南召发现的人类和哺乳类化石

A HUMAN FOSSIL TOOTH AND FOSSIL MAMMALS FROM NANZHAO, HENAN

本文记述的人类化石是一枚右下第二前臼齿,发现于河南省南召县鸡河右岸第二级阶地的堆积中。一起发现的哺乳类化石有剑齿虎、中国鬣狗、肿骨鹿、剑齿象、三门马和巨等二十一种。时代为中更新世。

One fossil human tooth and some mammalian fossils described here were collected and unearthed by the authors in the autumn of 1978 from the Xinghua hill foot (11241’ E, 3328’ N) located at 3.5 kilometers North-west of Yunyang city, Nanzhao county, Nanyang Prefecture, Henan Province.All fossils were buried in the brown yellow sandy clay situated in the second terrace, the surface of which is about 7 meters above the Jihe River water-level.The deposits of this site may be divided into 5 layers (vide Fig. 3)1. Disturbed deposit. 0-1m thick.2. Brown black sandy clay. 0-0.8 m thick.3. Brown sandy clay. 0.5 m thick.4. Sandy gravel. 0.1-1m thick.5. Brown yellow sandy clay (The fossils were found in this layer). 1.8m thick. The human tooth is a right lower second premolar, bigger than that of modernman, but similar to Sinanthropus, we attributed the Nanzhao specimen to Homo erectus in the stage of human evolution according to the faunal evidence.Fossil species from the site can be summarized as follows (vide Chinese list 1)Among the mammalian remains of the site, there is the element of Tertiary period,. Machairodontinae, which survived into Middle Pleistocene, and there are also the characteristic forms of Middle Pleistocene, such as Hyaena sinensis and Megaloceros pachyo-steus. Judging from the mammalian fossils of the locality, the age of the fossiliferous bed is considered as Middle Pleistocene and corresponds to that of Sinanthropus.In the site, some of North China Middle Pleistocene mammals, such as Equus san-meniensis and Megaloceros pachyosteus, lived together with a few elements of South China, Stegodon and Tapirus augustus. The faunal knowledge of the transitional province between North China and South China provinces of the Quaternary mammals of China in Middle Pleistocene is enriched further.According to the ecology of the fauna, it seems that when Nanzhao man lived, the natural environment of Nanzhao district was similar to the natural landscape of Nanzhao region of today.