Discovery of Pleistocene fruit bat Rousettus and its coexisting non-volant micromammalian fossils from the Guilin Basin, South China

doi:10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250430

Abstract

Abstract:

In 2015, the discovery of mammalian fossils, paleolithic artifacts, and burned bones in the Maoershan Cave of the Guilin Basin, northeastern Guangxi, indicated that it is a late Middle Pleistocene Paleolithic site. In 2021, stratigraphic sectioning and the systematic screening of small mammal sand samples were conducted. This paper presents a comprehensive account of the new material of the fruit bat Rousettus leschenaultii, accompanied by a concise overview of the non-volant micromammals that coexisted with it in the Quaternary sediments of the Maoershan Cave. This finding marks the second occurrence of fruit bat fossils in China, contributing to our understanding of the dental morphology and past geographical distribution of Rousettus. The micromammalian assemblage of the Maoershan Cave is composed of 3 orders, 9 families, 26 genera, and 30 species, and exhibits notable similarities with those of the late Middle Pleistocene Yumi Cave, Xinglong Cave, Yanhui Cave, Mawokou Cave, Zhongliangshan, and Chuan Cave faunas. The biochronology of the micromammalian assemblage from the Maoershan Cave has been determined to be consistent with the late Middle Pleistocene, providing a new assemblage in the Pleistocene mammalian faunal sequence in southern China. The presence of abundant oriental forested elements indicates that the Guilin Basin used to be a humid and warm subtropical forest paleoenvironment similar to the contemporary environment during the late Middle Pleistocene.

Key words: Guilin Basin, late Middle Pleistocene, fruit bat, micromammalian assemblage, biostratigraphy, paleoenvironment

摘要：

2015年首次在广西桂林盆地猫儿山洞穴内发现哺乳动物、旧石器和烧骨，初步判断是一处更新世中晚期旧石器遗址。2021年对该洞进行了地层采样和小哺乳动物砂样筛洗，详细研究了其中采集的棕果蝠(Rousettus leschenaultii)化石，并对其伴生的非飞行小哺乳动物化石进行了初步分析。猫儿山洞的棕果蝠是该种化石在中国的第二次记录，对其研究有助于了解该种的牙齿形态和历史分布。猫儿山洞的小哺乳动物组合目前包含了3目、9科、26属、30种，与重庆玉米洞小哺乳动物群最相似，同时与岩灰洞、兴隆洞、麻窝口洞、中梁山、穿洞等动物群的小哺乳组合也共享较多的相同种。猫儿山洞小哺乳动物组合的生物地层年代被限定在中更新世晚期，为中国南方第四纪哺乳动物群新增了一个代表。大量东洋界森林型物种的出现指示在中更新世晚期，桂林盆地的古气候可能与现今类似，同样温暖湿润。

关键词: 桂林盆地, 中更新世晚期, 果蝠, 小哺乳动物组合, 生物地层, 古环境

CLC Number:

Q915.873

Rana Mehroz FAZAL, HE Zhan-Wu, DU Bao-Pu, CHANG Mei-Jing, SHI Jing-Song, NI Xi-Jun, LI Qiang, ZHAO Ling-Xia. Discovery of Pleistocene fruit bat Rousettus and its coexisting non-volant micromammalian fossils from the Guilin Basin, South China. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 2025, 63(3): 173-188.

拉纳·梅赫罗斯·法扎尔, 贺战武, 杜抱朴, 常美静, 史静耸, 倪喜军, 李强, 赵凌霞. 2025, 63(3): 173-188, 桂林盆地发现更新世棕果蝠及其伴生非飞行小哺乳动物化石. 古脊椎动物学报.

Figures/Tables 6

References 67

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Locality	Age	Inventory numbers/specimen numbers	Tooth	Length Min (Mean) Max	Width Min (Mean) Max
Maoershan Cave, Guilin	late Middle Pleistocene	IVPP V33882	P4	2.61	1.63
		IVPP V33883	p4	2.62	1.64
		IVPP V33884	m1	2.61	1.61
		IVPP V33885	m2	2.48	1.52
		IVPP V33886	m3	1.41	1.14
Luobi Cave, Sanya	Late Pleistocene	HV00079	p4	2.50	1.60
		HV00071	m1	2.70	1.56
		HV00068	m2	2.53	1.40
IOZ collections	Extant	N=12	P4	2.28 (2.63) 2.96	1.52 (1.73) 1.98
		N=12	p4	2.16 (2.41) 2.72	1.40 (1.57) 1.80
		N=11	m1	2.20 (2.54) 2.82	1.20 (1.49) 1.60
		N=11	m2	1.84 (2.17) 2.52	1.38 (1.45) 1.54
		N=10	m3	1.10 (1.52) 1.92	0.84 (1.03) 1.18

Locality	Age	Inventory numbers/specimen numbers	Tooth	Length Min (Mean) Max	Width Min (Mean) Max
Maoershan Cave, Guilin	late Middle Pleistocene	IVPP V33882	P4	2.61	1.63
		IVPP V33883	p4	2.62	1.64
		IVPP V33884	m1	2.61	1.61
		IVPP V33885	m2	2.48	1.52
		IVPP V33886	m3	1.41	1.14
Luobi Cave, Sanya	Late Pleistocene	HV00079	p4	2.50	1.60
		HV00071	m1	2.70	1.56
		HV00068	m2	2.53	1.40
IOZ collections	Extant	N=12	P4	2.28 (2.63) 2.96	1.52 (1.73) 1.98
		N=12	p4	2.16 (2.41) 2.72	1.40 (1.57) 1.80
		N=11	m1	2.20 (2.54) 2.82	1.20 (1.49) 1.60
		N=11	m2	1.84 (2.17) 2.52	1.38 (1.45) 1.54
		N=10	m3	1.10 (1.52) 1.92	0.84 (1.03) 1.18

