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Cranial anatomy of Anchiornis huxleyi (Theropoda: Paraves) sheds new light on bird skull evolution WANG Min, WANG Xiao-Li, ZHENG Xiao-Ting, ZHOU Zhong-He Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (1): 20-42.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.241225 Abstract （2359）   HTML （65）    PDF（pc） （15800KB）（1390）       Knowledge map    Save The origin of birds from theropod dinosaurs, by any measures, is the most eye-catching evolutionary transition in the history of life, which encompasses numerous extensive morphological and biological changes. Compared to postcranium, little progress has been made regarding the evolutionary assemblage of the birds’ skull, because of few detailed early records of cranial materials of stem lineages. Anchiornis is the oldest known record of the Paraves (~160 Ma), the most inclusive clade that contains all living birds but not Caudipteryx or Epidexipteryx. With hundreds of known specimens, Anchiornis constitutes an ideal taxon for investigating morphological modifications across the theropod-bird transition, but its cranial morphology remains enigmatic. Here we present in-depth description of the cranial morphology of Anchiornis based on three-dimensional reconstruction of a well-preserved specimen, including elements from the temporal and palatal regions that are poorly recognized previously. Our study shows that Anchiornis retains the plesiomorphic dinosaurian condition in having a diapsid akinetic skull. The mixture of cranial characters, shared with dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and stemward avialans, present in Anchiornis demonstrates the complex history of early avialan cranial evolution. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Sarcopterygians from the Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) of Nanning, Guangxi, China LI Mao-Kun, CUI Xin-Dong, ZHU Min, QIAO Tuo Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (1): 1-19.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.241226 Abstract （838）   HTML （43）    PDF（pc） （17445KB）（1117）       Knowledge map    Save Here we report a left cheek plate of Psarolepis, a postparietal shield of Youngolepis, a skull of Diabolepis, and a scale of Styloichthys from the Lianhuashan and Nahkaoling formations (Lochkovian, Lower Devonian) of Nanning, Guangxi. This marks the first report of Diabolepis and Styloichthys beside Qujing, Yunnan, and the latest occurrence of Psarolepis to date. The fossil community displays significant similarities to the Xujiachong Assemblage, and provides new data for the Lower Devonian stratigraphic correlation between southwestern China and northern Vietnam. Given the latest dating constraint based on the conodont evidence, we regard that the Xujiachong Assemblage has a much longer range than previously supposed, extending from the latest Lochkovian to the end of Pragian. We propose that the transition of the Nahkaoling and Lianhuashan formations in Nanning might correspond to the Guijiatun Formation in Qujing. The relatively large size of fish individuals from Guangxi is probably attributed to the increase in the oxygen content of the ocean. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The first discovery of non-avian dinosaur egg clutch (Macroolithus yaotunensis, Elongatoolithidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Tantou Basin ZHU Xu-Feng, CHANG Fei, LI Yu, ZHANG Xu-Huang, GAO Dian-Song, WANG Qiang, QIU Rui, WANG Xiao-Lin, LIU Di, JIA Song-Hai, JIA Guang-Hui, ZHANG Jian-Hua, XU Li Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (2): 159-172.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250212 Abstract （769）   HTML （29）    PDF（pc） （9319KB）（1764）       Knowledge map    Save The Upper Cretaceous of Tantou Basin in western Henan has yielded many vertebrate fossils, which are featured by several non-avian dinosaurs. Meanwhile, studies on their eggs were yet inadequate though many eggshells have been reported. The newly discovered material 41HⅤ0199 was excavated from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation in 2021. The block preserves eight complete eggs arranged in two partial rings that form a partial clutch, and there are some scattered eggshells preserved closely with the block, showing a concave-up to concave-down ratio of 54.5 : 45.5, which indicates that the scattered eggshells come from the clutch and the clutch had been partially broken before it was buried. Based on morphological and microstructural characteristics, the eggs and eggshells can be assigned to Macroolithus yaotunensis (Elongatoolithidae), an oospecies known to be related to oviraptorids, which leads Yulong mini to be its probable producer. Besides, some eggshells show microstructural signs indicating egg retention, which marks the second example of egg retention in the oofamily Elongatoolithidae. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Reinvestigation of Yuanotherium minor and its implications for the cuspal homology and maxillary-palatal evolution of tritylodontids LIU Lu, REN Ji-Cheng, MAO Fang-Yuan Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (2): 81-101.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250331 Abstract （689）   HTML （43）    PDF（pc） （8111KB）（579）       Knowledge map    Save Several tritylodontid taxa have been reported from the Upper Jurassic of the Wucaiwan area in the Junggar Basin of Xinjiang, northwestern China, including Yuanotherium minor. The original study described the partially preserved postcanine teeth in the middle of the left upper maxilla. After detailed re-examination of the specimen and by CT scanning, 3D reconstruction, and scanning electron microscopy observations, we provided a more detailed description of the osteology, neurosensory, and tooth wear pattern for all the bones preserved in this specimen and clarified some characters. Based on new information about the cusp wear pattern, the chewing movement pattern of the dentition and detailed cusp morphology, we discussed the cuspal homology of upper cheek teeth of tritylodontids and postulate a standardized method for cusp identification. We hypothesize that the unique maxilla characteristics furnish the evidence for transitional stages about the evolution of the upper jaw-palate structure in tritylodontids. