陕西近年出土的水牛遗存及中国本土水牛的进化

The Remains of Buffalos Recently Unearthed from Shaanxi and the Evolution of the Buffalo in China Proper

本文分析了陕西渭河流域新出土的更新世杨氏水牛和全新世的圣水牛头骨和颅后骨,并对比了其他地区出土的水牛标本。作者根据新的资料讨论了水牛种属的分类、进化及驯化问题。渭河流域在更新世时期至少有圣水牛,它很可能是更新世短角水牛的后代。它在进入全新世之前形体也许有所减小;但全新世早、中期(距今8000-3000年),没有迹象表明它的形体有所缩小,圣水牛的这一变化应该不是受人类活动影响(如驯化)的结果,但是否为适应气候变化而发生还有待研究。

This article reports five skulls and some postcranial remains from ancient buffalo unearthed in the Wei River valley, Shaanxi, dating to the Pleistocene and Holocene. It also discusses the relationships between buffalo remains from the Wei River and those found in other regions. At least two species, B. youngi and B. Deilhardi, existed during the Pleistocene in the Wei River val- ley, but it is unclear whether or not they survived to the Holocene. B. mephistopheles from the Holocene deposits may have been the direct descendent of B. brevicornis in the Pleistocene, whose body size decreased before the Holocene, but shows little change during the Holocene. B. mephistopheles＇change in body size was unlikely related to human activities , such as domestication; but it re- mains to be studied fits morphological change is due to environmental alterations.