The first description of Equidae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from Xinyaozi Ravine in Shanxi, North China
Received date: 2022-03-02
Online published: 2022-09-26
Abundant mammalian fossils were uncovered during the field exploration for Nihewan beds at the beginning of the 1980s along Xinyaozi Ravine at Nangaoya Township of Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province in North China. But most equid material was not yet described except that of Equus stenonis. Six forms of Nihewanian equids were confirmed from the Xinyaozi specimens in the present study, five of which were described for the first time. They include four stenonids such as Equus sanmeniensis, E. teilhardi, E. huanghoensis and E. stenonis, and two hipparionines such as Hipparion (Proboscidipparion) sinense and H. (Plesiohiparrion) shanxiense. The diversification of stenonids in the Early Pleistocene was significant in North China with four taxa in Xinyaozi alone. The persistence of Neogene relics such as hipparionines was still present in the Early Pleistocene with two hipparionine taxa in Xinyaozi. Equus sanmeniensis and H. (Proboscidipparion) sinense were two representative equids not only coexisted in the Early Pleistocene but also widely distributed in China. The diversity of equids also implies the diversified vegetation on which they depended. The hypsodont dentitions and well developed cement, as well as completely molarized premolars of Xinyaozi equids indicate their abrasive diet mostly on monocotyledonous and grassland habitats with considerable scales enough to nourish six taxa of equids.
Wei DONG , Wei-Peng BAI , Wen-Hui LIU , Li-Min ZHANG . The first description of Equidae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from Xinyaozi Ravine in Shanxi, North China[J]. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 2023 , 61(3) : 212 -244 . DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.220926
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