US EPA

1435897 

Journal Article 

Sequence of mammalian fossils, including hominoid teeth, from the Bubing Basin caves, South China 

Wang, Wei; Potts, R; Baoyin, Y; Huang, W; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, RL; Ditchfield, P 

2007 

Yes 

Journal of Human Evolution
ISSN: 0047-2484 

52 

4 

370-379 

17198721 

10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.10.003 

WOS:000246094700002 

A Plio-Pleistocene to Holocene faunal sequence has been recovered from four carefully excavated caves in the Bubing Basin, adjacent to the larger Bose Basin of South China. The caves vary in elevation; we suggest that the higher caves were formed and filled with sediments prior to the lower caves. The highest deposits, which are from Mohui Cave, contain hominoid teeth and other fossilized remains of mammalian taxa most similar to late Pliocene and early Pleistocene faunas. Wuyun Cave (similar to 50 in lower in elevation than Mohui) contains a late middle Pleistocene fauna, which is supported by U-series age constraints from 350 to 200 ka. Lower Pubu Cave (similar to 23 in below Wuyun) is assigned to the late Pleistocene, while the Cunkong Cave (the lowest, similar to 2m in lower elevation than Lower Pubu) preserves a Holocene fauna. The four faunal assemblages indicate species-level changes in Ailuropoda, Stegodon, and Sus, the appearance of Elephas, the local disappearance of Stegodon, and the migration of Equus hemionus to South China. These initial results of our work call into question the continued value of the Stegodon/Ailuropoda Fauna, a category long used to characterize the Pleistocene faunas of South China. Excavation of karstic caves of varying elevation within the basins of South China holds promise for defining local sequences of mammalian fossils that can be used to investigate faunal variations related to climate change, biogeographic events, and evolutionary change over the past two million years. Stable isotopic analysis of a small sample of mammalian teeth from Bubing Basin caves is consistent with 100% C-3 vegetation in the Bubing/Bose region, with certain delta C-13 values consistent with a canopied woodland or forest. A preliminary assessment of the hominoid teeth indicates the presence of diverse molar and premolar morphologies including dental remains of Gigantopithecus blacki and a sample with similarities to the teeth reported from Longgupo. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 

Bose; fauna; Gigantopithecus; Mohui; stable isotopes; Stegodon/Ailuropoda fauna; U-series dating