From 1985 to 1987, four new localities with abundant fossil mammals were dis-covered by Cao, Tian and others in the Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) area, Beijing. They are theEast, West, Shangdian and Donglingzi caves. The ...From 1985 to 1987, four new localities with abundant fossil mammals were dis-covered by Cao, Tian and others in the Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) area, Beijing. They are theEast, West, Shangdian and Donglingzi caves. The East Cave fauna consists of 28 speices ofmammals and its age is middle Early Pleistocene. The East Cave assemblage shows that a tem-perature-falling event took place at around 1.20 Ma B.P. at Zhoukoudian. Sixteen species ofmammals were collected from the West Cave, which are mainly forms of late Early Pleistoceneage. The West Cave fauna represents a transitional fauna from the East Cave fauna (dry-cold)to the fauna (warm) at locality 9. The Shangdian Cave fauna is composed of four forms, beingMiddle Pleistocene in age. The Donglingzi Cave fauna contains 21 Late Pleistocene forms. Inthe cave two fossil horizons may be distinguished. The age of the lower horizon is early LatePleistocene, which is equivalent to that of the New Cave fauna; while the fauna of the upper ho-rizon may be correlated with the Upper Cave fauna.展开更多
The Lower Pliocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province is one of only a few representative sections for the Early Pliocene sedimentary records in northern China, and even in East Asia. Recently,abundant mammalian fo...The Lower Pliocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province is one of only a few representative sections for the Early Pliocene sedimentary records in northern China, and even in East Asia. Recently,abundant mammalian fossils were found from the base of red clays of the Lower Pliocene Hewangjia Formation at Duikang in Guanghe County within this basin. Previously, the Pliocene mammals were sparsely found in China, and most were collected from fluvial and lacustrine deposits in the eastern Loess Plateau. Mammals from the widely distributed Pliocene Hipparion Red Clay are less in number.The known fossils from Duikang include 20 species and belong to the Shilidun Fauna. Their faunal components are similar to the Early Pliocene Gaozhuang Fauna from Ynshe, Shanxi. On the other hand, some taxa from Duikang have not been found in the Gaozhuang Fauna, are slightly more primitive in evolutionary level, and appeared mainly in the Late Miocene. As a result, the age of the Duikang fossils may be slightly earlier than that of the Gaozhuang Fauna and closer to the lower boundary of the Piiocene. The Duikang fossiliferons bed is 0.8 m above the top of the Late Miocene Linshu Formation, and the first occurrence of the three-toed horse Hipparion pater can be regarded as a biostratigraphical marker of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. In conclusion, Duikang is an ideal candidate locality to establish as the stratotype of the lower boundary of the Chinese terrestrial Pliocene.展开更多
Mammals are the most important elements in Cenozoic terrestrial ecosystem. The composition and the character of a mammalian fauna are controlled by evolution time and evolutionary rate. Here we took 50 Asian Paleogene...Mammals are the most important elements in Cenozoic terrestrial ecosystem. The composition and the character of a mammalian fauna are controlled by evolution time and evolutionary rate. Here we took 50 Asian Paleogene mammalian faunas as representatives and applied Bayesian Tip-dating method to infer the relationships and divergence times among these faunas.Based on the results of Bayesian Tip-dating analyses, we discussed the correlation between the paleogeographic changes and the mammalian fauna turn-overs. Compared with the traditional fauna correlation and sorting, Bayesian Tip-dating analyses revealed more detailed similarities reflected via the divergence times among the 50 faunas. We discovered that the early Eocene mammalian fauna, which firstly appeared in India subcontinent, is similar to the faunas of the same age in other parts of Asia. It is likely that a passage for the mammalian dispersal was formed before early Eocene. Bayesian inferring suggests that the first appearance of the dispersal passage is during 64.8–61.3 Ma. This time window is close to the time estimation for the initial time of India-Asia collision. During 57.1–47.2 Ma, India subcontinent probably had a habitat different from the main part of Asia, as it was reflected from the composition of the mammalian faunas. It is probably correlated with the uplifted Gangdese Mountain and shallow seas and lowlands on both sides of the collision region. The very remote divergence time(64.8 Ma) estimated by Bayesian inferring reflects the mammalian fauna turnover during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, obviously affected by the global cooling. Till the end of Oligocene, the Arabic Peninsula and Asian mainland remained separated and the mammalian faunas did not show clear connection.展开更多
