Middle Pleistocene snakes from Hualongdong Site Loc.1, in Dongzhi County, Anhui

doi:10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2025.0073

Abstract

Abstract:

The Hualongdong Site in Dongzhi County, Anhui Province, is a well-known Middle Pleistocene archaeological site in East Asia associated with late archaic hominin activities. Here we initially report several postcranial snake fossils that discovered from Loc.1. In this study, we conducted a preliminary identification of these specimens based on integrative osteological comparison between fossils and extant snakes. Three families, five genera, and six extant species were identified, which can be attributed to extant taxa. Diagnosis for each identified genus was summarized. The zoogeographic composition of the snake assemblage is primarily characterized by South China, Oriental, and Monsoonal elements. Among them, the Oriental tropical type Ptyas cf. carinata is most frequently recorded. The snake fauna might reveal a warmer and more humid climate in Hualongdong Site during the late Middle Pleistocene compared to the present.

Key words: Snake fossils, postcranial bones, paleoclimate, late Middle Pleistocene, Hualongdong

CLC Number:

Q915.86

SHI Jingsong, HU Haiqian, DENG Guodong, JIN Zetian. Middle Pleistocene snakes from Hualongdong Site Loc.1, in Dongzhi County, Anhui[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2025, 44(05): 850-861.

Figures/Tables 7

References 24

[1]	Wu X, Pei S, Cai Y, et al. Archaic human remains from Hualongdong, China, and Middle Pleistocene human continuity and variation[J]. PNAS, 2019, 116: 9820-9824
[2]	裴树文, 蔡演军, 董哲, 等. 安徽东至华龙洞遗址洞穴演化与古人类活动[J]. 人类学学报, 2022, 41(4): 593-607
[3]	同号文, 吴秀杰, 董哲, 等. 安徽东至华龙洞 2014-2016年出土哺乳动物化石初步研究[J]. 人类学学报, 2018, 36(2): 284-305
[4]	Bien M. On the Fossil Pisces, Amphibia and Reptilia from Choukoutien Localities 1 and 3-Palaeontologia Sinica (With Chinese abstract)[M]. Series C, Beijing: Geological Survey of China, 1934, 10: 14-15
[5]	Chen Y, Li Y, Shi J, et al. Pleistocene fossil snakes (Squamata, Reptilia) from Shanyangzhai Cave, Hebei, China[J]. Historical Biology, 2019, 33: 699-711
[6]	Shi J, Wang Y, Messenger K, et al. Early Pliocene fossil snakes (Squamata, Colubroidea) with various teeth from the fissure deposit in Queshan, Henan, China[J]. Historical Biology, 2023, 1-22
[7]	Shi J, Li J, Yang Q, et al. Prehistoric snake bones from Zuojiang River Basin, Guangxi, China[J]. Historical Biology, 2023, 1-11
[8]	Angilletta J. Michael J. Thermal Adaptation: A Theoretical and Empirical Synthesis[M]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009
[9]	Ikeda T. A Comparative Morphological Study of the Vertebrae of Snakes Occurring in Japan and Adjacent Regions[J]. Current Herpetology, 2007, 26: 13-34
[10]	LaDuke T. The fossil snakes of pit 91, Rancho La Brea, California[M]. Contributions in science, 1991, 424: 1-28
[11]	Shi J, Li Q, Stidham T, et al. Evolutionary and biogeographic implications of an Erycine snake (Serpentes, Erycidae, Eryx) from the Upper Miocene of the Linxia Basin, Gansu Province, China[J]. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2023, 617: 1-12
[12]	张荣祖. 中国动物地理[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2011, 1-330
[13]	Qi S, Shi J, Ma Y, et al. A sheep in wolf's clothing: Elaphe xiphodonta sp. nov. (Squamata, Colubridae) and its possible mimicry to Protobothrops jerdonii[J]. Zookeys, 2021, 1048: 23-47
[14]	赵尔宓, 宗愉, 黄美华.中国动物志·爬行纲(第三卷)·有鳞目·蛇亚目[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 1998, 1-522
[15]	Jiangzuo QG, Wang Y, Wang F, et al. A new species of Urva (Herpestidae, Carnivora) from late Upper Pleistocene deposits of East Fissure-Fillings, Fanchang, Anhui Province of Eastern China[J]. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2025, 1-7
[16]	常美静, 李强, 倪喜军, 等. 非飞行小哺乳动物化石反映的华龙洞人生存环境[J]. 人类学学报, 2025, 44(5): 799-815
[17]	邱显淳, 周圣博, 齐硕, 等. 辽宁省爬行动物名录及地理区划更新[J]. 动物学杂志, 2023, 58(4): 523-539
[18]	Hu H, Tong H, Han F, et al. Chronological and palaeoecological insights into the Dayakou fauna in Yanjinggou, Chongqing, China: Responses of large mammals to the Early-Middle Pleistocene Climate Transition[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2025, 352: 1-15
[19]	Hu H, Tong H, Shao Q, et al. New remains of Ailuropoda melanoleuca baconi from Yanjinggou, China: Throwing light on the evolution of giant pandas during the Pleistocene[J]. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 2023, 30: 137-154
[20]	金昌柱, 郑家坚, 王元, 等. 中国南方早更新世主要哺乳动物群层序对比和动物地理[J]. 人类学学报, 2008, 27: 304-319
[21]	卡尔克·H. 关于中国南方剑齿象——熊猫动物群和巨猿的时代[J]. 古脊椎动物与古人类, 1961, 2: 83-107
[22]	魏辅文. 中国兽类的分类与分布[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2022, 1-622
[23]	Melletti M, Reyna-Hurtado R, Medici P(eds.). Tapirs of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management[M]. Switzerland AG: Springer Nature, 2024, 1-240
[24]	Nardelli F, Dierenfeld E, Havmoller RW, et al. Sumatran Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (Fischer, 1814)[A]. In: Melletti Mea (ed.). Rhinos of the World[C]. Switzerland: Spring Nature, 2025, 153-183

