Zoological Studies 46(2): 135-147 (2007) 135

described a freshwater tardigrade for the first time in 1773 (Ramazzotti and Maucci 1983, Nelson 1991, Kinchin 1994), over 960 species of Tardigrada have been described (Guidetti and Bertolani 2005). Of all the species described, most are from European countries, such as Italy, Germany, Poland, and the UK. Tardigrades are also well studied in the US, Japan, and Australia. However, the Tardigrada is relatively poorly stud-ied in China although research in Chinese tardi-grades has a history of 70 yrs. This situation has changed favorably in the past few years. So far, more than 16 papers by Chinese researchers on tardigrades have been published, and 45 species of Tardigrada have recently been reported or described from China. In 2004 and 2005, the authors collected 3 new species and 4 new species records of the Tardigrda from the northern slopes of the Qinling Mountains of central Shaanxi Province, China. They are Echiniscus nelsonae sp. nov., E. shaanx-iensis sp. nov., Pseudechiniscus beasleyi sp. nov.