Changzhu Jin

Age of the fossil Dali Man in north-central China deduced from chronostratigraphy of the loess-paleosol sequence

Dali Man, an archaic type of early Homo sapiens, is of great significance to the origin of Homo sapiens. Achievements have been made during the past decades in the understanding of the fossil human skull as well as the accompanying mammalian fossils and stone artifacts. However, the absolute age of the fossil Dali Man still remains unclear. Based on the magnetic susceptibility of loess sediments and the relationship of terracing process with climatic condition, we correlated the loess sequence and the subjacent terrace alluvium at the Dali Man site with the well-studied loess-paleosol sequence at Luochuan in the central part of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The correlation indicates that the loess-paleosol sequence at the Dali Man site extends down to the paleosol S2, and the underlying fluvial deposits correspond to the loess U. Because the Dali Man skull appears in the basal gravel layer of the terrace, and because the deposition of the terrace gravels would occur during the transition from S3 paleosol formation to L3 loess accumulation, the age of the fossil Dali Man is inferred to be ca 270 ka, which is equivalent to the age of the boundary between the loess L3 and paleosol S3 on the magnetic susceptibility time series of the Luochuan loess-paleosol sequence

New Early Pleistocene Perissodactyl remains associated with Gigantopithecus from Yangliang Cave, Guangxi of southern China

Herein the new Perissodactyl fossils associated with Giantopithecus blacki recovered from Yanliang Cave, Guangxi of southern China were described as Hesperotherium sinense, Tapirus sanyuanensis and Rhinoceros fusuiensis, which are all the common elements of the typical Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus–Sinomastodon fauna in southern China. Especially, we analyse and compare to the metacarpus and metatarsus among extinct Rhinoceros fusuiensis and extant Asian rhinos based on quantitative indexes of measurements. The results show that the sizes between genera Rhinocers and Dicerorhinus are different. Specifically, the sizes of metacarpus and metatarsus of Rhinoceros fusuiensis are smaller than those of the living Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis and Rhinoceros sondaicus), but greater than those of Dicerorhinus sumatrensis. So, the measurements of metacarpus and metatarsus can be considered to provide available evidence in identifying rhino fossils. The assemblage of Perissodactyl remains from Yanliang Cave is most similar to those of Longgupo Cave, Chongqing and Mohui Cave, Guangxi, indicating its age as the early Early Pleistocene (∼2.0 Ma). These Perissodactyl fossils also implied a tropical bushy and forested environment with the humid and warm climate favourable for habitation of high-evolved primates such as Giantopithecus blacki.

Early Pleistocene snake (Squamata, Reptilia) skeleton from Renzidong Cave, Anhui, China

The Quaternary record of fossil snakes (Reptilia, Squamata) in Asia is extremely rare; any information is noteworthy. An articulated snake skeleton was recovered from the early Pleistocene (2.15–2.14 Ma) deposits in Renzidong Cave, Yangtze River Valley, east-central China. The skeleton contains about 122 nearly complete vertebrae but lacks the cranium and caudal vertebrae. Preserved vertebral characters indicate that the snake is particularly similar to the rat snake, Elaphe (Colubridae) especially with the European Elaphe praelongissima (late Miocene). We identify the specimen as cf. Elaphe sp. This genus and ‘Coluber s.l.’ are unfortunately similar and difficult to differentiate based on just vertebral comparisons of species living in Europe. Adequate comparative skeletons of living snakes of eastern Asia are noticeably absent in museums making identifications of fossil specimens less than satisfactory. Finding dated fossil remains of the snake Elaphe in Asia holds importance to the understanding of its time of dispersal between Asia, Europe and North America, but this can only be adequately examined with fossil remains accurately and satisfactorily identified.