Abstract: Distribution of extant land vertebrates indicates that two distinct zoogeographic provinces exist in China: the Oriental Region in the south and the Palaearctic Region in the north. For a long time, China was considered part of a widespread "Hipparion province" of late Miocene and Pliocene age, and distinct differentiation of faunal regions was considered to have commenced at the beginning of Pleistocene time (Pei, 1957; Zhou, 1964; Zhang, 1979). Existence of certain higher endemic taxa in an ecogeographic category is the sole criterion for differentiating a faunal region. The palaearctic Region, for example, possesses a series of peculiar families, such as Dipodidae, Seleviniidae and Siphneidae. Hipparion, however, was a wide—ranging (eurytopic) genus and its wide occurrence in the late Neogene deposits of the country does not indicate a single zoogeographic unit in China. Small mammals seem to more reliably define faunal regions than larger mammals; their stricter correspondence to environment results mainly from their limited abilities of migration and adaptation. To date, more than 30 Neogene micromammalian localities, ranging from early Miocene to late Pliocene age, have been known from China (fig. l). Collections from these localities are not large enough to define the limits of Chinese Neogene faunal regions, but allow for understanding in general the geographic distribution of small mammals at that time. The purpose of -this paper is to deal with the nature of the Neogene zoogeographic provinces of China, through the distribution of recovered small mammal fossils.

摘要： 长期以来认为中国动物区系的分化直到第四纪才开始明显。上第三系哺乳动物化石的发现表明，晚第三纪时中国小哺乳动物的地理分布，不仅发生了南北分异，而且出现了东部和西部的分化。一个与现代东洋界相似和一个与古北界相似的动物区系在晚第三纪时就已经相当清楚了。我国动物区系分化是一个逐渐而稳定的过程，它与青藏高原的形成和抬升密切相关。