A Unique Miocene Neogene Fauna From Shuitangba, China

The site of Shuitangba (Yunnan, China) preserves a unique, terminal Miocene fauna

Authors:

Jablonski et al

Abstract:

The late Miocene was an important interval in mammalian evolution because of the concatenated tectonic, climatic, and environmental changes that led to increased seasonality and heterogeneity of most terrestrial ecosystems (Ruddiman and Kutzbach, 1989; An et al., 2001; Guo et al., 2002). These phenomena had profound influences on mammalian habitats and on the anatomies and fates of many mammalian lineages (Fortelius et al., 2002; Jablonski, 2005). In Eurasia, this period was marked by the decline in diversity and abundance of obligate forest dwellers and the rise of species able to survive in more open and seasonal habitats. Southeastern Asia did not escape the effects of changing global climatic conditions of the Late Neogene, but appears to have, in part, played a role as a refugium for some mammals. The few known fossil sites of southern China are beginning to reveal the architecture of faunal change in the region. The terminal Miocene site of Shuitangba, Yunnan Province, China, provides a snapshot of this critical transition.