Geographically situated between North America and the western part of the Old World, Chinese hipparionines of the Late Miocene yield important biostratigraphic and biogeographic information.This information reflects faunal interchange between North America and Eurasia, and is also related to paleoenvironmental changes in the Late Miocene. Based on facial and dental morphologies and limb proportions, the Chinese hipparionines are compared with forms from other regions of Eurasia and North America. Two taxonomic groups are recognized among Chinese hipparionines. One group ( not in phylogenetic sense) includes Hipparion dermatorhinum, H. Weihoense , H. Fossatum, H. Hippidiodus , and H. Coelophyes and shows morphological similarity with those in the western Old World. Another endemic group includes H. Ptychodus , H. Platyodus , H. Tylodus , H. Sefvei and H. Plocodus and shows no similarity to forms of other regions. The former group, a characteristic member of the "steppe" fauna of northern China, is important for biostratigraphic correlations of fossil localities in Eurasia. The latter group shows similarity of facial morphology to that of North American hipparionines ( genus "Cormohip parion" ). The endemic hipparionines were members of the "forest" fauna in northern China.
国家科技期刊平台
NSTL
万方数据
维普
