Shuhai Xiao (Chinese: 肖书海; born in 1967, China) is a Chinese-American paleontologist and professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A.

Shuhai Xiao
Born1967
Alma mater
AwardsMember, National Academy of Sciences 2023
Scientific career
FieldsPaleontology, Paleobiology, Geology, Geobiology
InstitutionsVirginia Tech, Tulane University
Doctoral advisorAndrew H. Knoll
Websitehttps://geos.vt.edu/people/Everyone/Shuhai-Xiao.html

Early life

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Xiao attended Taihe Middle School in Jiangxi Province, China. He received a B. Sc. degree and an M. Sc. degree from Peking University in 1988 and 1991, both in geology. He then worked as an assistant researcher in the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for two years.[1] He earned a Ph.D. degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University in 1998.[2]

Career

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Xiao worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University in 1998–2000 and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology at Tulane University in 2000–2003.[1] In 2003, he moved to Virginia Tech, serving as an Assistant Professor (2003–2005), Associate Professor (2005–2008), and Full Professor (2008–present) in the department of Geosciences. From 2012 to 2020, Xiao served as the chair of the Subcommission on Ediacaran Stratigraphy, International Commission on Stratigraphy.[2] Xiao was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2023.[1]

Research

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Xiao studies the interactions between the biosphere and its environment during key transition periods in Earth's history, particularly the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. He has published extensively on Ediacaran stratigraphy and paleobiology in South China, particularly the Doushantuo,[3][4][5][6] Lantian,[7] and Dengying formations.[8][9] He is interested in Precambrian microbial world,[10][11][12] the fossil record of eukaryotes,[13][14][15][16] multicellular algae,[17][18][19][20] the Ediacara biota,[21][22] the early evolution of animals,[23][24][25][26] and exceptional fossil preservation.[27][28]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Ravindran, Sandeep (2024-11-07). "Profile of Shuhai Xiao". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 121 (47). doi:10.1073/PNAS.2420366121.
  2. ^ a b "Shuhai Xiao". Virginia Tech.
  3. ^ Xiao S, Zhang Y, Knoll AH (February 1998). "Three-dimensional preservation of algae and animal embryos in a Neoproterozoic phosphorite". Nature. 391 (6667): 553–558. Bibcode:1998Natur.391..553X. doi:10.1038/35318. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4350507.
  4. ^ McFadden KA, Huang J, Chu X, Jiang G, Kaufman AJ, Zhou C, et al. (March 2008). "Pulsed oxidation and biological evolution in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (9): 3197–3202. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.3197M. doi:10.1073/pnas.0708336105. PMC 2265117. PMID 18299566.
  5. ^ Jiang G, Shi X, Zhang S, Wang Y, Xiao S (June 2011). "Stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (ca. 635–551Ma) in South China". Gondwana Research. 19 (4): 831–849. Bibcode:2011GondR..19..831J. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2011.01.006.
  6. ^ Xiao S, Muscente AD, Chen L, Zhou C, Schiffbauer JD, Wood AD, Polys NF, Yuan X (2014-12-01). "The Weng'an biota and the Ediacaran radiation of multicellular eukaryotes". National Science Review. 1 (4): 498–520. doi:10.1093/nsr/nwu061. ISSN 2053-714X.
  7. ^ Yuan X, Chen Z, Xiao S, Zhou C, Hua H (February 2011). "An early Ediacaran assemblage of macroscopic and morphologically differentiated eukaryotes". Nature. 470 (7334): 390–393. Bibcode:2011Natur.470..390Y. doi:10.1038/nature09810. PMID 21331041. S2CID 205224028.
  8. ^ Chen Z, Zhou C, Yuan X, Xiao S (September 2019). "Death march of a segmented and trilobate bilaterian elucidates early animal evolution". Nature. 573 (7774): 412–415. Bibcode:2019Natur.573..412C. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1522-7. PMID 31485079. S2CID 201834647.
  9. ^ Xiao S, Chen Z, Pang K, Zhou C, Yuan X (January 2021). "The Shibantan Lagerstätte: insights into the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic transition". Journal of the Geological Society. 178 (1): jgs2020–135. Bibcode:2021JGSoc.178..135X. doi:10.1144/jgs2020-135. ISSN 0016-7649. S2CID 225242787.
  10. ^ Xiao S, Tang Q (2021-12-26). "Treatise Online no. 160: Part B, Volume 2, Chapter 7: Microfossils of Prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea): Research History, Taphonomy, and Paleobiology". Treatise Online. doi:10.17161/to.vi.16311. ISSN 2153-4012. S2CID 253008313.
  11. ^ Pang K, Tang Q, Chen L, Wan B, Niu C, Yuan X, Xiao S (February 2018). "Nitrogen-Fixing Heterocystous Cyanobacteria in the Tonian Period". Current Biology. 28 (4): 616–622.e1. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.008. PMID 29398221. S2CID 3397505.
  12. ^ Gan T, Luo T, Pang K, Zhou C, Zhou G, Wan B, et al. (January 2021). "Cryptic terrestrial fungus-like fossils of the early Ediacaran Period". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 641. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12..641G. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-20975-1. PMC 7843733. PMID 33510166.
