The mammalian fauna with clear characteristics of transitional region has been found in the Shanyangzhai cave of the Qin-huangdao area where the three Chinese zoogeographical regions (the Northeast region, the North r...The mammalian fauna with clear characteristics of transitional region has been found in the Shanyangzhai cave of the Qin-huangdao area where the three Chinese zoogeographical regions (the Northeast region, the North region and the Mengxin region) join. Abundant fossils mainly are small mammals. The fauna includes typical species derived from three zoogeographical regions and can be compared with the middle Pleistocene faunas found in both the Zhoukoudian (the North region) and the Jinniushan (the Northeast region) faunas. Of 53 kinds of mammals identified at the site, 38 kinds can be seen on the list of the middle Pleis-tocene Zhoukoudian and the Jinniushan faunas, of which 29 kinds are the same as those in the Zhoukoudian fauna and 25 are in the Jinniushan fauna, 7 in the Salawusu fauna and account for 76%, 66% and 18% of the total, respectively. It is suggested based on the consistence of the constitution of the fauna and its recent zoogeographic division that the three regions in north China could be initially formed during the middle Pleistocene.展开更多
基金supported by the Natural Science Fund Project of Shaanxi Province (Grant NoSJ08D02)
文摘The mammalian fauna with clear characteristics of transitional region has been found in the Shanyangzhai cave of the Qin-huangdao area where the three Chinese zoogeographical regions (the Northeast region, the North region and the Mengxin region) join. Abundant fossils mainly are small mammals. The fauna includes typical species derived from three zoogeographical regions and can be compared with the middle Pleistocene faunas found in both the Zhoukoudian (the North region) and the Jinniushan (the Northeast region) faunas. Of 53 kinds of mammals identified at the site, 38 kinds can be seen on the list of the middle Pleis-tocene Zhoukoudian and the Jinniushan faunas, of which 29 kinds are the same as those in the Zhoukoudian fauna and 25 are in the Jinniushan fauna, 7 in the Salawusu fauna and account for 76%, 66% and 18% of the total, respectively. It is suggested based on the consistence of the constitution of the fauna and its recent zoogeographic division that the three regions in north China could be initially formed during the middle Pleistocene.
