吉林扶余披毛犀骨架的发现

DISCOVERY OF A COMPARATIVELY COMPLETE SKELETON OF COELODONTA IN FUYU, JILIN

本文概述了出土于吉林扶余镇小窑屯砂层中的披毛犀 (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach)骨架。基本完整的骨架在吉林是首次发现,在全国也是罕见的。化石时代,为晚更新世。

A comparatively complete skeleton of Coelodonta was found in 1989 at Xiaoyaotun which lies 3 km to the north of Fuyu town, situated in the eastern part of Song Nen Plain. The skeleton of Coelodonta was unearthed from the second terrace of Songhua River, 140 m above the sea level. The stratigraphic section of the terrace from top to bottom is divided into six layers. The fossil was buried in greyish white silty sands of the fourth layer with a depth of 6.6 m under the. surface. The mineralization degree of the specimen is not good because' of the strong percolating of the sand layers. The skeleton is basically intact, except the absence of left humerus, left radius, left ulna, some of vertebrate and phalangeal bones. The calculation based on the measurement of the bones suggests that the skeleton is 1.79 m high and 3.53m long. Based on the eruption and attrition of the teeth, we are of opinion that this animal died just after it became an adult individual. Judged from the nasal septum and features of its forehead, it was a female individual. According to the stratigraphy of fossil-bearing sediments and C. antiquitatis' morphology, the animal might live in Late Pleistocene. Although a large number of Coelodonta skeletons, including skull, limb and teeth have been found in Jilin, such complete one had never been seen before and is rare in the whole country too. This discovery, therefore, provides a valuable evidence for studying the complete figure of Coelodonta and its living environment.