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    20 July 2025, Volume 63 Issue 3
    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
    2025, 63(3):  173-188.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250430
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    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.

    Comprehensive research on Late Eocene Hulgana cf. H. ertnia (Rodentia: Ischyromyidae)
    LI Lan-Xin, LI Qian
    2025, 63(3):  189-209.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250620
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    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.

    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
    2025, 63(3):  210-241.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250711
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    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.

    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
    2025, 63(3):  242-247.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250511
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    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.

    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
    2025, 63(3):  248-252.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.250618
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    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.