Abstract:

Suid is one of the most common taxa among the Pleistocene mammalian fauna in China. However, its phylogenetic taxonomy and evolution are far from clear. The newly recovered suid fossil materials from the Early Pleistocene Shanshenmiaozui site in Nihewan Basin in North China provide new insight into the evolution of its kind in North China. The new materials include partial skulls and mandibles of males, and most of their teeth were preserved in situ. The specimens can be referred to the species Sus lydekkeri, which is the only species of Sus found in North China from the Early Pleistocene. The fossils of the once reported Pleistocene species “Potamochoerus chinhsienensis” should also be provisionally included in the species S. lydekkeri according to its form and size, which at least now excludes it from Potamochoerus. The species S. lydekkeri is very close to the extant species S. scrofa, and even was combined into the latter as a chronological subspecies by some authors, while its larger size, prominent preorbital fossa, backwardly positioned infraorbital foramen, frequently appearing verrucosic type (at least the intermediate type of the male lower canine), and simple crown structures support its validness as an independent species. The Early Pleistocene forms are characterized by a larger size, lower L/W ratio of cheekteeth, both upper and lower M3s having no more than three lobes, and the male lower canine is exclusively of a verrucosic type. Suid fossils are a very good indicator of paleoenvironments and paleoclimate. Both the northern and the southern faunas in China contain suid fossils throughout the Pleistocene Epoch, while the southern fauna has prominently more diversified taxa and more abundant fossil collections; whether that is caused by different origins or by environmental modifications is still not clear.

Key words: Shanshenmiaozui of Nihewan, North China, Early Pleistocene, Sus lydekkeri

摘要：

猪科动物是中国更新世哺乳动物群中最常见分子之一，而其系统发育分类和进化关系还远不清楚。在华北泥河湾盆地早更新世山神庙咀遗址新发现的猪科化石材料为了解华北地区猪类的演化提供了新证据。新材料包括雄性个体的部分头骨和下颌骨，它们的大部分牙齿都保存完好。这些标本可归入李氏野猪(Sus lydekkeri), 该种是早更新世华北地区唯一的猪科动物物种。之前报道过的更新世沁县河猪(Potamochoerus chinhsienensis), 其化石材料与河猪的特征相去甚远，依据大小和形态特征暂可将其归入李氏野猪，至少不应当再被视为河猪。李氏野猪与现生野猪(S. scrofa)非常接近，甚至被一些作者视为后者的一个时间亚种，但李氏野猪确实个体明显较大、眶前窝发育、眶下孔位置靠后、雄性下犬齿横截面呈爪哇疣猪型(至少是过渡类型)及颊齿冠面结构简单等，上述特征支持了 “李氏野猪” 作为独立物种的有效性，尤其是早更新世类型的特征更是体型较大，颊齿L/W比值较低，上下M3冠面结构都不超过三个叶，雄性下犬齿完全属于爪哇疣猪型。猪科化石是指示古环境和古气候的重要指标。中国北方和南方更新世动物群中都有大量猪科动物，但南方的猪类动物具有较高的属种多样性，化石发现也更加丰富，这些现象究竟是由不同的起源还是由不同环境所而造成，目前尚不完全清楚。

关键词: 华北泥河湾山神庙咀, 早更新世, 李氏野猪