云梦平原全新世动物群的演变与几种大型热带性动物的绝灭时期

ON THE SUCCESSION OF ANIMAL COMMUNITY IN HOLOCENE EPOCH AND THE EXTINCT TIMES OF SOME TROPICAL ANIMALS IN YUNMENG PLAIN,CHINA

云梦平原的动物群在全新世经历了简单—复杂—贫乏的演变过程。其中以全新世中期的动物群组成最为丰富,而且含有某些热带成分。但随着后期的气候转冷及人类开发活动,它们都相继绝灭了。

Before cultivated, the primitive natural landscape of Yunmeng plain was mottled with forest and marsh. During the Middle Holoence epoch when the climate was warm, the plain was a central region for animal distribution, where many giant animals lived and breeded. The composition of animal community was abundant and varied. There were also some tropical components in the community. However, they are all vanished today as the result of the later climate cooling and human activities. Elephants decreased rapidly in the Jin dynasty and vanished in the plain in the Southern Song dynasty, as well as rhinoceros and tapir. Peacock disappeared probably in the Jin dynasty. Conversely, the subtropical animal Chinese Alligator survived until the late the Qing dynasty. Its extinction in the plain has nothing to do with the climate variation, just a result of human hunting activity.