  13. ^ Xiao S (2013). "Written in Stone: The Fossil Record of Early Eukaryotes". In Trueba G, Montúfar C (eds.). Evolution from the Galapagos. Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Vol. 2. New York, NY: Springer New York. pp. 107–124. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6732-8_8. ISBN 978-1-4614-6731-1. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  14. ^ Dong L, Xiao S, Shen B, Zhou C, Li G, Yao J (January 2009). "Basal Cambrian microfossils from the Yangtze Gorges area (South China) and the Aksu area (Tarim block, northwestern China)". Journal of Paleontology. 83 (1): 30–44. Bibcode:2009JPal...83...30D. doi:10.1666/07-147R.1. ISSN 0022-3360.
  15. ^ Xiao S, Zhou C, Liu P, Wang D, Yuan X (January 2014). "Phosphatized acanthomorphic acritarchs and related microfossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation at Weng'an (South China) and their implications for biostratigraphic correlation". Journal of Paleontology. 88 (1): 1–67. Bibcode:2014JPal...88....1X. doi:10.1666/12-157R. ISSN 0022-3360. S2CID 128393183.
  16. ^ Xiao S, Jiang G, Ye Q, Ouyang Q, Banerjee DM, Singh BP, Muscente AD, Zhou C, Hughes NC (2022-04-12). "Systematic paleontology, acritarch biostratigraphy, and δ 13 C chemostratigraphy of the early Ediacaran Krol A Formation, Lesser Himalaya, northern India". Journal of Paleontology: 1–62. doi:10.1017/jpa.2022.7. hdl:10919/111182. ISSN 0022-3360. S2CID 248142585.
  17. ^ Xiao S, Yuan X, Steiner M, Knoll AH (March 2002). "Macroscopic carbonaceous compressions in a terminal Proterozoic shale: A systematic reassessment of the Miaohe biota, south China". Journal of Paleontology. 76 (2): 347–376. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2002)076<0347:MCCIAT>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0022-3360.
  18. ^ Bykova N, LoDuca ST, Ye Q, Marusin V, Grazhdankin D, Xiao S (November 2020). "Seaweeds through time: Morphological and ecological analysis of Proterozoic and early Paleozoic benthic macroalgae". Precambrian Research. 350: 105875. Bibcode:2020PreR..350j5875B. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2020.105875. S2CID 225457439.
  19. ^ Ye Q, Tong J, An Z, Hu J, Tian L, Guan K, Xiao S (2019-02-01). "A systematic description of new macrofossil material from the upper Ediacaran Miaohe Member in South China". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 17 (3): 183–238. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1404499. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 90479572.
  20. ^ Tang Q, Pang K, Yuan X, Xiao S (April 2020). "A one-billion-year-old multicellular chlorophyte". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 4 (4): 543–549. doi:10.1038/s41559-020-1122-9. PMC 8668152. PMID 32094536.
  21. ^ Shen B, Dong L, Xiao S, Kowalewski M (January 2008). "The Avalon explosion: evolution of Ediacara morphospace". Science. 319 (5859): 81–84. Bibcode:2008Sci...319...81S. doi:10.1126/science.1150279. PMID 18174439. S2CID 206509488.
  22. ^ Xiao S, Laflamme M (January 2009). "On the eve of animal radiation: phylogeny, ecology and evolution of the Ediacara biota". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 24 (1): 31–40. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.07.015. PMID 18952316.
  23. ^ Xiao S, Hu J, Yuan X, Parsley RL, Cao R (May 2005). "Articulated sponges from the Lower Cambrian Hetang Formation in southern Anhui, South China: their age and implications for the early evolution of sponges". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 220 (1–2): 89–117. Bibcode:2005PPP...220...89X. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2002.02.001.
  24. ^ Meyer M, Xiao S, Gill BC, Schiffbauer JD, Chen Z, Zhou C, Yuan X (February 2014). "Interactions between Ediacaran animals and microbial mats: Insights from Lamonte trevallis, a new trace fossil from the Dengying Formation of South China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 396: 62–74. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.12.026.
  25. ^ Hawkins AD, Liu HP, Briggs DE, Muscente AD, Mckay RM, Witzke BJ, Xiao S (2018-01-09). "Taphonomy and biological affinity of three-dimensionally phosphatized bromalites from the Middle Ordovician Winneshiek Lagerstätte, northeastern Iowa, USA". PALAIOS. 33 (1): 1–15. Bibcode:2018Palai..33....1H. doi:10.2110/palo.2017.053. hdl:10919/86821. ISSN 0883-1351. S2CID 134892747.
  26. ^ Evans SD, Tu C, Rizzo A, Surprenant RL, Boan PC, McCandless H, et al. (November 2022). "Environmental drivers of the first major animal extinction across the Ediacaran White Sea-Nama transition". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 119 (46): e2207475119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11907475E. doi:10.1073/pnas.2207475119. PMC 9674242. PMID 36343248.
  27. ^ Schiffbauer JD, Xiao S, Cai Y, Wallace AF, Hua H, Hunter J, et al. (December 2014). "A unifying model for Neoproterozoic-Palaeozoic exceptional fossil preservation through pyritization and carbonaceous compression". Nature Communications. 5 (1): 5754. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.5754S. doi:10.1038/ncomms6754. hdl:10919/80356. PMID 25517864. S2CID 205333365.
  28. ^ Muscente AD, Schiffbauer JD, Broce J, Laflamme M, O'Donnell K, Boag TH, Meyer M, Hawkins AD, Huntley JW, McNamara M, MacKenzie LA, Stanley GD, Hinman NW, Hofmann MH, Xiao S (August 2017). "Exceptionally preserved fossil assemblages through geologic time and space". Gondwana Research. 48: 164–188. Bibcode:2017GondR..48..164M. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2017.04.020. hdl:10919/81949.
  29. ^ "Mary Clark Thompson Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  30. ^ "AAAS". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 1 January 2023.