The evolution of Nyctereutes (Carnivora: Canidae) in the Nihewan Basin,Hebei, northern China |
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Authors: | Arya Farjand Zhao-Qun Zhang Wen-Hui Liu Chen-Hui Jiao Li-Hua Wang |
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Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China;2. College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;3. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China;4. Centre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming 10673, China |
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Abstract: | The occurrence of Nyctereutes during the Plio-Pleistocene has long been reported in northern China, with the highest abundance in the Nihewan Basin. However, due to site dispersal, the coexistence of different taxa, and lack of a precise stratigraphic constraint, the evolutionary process of this genus remains enigmatic. In this study, we re-examined the available Nyctereutes materials recovered from the Nihewan Basin housed in IVPP and Tianjin Natural History Museum, in addition to a newly recovered specimen from our latest excavation. Furthermore, we compared these materials with Nyctereutes fossils recovered from the Pleistocene Zhoukoudian sites near Beijing and the extant species N. procyonoides. Our analysis of the upper molar morphometry reveals the variations in size and dietary characteristics within different species of Nyctereutes during the late Plio-Pleistocene. The examination of molars indicates an increase in the size of Nyctereutes sinensis compared to early Pliocene N. tingi as well as changes in the molar teeth morphology. Subsequently, changes in diet or environmental factors possibly caused the decrease of body size in the late Pleistocene. We also estimate an age constraint for the fossils of N. sinensis from the Xiashagou section by relocating Licent's localities and referring of updated magnetostratigraphic data. |
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