Perissodactyl fossils of the Late Neogene Jingxing Hipparion faunafrom the eastern piedmont of the Taihang Mountains
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Abstract:
This paper reports the first confirmed site of the Jingxing Hipparion fauna from the eastern piedmont of the Taihang Mountains and describes Equidae and Rhinocerotidae fossils from this fauna. The Equidae specimens are identified as Sivalhippus platyodus, characterized by with labially rounded and lingually flattened protocones and complex folds on upper cheek tooth, angular double-knots, single or bifid pli caballinids, strongly constricted entoconids, and narrow, elongated postflexids on lower cheek tooth; and Proboscidipparion pater, distinguished by a houfenoid double-knot, weak or absent pli caballinid, and the long axes of entoconid and postflexid parallel to that of the lower deciduous tooth. The Rhinocerotidae fossils include Shansirhinus ringstroemi with a moderately expanded mandibular symphysis, tusk-like lower incisors, angular U-shaped trigonid, a strongly constricted anterior wall of the metaconid, and a posteriorly tilted entolophid; and Rhinocerotinae gen. et sp. indet., characterized by poorly developed protocone and hypocone constrictions, antecrochets on premolars, and relatively robust limb bones. Based on the ecological habits and chronological distribution of these species, it is inferred that this fauna inhabited in an open forest-grassland environment. Biochronological analysis suggests an age ranging from the late Baodean of the Late Miocene to the early Gaozhuangian of the Early Pliocene, most likely corresponding to the earliest Gaozhuangian.
