Zhaoqun Zhang

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology · department of paleomammalogy

The aridification of Central Asia since the Eocene has widespread evidence, but climate-controlled environmental reorganizations during the Oligocene remain ambiguous. We employed environmental magnetic, mineralogical and geochemical methods on a latest Eocene to late Oligocene terrestrial sequence in Inner Mongolia, China, to examine how global cl...

Robust regional chronostratigraphic framework is the basis of understanding climatic and faunal events in the geologic history. One of the most dramatic faunal turnovers of the past 50 million years in Asia is linked to the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT) at about 34 Ma. However, the chronostratigraphic relationships between faunal modulation and...

Constraining the provenance of aeolian mineral dust is critical in understanding past climate changes, atmospheric dust activity, circulation, and sediment generation. On the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), use of detrital zircon U-Pb age data as source tracers for the dust has seen a huge growth and lead to breakthroughs in understanding dust provena...

The Early Oligocene is a critical time for global climate changes in the Cenozoic. This epoch witnessed severe mammalian faunal turnovers known as "Grande Coupure" in Europe and "Mongolian Remodelling" in Asia. However, insights about morphological changes in Oligocene mammal lineages have not been explored in detail. One of the least diversified g...

Here we report a Hipparion fauna locality discovered in between two basalt layers near Hanjiaying Village, Jining District, Wulanchabu City, Nei Mongol. K-Ar isotopic dating of the lower and upper level of the basalt constrains the age of the fauna from 7.2 to 6.8 Ma. Compared with classical Hipparion fauna from northern China, the Hanjiaying fauna...

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-examine...

Cenozoic mammal evolution and faunal turnover are considered to have been influenced and triggered by global climate change. Teeth of large terrestrial ungulates are reliable proxies to trace long‐term climatic changes due to their morphological and physicochemical properties; however, the role of premolar molarization in ungulate evolution and rel...

The transition from Eocene to Oligocene and its implications in the terrestrial realm has been a focal target for Cenozoic climate and environment research as it is widely considered the most dramatic climatic shift of the past 50 million years. Tibetan Plateau and proximal areas have been of utmost interest since the biogeographic relationships an...

Deperetellidae is a clade of peculiar, Asian endemic tapiroids from the early and middle Eocene. The previously published material mainly comprises maxillae, mandibles, and some postcranial elements. However, the absence of cranial materials and primitive representatives of the deperetellids obscures their phylogenetic relationships within Tapiroid...

The evolution of molar teeth from low-crowned (brachyodont) to high-crowned (hypsodont) has traditionally been recognized as a response to increasing tooth wear due to endogenous (e.g., fiber, silica) and/ or exogenous (e.g., dust, grit) properties of ingested food. Recent work indicates that the mean hypsodonty level of large herbivorous land mamm...

ooth enamel is composed of elongated, hexagonal crystallites of hydroxyapatite. Some crystallites are arranged into various regual structures and futher formed a composite structure in a hierarchical manner. The hierarchical system can provide a basis for analysis different levels of structural complexity from varitaiton of particular crystallite s...

Saint Jacques is a classic Oligocene fossil locality in China, which was first investigated by P. Teilhard de Chardin and E. Licent in 1923. All the fossil mammals previously reported from the area are Oligocene in age. Here we report some new material of the hyracodontid Ardynia from two lower horizons in the Saint Jacques area. These new specimen...

We describe a new species of Rodentia (Mammalia), Argyromys cicigei sp. nov. from Toglorhoi (fossil bed TGW-A/2a) in Mongolia and Ulantatal (fossil beds UTL 1 and UTL 7) in China. Its tooth morphology differs from the type species Argyromys aralensis from Akespe in Kazakhstan by smaller size and simpler structures. Argyromys has been assigned in di...

Character list. (DOCX)

Character matrix. (DOCX)

Distributions of the character states for the internal nodes. (DOCX)

Measurements of the molars of Argyromys cicigei sp. nov. (DOCX)

Predation is the most common cause of death in small mammals. It also causes the greatest modification on their remains. Other postmortem processes, such as weathering, trampling, and transportation all modify bones and contribute to the forming assemblage. Here we examined three Miocene localities from Damiao, Nei Mongol, China with different fluv...

After a long period of inactivity, recent excavations at the late Miocene Maragheh Formation unexpectedly resulted in the discovery of the first fossil hominoid and second Mesopithecus remains from this area. The discovery motivated a new international initiative to conduct research in these rich fossil sites. These studies focused on the fossil ho...

A unique canal (calcaneal canal) running diagonally through the calcaneus was commonly considered as characteristic for lagomorphs, both extant and fossil, but absent in rodents and other pertinent lagomorph relatives. However, our investigation of a calcaneus from the Middle Paleocene of Qianshan, Anhui Province and specimens previously grouped in...

Here we report a new genus and species, Mina hui gen. et sp. nov., of basal Glires from the Middle Paleocene of Qianshan, Anhui, China. The new taxon is characterized by combination of the following characters: medium-sized mimotonidan; upper dental formula 2.0.3.3; dI2 transversely narrow and having smooth labial surface without longitudinal groov...

Fossil gazelles have been widely distributed in Eurasia and Africa during the late Neogene. They are key elements of “Hipparion” faunas with prominent biochronologic and ecological significance. However, no pre-Baodean age gazelle previously reported from China. We describe here in detail materials found from the Bahe Formation, Shaanxi Province, w...

A unique canal (calcaneal canal) running diagonally through the calcaneus was commonly considered as characteristic for lagomorphs, both extant and fossil, but absent in rodents and other pertinent lagomorph relatives. However, our investigation of a calcaneus from the Middle Paleocene of Qianshan, Anhui Province and specimens previously grouped in...

