Seminar

This seminar will provide a review of some of the most significant discoveries from the biota from a
biological and paleoecological perspective, showing that the Jehol Biota provides the best window for
us to reconstruct the Lower Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem. The Jehol Biota is best known for
producing many exceptional preserved feathered dinosaurs, early birds, mammals, pterosaurs,
salamanders, fishes, insects and flowering plants.
Prof. Zhou received his Ph.D. degree with honors from the University of Kansas in 1999. He returned to
same year. His main research interest is on the origin and early evolution of birds, feathers and bird flight.
He is also involved in the study of Mesozoic fishes, feathered dinosaurs, pterosaurs, stratigraphy and the
evolution of the Jehol Biota, the relationship between paleo-environment and biological evolution in
order to better understand the evolution of the Lower Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem.
Prof. Zhou has coauthored over 180 scientific papers, including many in Nature, Science, Nature
Communications, PNAS and Current Biology. He has received a number of national awards, including
two National Natural Science Awards from the Chinese government (2000 and 2007). His research team
also earned several major honors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including the most prestigious
Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize (2003). In 2010, he was elected a foreign
associate by the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. He was elected a member of Chinese
Academy of Sciences in 2011. In 2014 he was elected President of the International Palaeontological
Association. He was elected a member of the Third World Academy of Sciences and the corresponding
member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2015.