编号Voucher	物种Species	l_C	w_NA	l_C/w_NA	h_NS	d_V	h_NA/d_V	d_PR	d_PO	d_PR-PO	w_CT	h_CT	w_CT/h_CT	w_Z	w_Z/w_NA
HLD-SN-1*	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	7.7	5.8	1.33	8.4	12	0.70	~10.6	9.2	9.1	3.8	3.3	1.15	5.5	0.95
HLD-SN-2	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.9	6.3	1.41	8.8	12.9	0.68	12	11	10.6	4	3.8	1.05	6.2	0.98
HLD-SN-3	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.6	6.4	1.34	/	/	/	11.8	11.2	10.6	3.8	3.6	1.06	6.2	0.97
HLD-SN-4	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.6	7.2	1.19	8.4	13.4	0.63	12	11.3	10.2	4.2	3.9	1.08	6.4	0.89
HLD-SN-5	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.3	6.3	1.32	7	11.6	0.60	/	10.6	9.7	3.4	3.2	1.06	5.5	0.87
HLD-SN-6	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	5.3	4.7	1.13	/	/	/	8.4	7.9	7.6	3.2	3	1.07	4.2	0.89
HLD-SN-7	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	/	3.6	/	/	/	/	8	6.5	6	2.4	2.3	1.04	3.4	0.94
	平均值mean			1.29			0.62						1.07		0.91
HLD-SN-8*	王锦蛇Elaphe carinata	7.5	7.2	1.04	5.4	11.5	0.47	11.6	10.5	8.8	4	3.8	1.05	5.4	0.75
HLD-SN-9*	黑眉锦蛇Elaphe taeniura	5.1	4.8	1.06	3.4	7.4	0.46	8.4	8	5.6	2.9	2.4	1.21	4	0.83
HLD-SN-10*	黄链蛇 Lycodon flavozonatus	4.4	4	1.10	3.2	6.1	0.52	6.5	5.9	5.7	2.3	2.2	1.05	3.1	0.78
HLD-SN-11	黄链蛇 Lycodon flavozonatus	4.3	3.8	1.13	2.4	5.1	0.47	/	5.5	5.2	2	1.9	1.05	2.9	0.76
	平均值mean			1.12			0.50						1.05		0.77
HLD-SN-12*	短尾蝮 Gloydius brevicauda	3.5	2.2	1.59	1.4	2.8	0.50	4.1	3.7	3.9	1.4	1.2	1.17	1.9	0.86
HLD-SN-13*	颈槽蛇相似种 Rhabdophis cf. nuchalis	3	1.8	1.67	/	/	/	3.6	3.2	3.6	1.1	1	1.10	1.7	0.94

编号Voucher	物种Species	l_C	w_NA	l_C/w_NA	h_NS	d_V	h_NA/d_V	d_PR	d_PO	d_PR-PO	w_CT	h_CT	w_CT/h_CT	w_Z	w_Z/w_NA
HLD-SN-1*	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	7.7	5.8	1.33	8.4	12	0.70	~10.6	9.2	9.1	3.8	3.3	1.15	5.5	0.95
HLD-SN-2	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.9	6.3	1.41	8.8	12.9	0.68	12	11	10.6	4	3.8	1.05	6.2	0.98
HLD-SN-3	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.6	6.4	1.34	/	/	/	11.8	11.2	10.6	3.8	3.6	1.06	6.2	0.97
HLD-SN-4	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.6	7.2	1.19	8.4	13.4	0.63	12	11.3	10.2	4.2	3.9	1.08	6.4	0.89
HLD-SN-5	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	8.3	6.3	1.32	7	11.6	0.60	/	10.6	9.7	3.4	3.2	1.06	5.5	0.87
HLD-SN-6	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	5.3	4.7	1.13	/	/	/	8.4	7.9	7.6	3.2	3	1.07	4.2	0.89
HLD-SN-7	黑网乌梢蛇相似种 Ptyas cf. carinata	/	3.6	/	/	/	/	8	6.5	6	2.4	2.3	1.04	3.4	0.94
	平均值mean			1.29			0.62						1.07		0.91
HLD-SN-8*	王锦蛇Elaphe carinata	7.5	7.2	1.04	5.4	11.5	0.47	11.6	10.5	8.8	4	3.8	1.05	5.4	0.75
HLD-SN-9*	黑眉锦蛇Elaphe taeniura	5.1	4.8	1.06	3.4	7.4	0.46	8.4	8	5.6	2.9	2.4	1.21	4	0.83
HLD-SN-10*	黄链蛇 Lycodon flavozonatus	4.4	4	1.10	3.2	6.1	0.52	6.5	5.9	5.7	2.3	2.2	1.05	3.1	0.78
HLD-SN-11	黄链蛇 Lycodon flavozonatus	4.3	3.8	1.13	2.4	5.1	0.47	/	5.5	5.2	2	1.9	1.05	2.9	0.76
	平均值mean			1.12			0.50						1.05		0.77
HLD-SN-12*	短尾蝮 Gloydius brevicauda	3.5	2.2	1.59	1.4	2.8	0.50	4.1	3.7	3.9	1.4	1.2	1.17	1.9	0.86
HLD-SN-13*	颈槽蛇相似种 Rhabdophis cf. nuchalis	3	1.8	1.67	/	/	/	3.6	3.2	3.6	1.1	1	1.10	1.7	0.94