Order	Family	Species	Extinct (EX.)/ Extant (E.)	Palearctic/Oriental (O.)/ Cosmopolitan (C.)	Climate zones	Habitats	NISP	MNI
Rodentia	Arvicolidae	Eothenomys melanogaster	E.	O.	Subtropical	Montane forest	3	1
	Cricetidae	Cricetinus varians	EX.	-	-	-	52	8
	Muridae	Apodemus chevrieri	E.	O.	Subtropical	Woodlands	6	2
		Apodemus draco	E.	O.	Temperate, subtropical	Forests	9	4
		Chiropodomys gliroides	E.	O.	Tropical, subtropical	Forests	3	2
		Hapolomys delacouri	E.	O.	Tropical	Forests	2	1
		Leopoldamys edwardsi	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forest shrubland	3	2
		Micromys minutus	E.	C.	Temperate, frigid-temperate, subtropical,tropical	Forests, forest steppe	4	2
		Mus pahari	E.	O.	Tropical, subtropical	Forests, shrubs	2	1
		Niviventer confucianus	E.	C.	Temperate, subtropical	Forests to cultivated lands	28	7
		Niviventer fulvescens	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	27	4
		Rattus norvegicus	E.	C.	Temperate, frigid-temperate, subtropical, tropical	Forests to cultivated lands	6	2
		Vernaya fulva	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	6	2
	Platacanthomyidae	Typhlomys cinereus	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Montane forests	4	3
	Rhizomyidae	Rhizomys sinensis	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Bamboo forests	6	2
	Sciuridae	Aeretes melanopterus	E.	C.	Warm temperate, subtropical	Montane forests	1	1
		Belomys parapearsoni	EX.	-	-	-	6	2
		Belomys pearsoni	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	59	7
		Callosciurus erythraeus	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	2	1
		Dremomys pernyi	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	7	1
		Hylopetes phayrei	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	16	3
		Tamiops swinhoei	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical, warm temperate	Forests, shrubs	3	1
Eulipotyphla	Talpidae	Mogera insularis	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forest land	1	1
	Sorcidae	Anourosorex squamipes	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Montane forests, shrubs	15	4
		Blarinella quadraticauda	E.	O.	Subtropical	Montane forests, shrubs	3	1
		Chodisgoa caovansunga	E.	O.	Tropical	Forests	3	1
		Chodisgoa hypsibia	E.	O.	Warm temperate, subtropical	Mountain mixed forests	5	3
		Crocidura attenuata	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	6	2
		Crocidura indochinensis	E.	O.	Subtropical, warm temperate	Mountain mixed forests	1	1
Chiroptera	Pteropodidae	Rousettus leschenaultii	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	5	1

Order	Family	Species	Extinct (EX.)/ Extant (E.)	Palearctic/Oriental (O.)/ Cosmopolitan (C.)	Climate zones	Habitats	NISP	MNI
Rodentia	Arvicolidae	Eothenomys melanogaster	E.	O.	Subtropical	Montane forest	3	1
	Cricetidae	Cricetinus varians	EX.	-	-	-	52	8
	Muridae	Apodemus chevrieri	E.	O.	Subtropical	Woodlands	6	2
		Apodemus draco	E.	O.	Temperate, subtropical	Forests	9	4
		Chiropodomys gliroides	E.	O.	Tropical, subtropical	Forests	3	2
		Hapolomys delacouri	E.	O.	Tropical	Forests	2	1
		Leopoldamys edwardsi	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forest shrubland	3	2
		Micromys minutus	E.	C.	Temperate, frigid-temperate, subtropical,tropical	Forests, forest steppe	4	2
		Mus pahari	E.	O.	Tropical, subtropical	Forests, shrubs	2	1
		Niviventer confucianus	E.	C.	Temperate, subtropical	Forests to cultivated lands	28	7
		Niviventer fulvescens	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	27	4
		Rattus norvegicus	E.	C.	Temperate, frigid-temperate, subtropical, tropical	Forests to cultivated lands	6	2
		Vernaya fulva	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	6	2
	Platacanthomyidae	Typhlomys cinereus	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Montane forests	4	3
	Rhizomyidae	Rhizomys sinensis	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Bamboo forests	6	2
	Sciuridae	Aeretes melanopterus	E.	C.	Warm temperate, subtropical	Montane forests	1	1
		Belomys parapearsoni	EX.	-	-	-	6	2
		Belomys pearsoni	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	59	7
		Callosciurus erythraeus	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	2	1
		Dremomys pernyi	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	7	1
		Hylopetes phayrei	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	16	3
		Tamiops swinhoei	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical, warm temperate	Forests, shrubs	3	1
Eulipotyphla	Talpidae	Mogera insularis	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forest land	1	1
	Sorcidae	Anourosorex squamipes	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Montane forests, shrubs	15	4
		Blarinella quadraticauda	E.	O.	Subtropical	Montane forests, shrubs	3	1
		Chodisgoa caovansunga	E.	O.	Tropical	Forests	3	1
		Chodisgoa hypsibia	E.	O.	Warm temperate, subtropical	Mountain mixed forests	5	3
		Crocidura attenuata	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	6	2
		Crocidura indochinensis	E.	O.	Subtropical, warm temperate	Mountain mixed forests	1	1
Chiroptera	Pteropodidae	Rousettus leschenaultii	E.	O.	Subtropical, tropical	Forests	5	1