基金This study was a contribution to the 30th IGC Project 96-30-16 supported by the State Planning Commission and the Beijing Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.Yuan Lingsheng,Li Chang'an,Li Longyin,Chen Lianfang,Chi Zhenqing and Zhang Xujiao also took
文摘From 1985 to 1987, four new localities with abundant fossil mammals were dis-covered by Cao, Tian and others in the Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) area, Beijing. They are theEast, West, Shangdian and Donglingzi caves. The East Cave fauna consists of 28 speices ofmammals and its age is middle Early Pleistocene. The East Cave assemblage shows that a tem-perature-falling event took place at around 1.20 Ma B.P. at Zhoukoudian. Sixteen species ofmammals were collected from the West Cave, which are mainly forms of late Early Pleistoceneage. The West Cave fauna represents a transitional fauna from the East Cave fauna (dry-cold)to the fauna (warm) at locality 9. The Shangdian Cave fauna is composed of four forms, beingMiddle Pleistocene in age. The Donglingzi Cave fauna contains 21 Late Pleistocene forms. Inthe cave two fossil horizons may be distinguished. The age of the lower horizon is early LatePleistocene, which is equivalent to that of the New Cave fauna; while the fauna of the upper ho-rizon may be correlated with the Upper Cave fauna.
基金supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2006FY120300 and 2006CB806400)the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-120, Q09)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40730210), and the All-China Stratigraphic Commission
文摘The Lower Pliocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province is one of only a few representative sections for the Early Pliocene sedimentary records in northern China, and even in East Asia. Recently,abundant mammalian fossils were found from the base of red clays of the Lower Pliocene Hewangjia Formation at Duikang in Guanghe County within this basin. Previously, the Pliocene mammals were sparsely found in China, and most were collected from fluvial and lacustrine deposits in the eastern Loess Plateau. Mammals from the widely distributed Pliocene Hipparion Red Clay are less in number.The known fossils from Duikang include 20 species and belong to the Shilidun Fauna. Their faunal components are similar to the Early Pliocene Gaozhuang Fauna from Ynshe, Shanxi. On the other hand, some taxa from Duikang have not been found in the Gaozhuang Fauna, are slightly more primitive in evolutionary level, and appeared mainly in the Late Miocene. As a result, the age of the Duikang fossils may be slightly earlier than that of the Gaozhuang Fauna and closer to the lower boundary of the Piiocene. The Duikang fossiliferons bed is 0.8 m above the top of the Late Miocene Linshu Formation, and the first occurrence of the three-toed horse Hipparion pater can be regarded as a biostratigraphical marker of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. In conclusion, Duikang is an ideal candidate locality to establish as the stratotype of the lower boundary of the Chinese terrestrial Pliocene.
基金This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.XDA20070203,XDA19050100&XDB26030300)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41472025&41625005).
文摘Mammals are the most important elements in Cenozoic terrestrial ecosystem. The composition and the character of a mammalian fauna are controlled by evolution time and evolutionary rate. Here we took 50 Asian Paleogene mammalian faunas as representatives and applied Bayesian Tip-dating method to infer the relationships and divergence times among these faunas.Based on the results of Bayesian Tip-dating analyses, we discussed the correlation between the paleogeographic changes and the mammalian fauna turn-overs. Compared with the traditional fauna correlation and sorting, Bayesian Tip-dating analyses revealed more detailed similarities reflected via the divergence times among the 50 faunas. We discovered that the early Eocene mammalian fauna, which firstly appeared in India subcontinent, is similar to the faunas of the same age in other parts of Asia. It is likely that a passage for the mammalian dispersal was formed before early Eocene. Bayesian inferring suggests that the first appearance of the dispersal passage is during 64.8–61.3 Ma. This time window is close to the time estimation for the initial time of India-Asia collision. During 57.1–47.2 Ma, India subcontinent probably had a habitat different from the main part of Asia, as it was reflected from the composition of the mammalian faunas. It is probably correlated with the uplifted Gangdese Mountain and shallow seas and lowlands on both sides of the collision region. The very remote divergence time(64.8 Ma) estimated by Bayesian inferring reflects the mammalian fauna turnover during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, obviously affected by the global cooling. Till the end of Oligocene, the Arabic Peninsula and Asian mainland remained separated and the mammalian faunas did not show clear connection.