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Fossil Arvicolini of Yushe Basin: Facts and Problems of Arvicoline Biochronology of North China

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Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China: Geology and Fossil Mammals

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

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Abstract

Six forms of arvicolines discovered from the Pliocene and Pleistocene fluvial and lacustrine deposits of the Yushe Basin and its capping loess are systematically described. Biochronological distributions are discussed in the present chapter based on their biostratigraphic occurrences in different localities and sections in North China . From the arvicoline point of view and compared to other localities and sections in North China, the correlations between faunal assemblages and paleomagnetic age calibration in the Yushe Basin are fundamentally acceptable if ruling out one conflicting occurrence of apparently younger Mimomys gansunicus at YS5 (late Pliocene). However, a systematic study of the dental morphology of all the existing arvicoline species and establishment of several key evolutionary lineages based on such characters are still urgently needed for the future study of fossil arvicolines, especially in the hope of establishing a more robust biochronological framework for interregional correlations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    During final preparation of this volume, Qiu and Li (2016) published a monograph on Neogene rodents from Central Nei Mongol. Therein, two of the three forms from Gaotege, Mimomys sp. nov. and ? Borsodia sp. were officially established as new species Mimomys teilhardi and Borsodia mengensis, respectively. Mimomys cf. M. orientalis was determined as Mimomys orientalis. Here usage of Mimomys sp. nov. and Mimomys cf. M. orientalis is retained for the two Gaotege Mimomys, without further discussion, to avoid delay in publication of this volume.

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Acknowledgements

For careful editing, I am grateful to Dr. Lawrence Flynn, Harvard University, and to Professor Wen-Yu Wu of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Reviewers Robert Martin and Richard Zakrzewski offered many improvements. Li Qiang kindly allowed use of his drawing for Fig. 12.9.

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  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, People’s Republic of China

    Ying-Qi Zhang

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Correspondence to Ying-Qi Zhang .

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  1. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Lawrence J. Flynn

  2. Laboratory of Paleomammalogy, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Wen-Yu Wu

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Zhang, YQ. (2017). Fossil Arvicolini of Yushe Basin: Facts and Problems of Arvicoline Biochronology of North China. In: J. Flynn, L., Wu, WY. (eds) Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China: Geology and Fossil Mammals. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1050-1_12

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