The intergeneric phylogeny of Lagomorpha had been controversial for a long time before a robust phylogeny was reconstructed based on seven nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. However, skull morphology of several endemic genera remained poorly understood. The morphology of supraorbital processes in Lagomorpha is normally used as a diagnostic ch...

The Ulantatal area is well-known for its extraordinarily rich Oligocene mammalian fossils. The Ulantatal fauna was originally considered to be the representative fauna for the Chinese Land mammalian Age, Ulantatalian. However, the abundant fossils collected in the 1980s lack coordinates and/or detailed stratigraphic levels, and have been lumped tog...

1. Although Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares and pikas) have a long evolutionary history in Eurasia and Africa, including primitive genera of Eurasia historically considered assignable at the family level to Leporidae, the predecessors of modern rabbits were absent throughout this vast region for most of the Miocene until late in that epoch. During the e...

The evolutionary relationships of extinct species are ascertained primarily through the analysis of morphological characters. Character inter-dependencies can have a substantial effect on evolutionary interpretations, but the developmental underpinnings of character inter-dependence remain obscure because experiments frequently do not provide detai...

Deer fossils from the basal of the Lantian Formation are described and assigned to Cervavitus novorossiae by their medium size, three-tined antlers, curved beams, pedicles prolongated by a ridge on the frontals, the long span between the burr and first fork in young individuals, long and curved brow tine with laterally flattened fork etc. Overview...

In this study, we synthesize available data from isotopes, sedimentology and climate modelling together with an extensive mesowear analysis of North Chinese “Hipparion” faunas of Baode. We build on previous research and enlarge the range of analysed localities. Our results show that climate during accumulation of the older localities (7.5 Ma) was m...

In this study, we synthesize available data from isotopes, sedimentology and climate modelling together with an extensive mesowear analysis of North Chinese “Hipparion” faunas of Baode. We build on previous research and enlarge the range of analysed localities. Our results show that climate during accumulation of the older localities (7.5 Ma) was m...

Xerinae is the most species-rich subfamily of the Sciuridae (Rodentia). This group of animals has a long complex evolutionary history, which witnessed severe environmental changes. In this paper, a comprehensive approach integrating information from fossil records, morphological, molecular and geographical data of extant species, and events of pale...

The 3D laser scanning technique is nowadays more and more applied in the study of skeleton morphology. Complete 3D model of external geometry can be easily obtained by laser scanning. It contains all the external morphologic information, both size and shape, which is the prerequisite for quantitative study of fossil morphology. The materials in thi...

This chapter analyzes the mammalian biochronology of the late Miocene Bahe Formation in China. It first describes the lithostratigraphy and depositional environments in the Lantian region, followed by a discussion of fossil localities in the Bahe and Lantian formations. It then considers the lithologic profile of the Bahe Formation, plots old local...

This chapter describes the stratigraphy and paleoecology of the classical “dragon bone” localities of Baode County, Shanxi Province, China. It begins with an overview of the geological setting of the Baode area, along with its vertebrate paleontology and land mammals, sedimentary characteristics and lithostratigraphy, and magnetostratigraphy. It th...

This chapter analyzes the existing stages/ages in the Chinese Neogene in relation to the current widely adopted approaches in terrestrial stratigraphy (Neogene Mammal unit [MN] and North American Land Mammal Age [NALMA]) and from the point of view of the International Stratigraphic Guides. More specifically, it discusses the principles, methods, an...

Although species within Lagomorpha are derived from a common ancestor, the distribution range and body size of its two extant groups, ochotonids and leporids, are quite differentiated. It is unclear what has driven their disparate evolutionary history. In this study, we compile and update all fossil records of Lagomorpha for the first time, to trac...

Supplementary references. (DOC)

The known fossil occurrences of Lagomorpha. The maximum age and minimum age of these genera were summarized from the Paleobiology database (Available: http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl, Accessed 2012 Dec 1), the Neocene of Old World Database of fossil mammals (Available: http://www.helsinki.fi/science/now/, Accessed 2012 Dec 1), the Miocene Mamm...

Genbank accessions of Lagomorpha species. (DOC)

Plants selected for food by extant leporids. (DOC)

Although highly diversified in their early history, only one genus in Ochotonidae, Ochotona, survives to the present. Ochotona is generally accepted to have originated from the Middle Miocene Bellatona. During the 2006–2010 field seasons, we found Miocene localities at Damiao, Siziwang Qi, Nei Mongol, which produced rich materials of ochotonids. Of...

The expansion of C4 plants is thought to have profound effects on the faunal turnover of large mammals during the latest Miocene. However, it is unclear whether this event also induced extinction and range contraction of small mammals. Pikas (Ochotonidae) are highly adapted to arctic or alpine environments, and are considered ideal indicators in bi...

Flying squirrels are strictly arboreal squirrels adopting a special gliding form of locomotion. This group of animals has a long history that has mirrored the vicissitude of forests. The discrepancy in the distribution between fossils and extant species indicates a mysterious evolution history requiring further exploration. This study compiles the...

Dipodoidea are a diverse rodent group whose earliest known record is from the Middle Eocene. The evolution and diversification of this superfamily have been documented by fossils and comparative morphology, but have not yet been studied from the perspective of molec-ular phylogeny. This study is the first attempt to reconstruct an extensive phyloge...

Grands mammifères du Miocène supérieur d'Ivand (nord-ouest de l'Iran). Un assemblage inédit de grands mammifères fossiles a été trouvé à Ivand, au nord-ouest de l'Iran. Cette nouvelle localité est située au nord de la ville de Tabriz, proche de la célèbre localité de Maragheh. Un hipparion de grande taille, représenté par un crâne presque complet e...