Hou Xian-guang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hou (侯).
Hou Xian-guang
Born (1949-03-26) 26 March 1949 (age 75)
Fenxiang, Jiangsu Province, China
NationalityChinese
Alma materNanjing University (MSc)
University of Uppsala (PhD)
Known forChengjiang biota
SpouseQing Liu
ChildrenMin Hou
AwardsGrand prize of Natural Sciences (1997)
First-class Award of Natural Sciences (2003)
Scientific career
FieldsPalaeontology
InstitutionsNanjing 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

Hou Xian-guang (alternatively Xianguang; Chinese: 侯先光; born 26 March 1949)[1] is a Chinese paleontologist at Yunnan University who made key discoveries in the Cambrian life of China around 518 myr.[2][3] His first discovery of animal fossils from the Cambrian sediments (now called Maotianshan Shales) at Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, led to the establishment of the Chengjiang biota, an assemblage of various life forms during the Cambrian Period.[4] The discovery of the Chengjiang 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-called Cambrian explosion.[6]

Among the recognitions Hou received are the Grand Prize of Natural Sciences (1997) from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the First-class Award of Natural Sciences (2003), one of the highest State Science and Technology Prizes of the People's Republic of China.[7] The Yunnan University claims that it "gained a worldwide reputation through the discovery and research [by Hou]."[8]

  1. ^ "Hou, Xianguang 1949- (Hou Xian-Guang) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  2. ^ Luo, Zhe-Xi (2004). "A window on early animal evolution". Nature. 430 (6998): 405. doi:10.1038/430405a. ISSN 0028-0836.
  3. ^ Marshall, Michael (2022). "Some of the earliest complex animals were fossilised in a river delta". New Scientist. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  4. ^ Briggs, Derek E. G. (2015). "Extraordinary fossils reveal the nature of Cambrian life: a commentary on Whittington (1975) 'The enigmatic 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. PMC 4360120. PMID 25750235.
  5. ^ "Hou Xianguang". www.hlhl.org.cn. Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  6. ^ Shu, D.-G.; Conway Morris, S.; Zhang, Z.-F.; Han, J. (2010). "The earliest history of the deuterostomes: the importance of the Chengjiang Fossil-Lagerstatte". Proceedings. Biological Sciences. 277 (1679): 165–174. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0646. ISSN 1471-2954. PMC 2842668. PMID 19439437.
  7. ^ Zhang, Maoyin (2018-09-23). "HOU Xian-guang-云南省古生物研究重点实验室". www.yklp.ynu.edu.cn. Yunnan University. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  8. ^ "China Admissions". China Admissions. Retrieved 2023-03-23.