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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First discovery of Neogene proboscidean fossils in southeast China LI Chun-Xiao, TANG Jian-Rong, WANG Shi-Qi, WANG Lin-Chang, ZHENG Ying-Kai, DENG Ke, LIN Min, CHEN Run-Sheng, ZHOU Guo-Wu, CHEN Zhong-Yang Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (1): 43-56.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.241110 Abstract （598）   HTML （23）    PDF（pc） （9987KB）（568）       Knowledge map    Save Stegolophodon is an age-informative genus of mammals that had a widespread distribution during the Neogene. This paper reports the discovery of Stegolophodon fossils from the Middle Miocene lower Fotan Formation at the Zhangpu locality, Fujian Province, China. This discovery represents the first evidence of Neogene proboscidean fossils in southeastern China. The newly found molar materials have low tooth crowns, very straight lophs/lophids, and an indistinct median sulcus. The mesoconelets and posterior cingulum are well-developed, while the second posterior pretrite central conule is significantly reduced. These specimens closely resemble Stegolophodon pseudolatidens in cheek tooth morphology, and can thus be attributed to the same species. This discovery fills a gap in the fossil record of large mammals in this region during the Neogene and provides valuable insights into the evolution of proboscideans and paleoenvironments. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Occurrence of “Hippotherium” in the Old World: a revision of two hipparion species in Eurasia SUN Bo-Yang, LIU Yan, WANG Shi-Qi, DENG Tao Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (1): 57-80.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.241120 Abstract （569）   HTML （26）    PDF（pc） （3776KB）（1360）       Knowledge map    Save A controversial taxon, Hipparion plocodus, is reviewed in the present study. Hi. plocodus has been confirmed to be a valid species with definite diagnostic characteristics, represented by cranial specimens from Baode, Shanxi Province. The phylogenetic analysis performed in the present study, with a new matrix, shows that Hi. plocodus forms a monophyletic group with a European species, Hippotherium malpassii. Actually, no close relationship between so-called Hm. malpassii and the genus Hippotherium has been identified, and the record of stratigraphic range of this genus in late stage of Late Miocene is currently absent. Herein previously Hi. plocodus and Hm. malpassii have both attributed into “Hipparion” before the discovery of better material. Evolutionary stages and correlative absolute age showed that these two species should derive independently from some primitive clade. During the late stage of the Late Miocene, the development of the Asian summer monsoon enhanced the humidity of China, with forest and wood habitats expanding considerably under this setting. As the result, one Eurasian closed-habitat lineage thus extended its range into China, which had become very suited for it, give rise to “Hi.” plocodus. Table and Figures | Reference | Supplementary Material | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The first discovery of non-avian dinosaur egg and bone fossils in the Hefei Basin WANG Qiang, DONG Zhe, MAO Lei, ZHU Xu-Feng, CHEN Yan-Bin, HUANG Jian-Dong, DING Hai-Dong Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (3): 248-252.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250618 Abstract （506）   HTML （12）    PDF（pc） （1701KB）（244）       Knowledge map    Save This report is about the first record of non-avian dinosaur eggs in the Hefei Basin, Anhui Province, China. Based on the combination of elongated egg body, linear ridges on the outer surface and two structure layer, the eggs can be referred to Elongatoolithidae. The gradual boundary between the cone and the column layers as well as the relative thin eggshell (less than 1 mm) indicates its affinity within Elongatoolithus. The eggs are identified as Elongatoolithus oosp., as they were severely compressed and experienced erosion on both inner and outer surfaces. The discovery of egg fossil in the Hefei Basin offers evidence for stratum comparison in this region and supplements the diversity of egg fossils in Anhui. Meanwhile, this discovery also enriches the paleogeographic distribution of elongatoolithids. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Early Miocene micromammal fossils from Gucheng in Linxia, Gansu, China WANG Ban-Yue, QIU Zhu-Ding, LI Lu Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (2): 102-132.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250417 Abstract （406）   HTML （31）    PDF（pc） （12030KB）（180）       Knowledge map    Save The micromammal fossils collected from the Shangzhuang Formation of the Linxia Basin, Gansu, are described here. The assemblage consists of 16 species of 13 genera belonging to 7 families, including one new species and one taxon previously unknown from China. Among them 5 genera are Oligocene holdovers and 11 genera/species are known to make their first appearances in Early Miocene, indicating an Early Miocene age for the Gucheng Fauna. The absence of Oligocene survivors such as Tataromys, Yindirtemys, Eucricetodon and Tachyoryctoides, which usually occur in the Xiejian age of Early Miocene, and the presence of newcomers Protalactaga, Megacricetodon and Gobicricetodon, that made their first appearance only in the Shanwangian age of late Early Miocene, suggest that the Gucheng Fauna is of a later age of Early Miocene. The new species, Sinolagomys guchengensis, showing more derived morphology than in S. ulunguensis, seems to support an assessment of the fauna in Shanwangian age. Thus, the Gucheng Fauna may belong to late Early Miocene Shanwangian, partially equivalent to MN 3/4 of the European land mammal zonation. Ecological analysis of the fauna indicates that the palaeoecological condition of the Gucheng area might still be a predominantly arid shrub-steppe in late Early Miocene. