Choice Review

As in Russia, micropaleontology in China is being given special emphasis among the sciences, considerably more than it is receiving in the Western World. This volume, containing 17 articles (mostly in joint authorship with the editor), stresses applications of microfaunal analyses to the interpretation of paleoenvironments, biostratigraphy, and sea-level changes. The basic research is dominated by Pleistocene and Recent foraminifera and ostracods, but coverage extends to calcereous nannoplankton. Most occurrences are discussed as characteristic assemblages; the relatively few new taxa that are introduced are adequately described and excellently illustrated. Perhaps the most astounding feature of micropaleontology in China, as revealed in this book, is not the rapid proliferation of micropaleontology, but the excellence so quickly attained in taxonomy. The conclusions appear fully substantiated and clearly presented. A few typographical errors are present, but none seriously affecting meaning. For the graduate student in micropaleontology, this work provides a source of new data on a region that has hitherto been neglected.-R.V. Kesling, University of Michigan