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New fossils of small and medium-sized bovids from the Early Site of Shanshenmiaozui in Nihewan Basin, North China
TONG Hao-Wen, ZHANG Bei, CHEN Xi, WANG Xiao-Min
Vertebrata Palasiatica    2022, 60 (2): 134-168.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.220413
Abstract   (553 HTML128 PDF(pc) (11536KB)(527)  

Shanshenmiaozui site in Nihewan Basin in North China is a recently discovered Early Pleistocene site which yields rich and diverse mammalian fossils. In the fauna, the small and medium-sized bovid fossils are well represented and can be referred to the following taxa: Spirocerus wongi, Gazella sinensis, Ovis shantungensis and Megalovis piveteaui respectively, among which G. sinensis is the dominate species. S. wongi and G. sinensis are mainly represented by horn-cores and partial skull bones as well as mandibles; in addition, metacarpal and/or metatarsal bones were also recognized for all of the four species. The horn-cores are easy to be identified to the species level, while the dentitions and the postcranial bones underwent a series of examinations and comparisons before getting properly determined and referred to the most approximate taxa. Among the postcranial bones, the metapodials, especially to the metacarpal bones special attentions were paid, which are crucial not only for taxonomic identification, but also for phylogenetic and paleoecological reconstructions; the previously misidentified metapodial specimens in Nihewan fauna were reconsidered in this paper. In the SSMZ fauna, the bovid guild is dominated by Gazella and Bison, which indicates steppe was the most important biome in Nihewan Basin during Early Pleistocene.


Fig. 6 CT scan images of the horn-core of Gazella sinensis (IVPP V 28661) from SSMZ
A1-A4. CT image reconstruction showing positions of the cross CT scan slices (A1’-A4’);B1-B3. CT image reconstruction showing positions of the longitudinal CT scan slices (B1’-B3’)
Extracts from the Article
Horn-core: The general characters of the horn-cores are short but with moderately long pedicle, without torsion of their axes, and the surface is decorated with longitudinal grooves or striate. In anterior view the two horns are straight and are nearly sub-parallel, i.e. the divergence angle is small (16°-22°) (Fig. 5A, B1, B3); in lateral view they have a gentle backward curvature (Fig. 5D2, E). The horn-cores are solid interiorly but with many longitudinal canals, most of which open upwardly (Fig. 6A1’-A4’, B1’-B3’); at the basal part adjacent to the pedicle, there are a few large foramina and the one just above the post-cornual fossa is the largest (Fig. 6A4’, B3’). The horn-core has a sub-circular cross section with slight transverse compression (Fig. 6A1’-A4’). The horn-cores vary in size (Fig. 5; Table 5) and the development of longitudinal grooves, which may be subject to gender and age difference. The dimensions of the horn-cores are shown in Table 5.
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