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The Pleistocene mammalian forest dwellers in monsoon dominated provinces of China as forest dynamics proxies BAI Wei-Peng, DONG Wei, ZHANG Li-Min, LIU Wen-Hui Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (2): 133-158.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250311 Abstract （382）   HTML （46）    PDF（pc） （3485KB）（481）       Knowledge map    Save Monsoon has an important impact on the development of vegetation that subsequently has significant influence on the evolution of plant consumers. The diversities of forest dwellers or herbivores follow the evolution of the vegetation, and it is therefore possible to take such diversities as forest or vegetation dynamic proxies. The present work selected 36 Pleistocene faunas of large mammals from monsoon-dominated provinces in China as materials and calculated the diversities of forest dwellers and herbivores with different approaches, as well as the consensus gradient coefficients of all the selected faunas in different flora regionalized subkingdoms. The results show that with the evolution and transitions of the East Asian summer and winter monsoon intensities, the forest vitality decreased while steppe vitality increased gradually in a fluctuated way from the Early Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene, especially in the provinces north of the Qinling-Huaihe Line. The analyses of such diversities of the faunas can help to determine the forest dynamic proxies. Moreover, the correlation of such proxies to loess-paleosol sequences and marine isotope stages can in turn help to improve the accuracy of dating fauna ages and paleoenvironment reconstruction. Table and Figures | Reference | Supplementary Material | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Discovery of Pleistocene fruit bat Rousettus and its coexisting non-volant micromammalian fossils from the Guilin Basin, South China Rana Mehroz FAZAL, HE Zhan-Wu, DU Bao-Pu, CHANG Mei-Jing, SHI Jing-Song, NI Xi-Jun, LI Qiang, ZHAO Ling-Xia Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (3): 173-188.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250430 Abstract （360）   HTML （17）    PDF（pc） （1355KB）（432）       Knowledge map    Save 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. Table and Figures | Reference | Supplementary Material | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The first discovery of Holocene Ailuropoda melanoleuca subfossils from Xiangxi, Hunan, China TONG Guang-Hui, LIU Li, LI Yong-Xiang, WANG Wen-Zhe, CAI Xing-Lin Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (3): 242-247.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250511 Abstract （342）   HTML （6）    PDF（pc） （1399KB）（182）       Knowledge map    Save A new cranium and two mandibles of Ailuropoda melanoleuca from Xiangxi, Hunan Province are described here. The materials were discovered in a karst cave on the Bamian Mountain at an altitude of 1200 m, with AMC carbon-fourteen isotope dating indicating an age of 2800±30 BP. Historically, the giant panda was widely distributed in southern China and parts of Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene epoch, but it is now confined and isolated to six mountain ranges in southwest China's Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. The subfossil materials reported here represent the first discovery of the living species of giant panda in Xiangxi, Hunan. This extends their geographical distribution in southern China during the Holocene epoch eastward to the eastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and their recent altitude range down to 1200 m. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Comprehensive research on Late Eocene Hulgana cf. H. ertnia (Rodentia: Ischyromyidae) LI Lan-Xin, LI Qian Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (3): 189-209.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250620 Abstract （246）   HTML （10）    PDF（pc） （5003KB）（110）       Knowledge map    Save A relatively well-preserved rodent fossil, including its incisors, cheek teeth, and postcranial skeleton, was collected from the Baiyin Obo in Siziwang Banner, Nei Mongol. A multifaceted research approach was undertaken in this study to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the newly discovered specimen. Based on a morphological comparison, the new specimen was identified as Hulgana cf. H. ertnia within the Ischyromyidae family. Incisive enamel microstructure analysis revealed the typical pauciserial enamel structure of Hulgana. Bone histological analysis indicates that the specimen represents a juvenile individual, which is consistent with the ontogenetic stage indicated by dental developmental stage and wear pattern. The application of geometric morphometrics to the calcaneus and bone histology of the femur and phalanx further substantiates the taxonomic classification of Hulgana as a terrestrial and cursorial rodent, exhibiting a degree of fossorial ability. This classification is analogous to that of certain extant cricetids and ground squirrels. Table and Figures | Reference | Supplementary Material | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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New fossil materials of Sus lydekkeri from the Early Pleistocene Shanshenmiaozui site in Nihewan Basin of North China TONG Hao-Wen, CHEN Xi, ZHANG Bei, SUN Ji-Jia Vertebrata Palasiatica    2025, 63 (3): 210-241.   DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250711 Abstract （231）   HTML （20）    PDF（pc） （7111KB）（135）       Knowledge map    Save 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. Table and Figures | Reference | Supplementary Material | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）