研究论文

重庆武隆早更新世地层中发现巨猿化石

  • 胡海虔 ,
  • 黄万波 ,
  • 魏光飚 ,
  • 代辉 ,
  • 熊璨 ,
  • 何树兴 ,
  • 姜涛
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  • 1.重庆市地质矿产勘查开发局208水文地质工程地质队(重庆市地质灾害防治工程勘查设计院),川渝共建古生物与古环境协同演化重庆市重点实验室,重庆 400799
    2.中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所,中国科学院脊椎动物演化与人类起源重点实验室,北京 100044
    3.中国科学院大学,北京 100049
    4.重庆自然博物馆,重庆 400711
    5.重庆市地质调查院,重庆 401122
胡海虔,博士研究生/高级工程师,主要从事第四纪哺乳动物及地层学研究。E-mail: hutiande123@126.com
黄万波,研究员,主要从事古人类及第四纪哺乳动物研究。E-mail: huangwanbo@sina.com

收稿日期: 2023-08-29

  修回日期: 2023-12-27

  网络出版日期: 2024-10-10

基金资助

重庆市重要古生物化石资源保护研究(ZC-2021018);重庆市古生物化石资源普查(ZC-2021017)

Gigantopithecus blacki discovered in the Early Pleistocene strata of Wulong, Chongqing

  • HU Haiqian ,
  • HUANG Wanbo ,
  • WEI Guangbiao ,
  • DAI Hui ,
  • XIONG Can ,
  • HE Shuxing ,
  • JIANG Tao
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  • 1. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Paleoenvironment Co-Evolution (Sichuan-Chongqing Joint Construction), No.208 Hydrogeological and Engineering Geological Team, Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development, Chongqing 400799
    2. 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
    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
    4. Chongqing Natural History Museum, Chongqing 400711
    5. Chongqing Institute of Geological Survey, Chongqing 401122

Received date: 2023-08-29

  Revised date: 2023-12-27

  Online published: 2024-10-10

摘要

梅子湾大洞是重庆市武隆区白马镇的一处水平溶洞,新近发现了9枚步氏巨猿(Gigantopithecus blacki)牙齿和大量其他哺乳动物化石。经初步研究,梅子湾大洞巨猿的牙齿化石尺寸偏小、龋齿率高、中老年个体比例大,属于早期的步氏巨猿类型。伴生动物群的多个物种也曾在重庆巫山龙骨坡、广西柳城巨猿洞、贵州毕节扒耳岩和广西崇左百孔洞及布兵盆地吹风洞等产地出现,表明梅子湾大洞巨猿动物群的时代为早更新世早期。该地点为重庆地区继巫山龙骨坡遗址以来的第2个巨猿化石点,其发现扩大了长江中上游流域巨猿化石的分布范围,增添了早更新世巨猿地理分布点,在南北纵向分布上填补了重庆巫山龙骨坡与贵州毕节扒耳岩之间的地理分布空白。长江中上游巨猿化石的再次发现,对巨猿及其动物群的演化、绝灭、地理分布和环境背景等相关问题的研究具有重要的意义。

本文引用格式

胡海虔 , 黄万波 , 魏光飚 , 代辉 , 熊璨 , 何树兴 , 姜涛 . 重庆武隆早更新世地层中发现巨猿化石[J]. 人类学学报, 2024 , 43(05) : 701 -711 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2024.0057

Abstract

The fossil materials studied in this paper, dominated by well-preserved isolated cheek teeth, were unearthed from a horizonal limestone cave named the Meiziwan Cave (29°25′22″N, 107°30′42″E, elevation 589 m asl) in Baima Town of Wulong District, Chongqing Municipality, China. Three premolars (right P4, right p3 and left p4) and six molars (two left M3s, two left m1, left m2 and right m3) were interpreted as Gigantopithecus blacki. Measurements and comparison indicate that giant ape specimens from the Meiziwan Cave are characterized by small sizes and high proportion of dental caries and with adult and old adult to be the majority, representing the primitive form of G. blacki. The deposits in the cave are mainly calcareous clay mixed with karst breccias, bearing abundant mammalian tooth fossils. The faunal association, consisting of at least six orders, fourteen families, seventeen genera, and eighteen species, coincides with those found in the Longgopo site in Wushan County, Chongqing Municipality, the Gigantopithecus cave in Liucheng County and the Baikong Cave in Chongzuo City and the Chuifeng Cave in Bubing basin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi ZAR) as well as the Pa’eryan Cave in Bijie City, Guizhou Province in light of the special components of the initial stage of the Early Pleistocene, for example, small-sized G. blacki, Hystrix magna, Sinomastodon yangziensis, Stegodon huananensis, Ailuropoda microta, Ursus thibetanus primitinus, Equus cf. yunnanensis, Hesperotherium sinense, Tapirus sanyuanensis, Sus xiaozhu, S. peii and Cervavitus ultimus. G. blacki become larger through time from the Early Pleistocene to the Middle Pleistocene due to the comparison of tooth measurements. In addition to G. blacki, increase of body size can be found in giant panda, tapir and black bear. Considering occurred in the Mid-Pleistocene climate transition, the tendency can be thought to be bound up with prominent climate transition and ecosystem changes, corresponding to the hypothesis of the Bergman’s Rule that endothermy animals grow larger as the climate cools.

The Meiziwan Cave is one more G. blacki locality in Chongqing, situated within the area between the Longgupo site in Wushan, Chongqing and the Pa’eryan Cave in Bijie, Guizhou. The presence of G. blacki in the Meiziwan Cave enriches the localities found near the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River and broadens the biogeographic distribution ranges, highlighting the significance of the evolution, extinction, paleogeographic distributions, and paleoecosystem of the Gigantopithecus fauna. Fortunately, given the abundance of karst pits, fissures and caves in the area from 30° to 18° latitudes in southern China, further investigations, excavations and research will potentially contribute to figuring it out.

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