nan Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein

New species of large Tetraconodon (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Suidae) from the late Miocene of Myanmar

ABSTRACT We describe two new species of Tetraconodon, T. irramagnus sp. nov. and T. irramedius sp. nov., from the late Miocene of Myanmar recognized when reevaluating large Tetraconodon specimens. Tetraconodon had also been recovered from the late Miocene Siwalik sediments of India/Pakistan. However, in the Siwalik specimens, the dimensions of the last two premolars and the third molar with respect to those of the first molar are distinctly greater than those of the Myanmar specimens. In Myanmar species, the relative dental sizes are similar, and the most obvious interspecies distinctions are their dental size differences. Considering the variation in the relative sizes of the last two premolars and third molar with respect to the first molar among the Siwalik and Myanmar Tetraconodon, the enlargement of the last two premolars and the third molar could be regarded as a characteristic of the interspecies distinction.

Chapter 9 Review of the investigation of primate fossils in Myanmar

Since the discovery of fossil primates in the early twentieth century, the later Eocene Pondaung Formation in central Myanmar has attracted the attention from many palaeoprimatologists (Fig. 9.1). There were two large-bodied primates, Pondaungia cotteri and Amphipithecus mogaungensis (Fig. 9.2), known from two localities (Pangan and Mogaung) in the Pondaung area (Fig. 9.3), and many researchers have argued over the phylogenetic position of these two monkeys, that is, whether or not the Pondaung primates are anthropoids, higher primates which includes the clades of New and Old World monkeys, apes and humans. However, due to the scarcity of the fossil specimens, the controversy concerning the phylogenetic position of the Pondaung primates was not resolved until the 1970s. Some authorities believed they are primitive anthropoids, while others regarded them as adapiforms or non-primate, such as condylarthrans (Pilgrim 1927; Colbert 1937; von Koenigswald 1965; Szalay 1970; Simons 1971; Szalay & Delson 1979). Another problem confusing the taxonomy of the Pondaung primates is whether these two animals belong to the same taxonomic group or not. For example, Szalay & Delson (1979) discussed the Pondaung primates, allocating Amphipithecus to the adapiforms and Pondaungia to the early catarrhines. At that time, only a mandibular fragment preserving P3–M1 for Amphipithecus (Fig. 9.2d) had been found, while a mandibular but also a maxillary fragment preserving M1–2 had been discovered for Pondaungia (Fig. 9.2a). The upper molars of Pondaungia likely retained the ‘true hypocone’ which has been considered the definitive feature of anthropoid primates, but there was no information on the upper molars for Amphipithecus . Fig. 9.1. Geological map of central Myanmar showing primate fossil localities. Pondaung Formation: BHN, Bahin; MGN, Mogaung. Irrawaddy Sediments: YSK, Yinseik; GBN, Gwebin; CHZ, Chaingzauk (including Myokhinthar). (Modified after Geological Map of Myanmar, Myanmar …

A night heron (Ciconiiformes, Ardeidae) and a stork (Ciconiidae) from the Pliocene of Myanmar (Burma)

Two new avian specimens from the Pliocene part of the Irrawaddy sediments of central Myanmar represent the youngest known fossil records of birds from Myanmar (Burma) that previously was restricted to one specimen of an ibis from the middle Eocene. The age of the Sulegon-1 fossil locality is likely from the later part of the Pliocene based on the presence of the suid Sivachoerus prior, the anthracotheriid Merycopotamus dissimilis, and the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sp. cf. D. sumatrensis. The distal tarsometatarsus is from a night heron (Ardeidae: Nycticoracini) and exhibits derived (and primitive) features consistent with night herons, but not other groups of ardeids, including the absence of a lateral deflection of trochlea III and a trochlear furrow extending to the proximal plantar end of trochlea III. The night heron fossil is not distinguishable from some species of Gorsachius and Nycticorax and may derive from one of the extant species in Southeast Asia. The other specimen (a distal tibiotarsus) represents a taxon of stork (Ciconiidae: cf. Leptoptilini) and displays many characters associated with that group (incuding a large centrally positioned intercondylar tubercle, a rounded intercondylar fossa, and distally notched trochlear rims). This stork is smaller than the ‘giant’ storks known from the Plio-Pleistocene of Asia and Africa, and may represent a relative of one of the large extant Asian storks. The inferred paleohabitat of the Sulegon locality as a tidal deltaic habitat is consistent with the lifestyle of both the extant night herons and large storks that occur in southeastern Asia today. Thomas A. Stidham. Key Laboratory for Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China. presbyornis@gmail.com Takehisa Tsubamoto. Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture 790-8577, Japan. tsubamoto@sci.ehime-u.ac.jp Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein. Department of Geology, Magway University, Magway, Magway Region, Myanmar. zmmtgeo@gmail.com Thaung-Htike. Department of Geology, University of Mandalay, Mandalay, Mandalay Region, Myanmar. thaunghtikejp@gmail.com Naoko Egi. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture 484-8506, Japan. egi.naoko.6z@kyoto-u.ac.jp Stidham, Thomas A., Tsubamoto, Takehisa, Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein, Thaung-Htike, Egi, Naoko, Nishioka, Yuichiro, Maung-Maung, and Takai, Masanaru. 2016. A night heron (Ciconiiformes, Ardeidae) and a stork (Ciconiidae) from the Pliocene of Myanmar (Burma). Palaeontologia Electronica 19.2.36A: 1-12 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2016/1597-pliocene-birds-from-myanmar Copyright:

A rhinocerotid (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the late Miocene Oiso Formation, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

ZIN-MAUNG-MAUNG-THEIN1, HAJIME TARU2, MASANARU TAKAI1 AND AKIRA FUKUCHI3 1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan (email: zinmaung@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp; takai@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp) 2Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History, Kanagawa 250-0031, Japan (email: taru@nh.kanagawa-museum.jp) 3Hanshin Consultants Co., Ltd., Satsumasendai, Kagoshima 895-0132, Japan (email: afkc@po5.synapse.ne.jp)