3]His first discovery of animal fossils from the Cambrian sediments (now calledMaotianshan Shales) atCheng gian g County,YunnanProvince, led to the establishment of theCheng gian g biota,an assemblage of various life forms during the Cambrian Period.[4]The discovery of the Cheng gian g biota, remarked as "among the most spectacular in this [20th] century",[5]added to the better understanding of how animal forms (different phyla) originated and evolved during the so-calledCambrian explosion.[6]
Hou Xian-guang | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 March 1949 Fenxiang,Jiangsu Province, China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | Nanjing University(MSc) University of Uppsala(PhD) |
| Known for | Cheng gian g biota |
| Spouse | Qing Liu |
| Children | Min Hou |
| Awards | Grand prize of Natural Sciences(1997) First-class Award of Natural Sciences(2003) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Palaeontology |
| Institutions | Nanjing University Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology Yunnan University |
| Thesis | Bradoriid arthropods from the Lower Cambrian of South-west China(1997) |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Hou |
Among the recognitions Hou received are the Grand Prize of Natural Sciences (1997) from theChinese Academy of Sciencesand the First-class Award of Natural Sciences (2003), one of the highestState Science and Technology Prizesof thePeople's Republic of China.[7]The Yunnan University claims that it "gained a worldwide reputation through the discovery and research [by Hou]."[8]
Biography
editHou was born inFenxiang,[5]Jiangsu Province, China to a school teacher Kun Hou and his wife Rui Fen.[1]He completed his entire schooling at the First Middle School of Xuzhou City.[5]He studied BSc in geology at theNanjing Universityfrom 1973 and completed it in 1977. Between 1977 and 1998 he worked as a lecturer of geology at Nanjing. Then he continued his MSc in paleontology and earned his master's degree in 1981.[7]Immediately after graduation he joined the faculty of Nanjing University as a geology teacher. He enrolled at theUniversity of Uppsala,Sweden, in 1992 for a doctoral degree and obtained a Ph.D. in 1997.[7]His thesis wasBradoriid arthropods from the Lower Cambrian of South-west China[9](later highlighted asA Monograph of the Bradoriid Arthropods from the Lower Cambrian of SW China[10]).
While Hou pursued his research in Sweden, he got promoted as associate professor in 1922 and then a professor in 1994.[5]He was appointed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to become a geologist at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology in 1997. He transferred to the Yunnan University, in Kunming,[1]to take up the position of a professor ofpaleobiologyand leads (as director) the Yunnan Key Laboratory for Paleobiology since 2000.[7]
Personal life
editHou is married to a school teacher Qing Liu with whom he has a daughter Min. He lives in Kunming, Yunnan.[1]
Books authored
editAwards and honours
editHou received the Grand Prize of Natural Sciences from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1997; the First-class Award of Natural Sciences, one of the highest State Science and Technology Prizes, from theChinese State Councilin 2003; the Paleontological Science Prize of China in 2004.[1]TheHo Leung Ho Lee Foundationof Hong Kong awarded him its Paleontology and Archeology Prize in 2006,[5]and its Science and Technology Innovation Award with recognition as among the "Leading Scientific and Technological Talents of Yunnan" in 2017.[12]
References
edit- ^abcde"Hou, Xianguang 1949- (Hou Xian-Guang) | Encyclopedia".encyclopedia.Retrieved2023-03-23.
- ^abLuo, Zhe-Xi (2004)."A window on early animal evolution".Nature.430(6998): 405.doi:10.1038/430405a.ISSN0028-0836.
- ^Marshall, Michael (2022)."Some of the earliest complex animals were fossilised in a river delta".New Scientist.Retrieved2023-03-23.
- ^Briggs, Derek E. G. (2015)."Extraordinary fossils reveal the nature of Cambrian life: a commentary on Whittington (1975) 'The Enigma tic animal Opabinia regalis, Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia'".Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.370(1666): 20140313.doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0313.PMC4360120.PMID25750235.
- ^abcde"Hou Xianguang".hlhl.org.cn.Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation.Retrieved2023-03-23.
- ^Shu, D.-G.; Conway Morris, S.; Zhang, Z.-F.; Han, J. (2010)."The earliest history of the deuterostomes: the importance of the Cheng gian g Fossil-Lagerstatte".Proceedings. Biological Sciences.277(1679): 165–174.doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0646.ISSN1471-2954.PMC2842668.PMID19439437.
- ^abcdeZhang, Maoyin (2018-09-23)."HOU Xian-guang- Vân Nam tỉnh cổ sinh vật nghiên cứu trọng điểm phòng thí nghiệm".yklp.ynu.edu.cn.Yunnan University.Retrieved2023-03-23.
- ^"China Admissions".China Admissions.Retrieved2023-03-23.
- ^Xian-Guang, Hou (1999)."New rare bivalved arthropods from the Lower Cambrian Cheng gian g fauna, Yunnan, China".Journal of Paleontology.73(1): 102–116.doi:10.1017/S002233600002758X.ISSN0022-3360.JSTOR1306748.S2CID88183296.
- ^abXian-guang, Hou; Siveter, David J.; Williams, Mark; Xiang-hong, Feng (2001)."A monograph of the Bradoriid arthropods from the Lower Cambrian of SW China".Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences.92(3): 347–409.doi:10.1017/S0263593300000286.ISSN0263-5933.S2CID131412831.
- ^Palmer, Douglas (2017)."The Geological Society of London - The Cambrian Fossils of Cheng gian g, China".geolsoc.org.uk.Retrieved2023-03-23.
- ^Hui, Sun (2017-11-02)."Leading talents of Yunnan University".subsites.chinadaily.cn.Retrieved2023-03-23.