Table of Content

15 December 2015, Volume 53 Issue 4

Previous Issue    Next Issue

A new small-sized eosauropterygian (Diapsida:Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of Luoping,Yunnan, southwestern China

SHANG Qing-Hua, LI Chun

2015, 53(4):  265-280. 

Asbtract ( )   PDF (5354KB) ( )  

Related Articles | Metrics

A new eosauropterygian, Dianmeisaurus gracilis gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a nearly complete skeleton from the Member II of Guangling Formation (Anisian) of Luoping County, Yunnan Province. It is a small-sized (with a total length of less than 50 cm) sauropterygian with a slender body. This new species is similar superficially to two other smallsizedeosauropterygians, Diandongosaurus Shang et al., 2011 and DianopachysaurusLiu et al., 2011a, which were also collected from the same stratum of Luoping, in the body proportion, the skull with no contracted snout, and an oval orbit extremely larger than supratemporal fenestra. However, the new species is characterized by an extremely narrowed interorbital septum, the mandibular articulation at the level of occipital condyle, the big and stout anterolateral process of the clavicle, the proximal part of the ulna much wider than the distal end, and the presence of 41 presacral vertebrae. Furthermore, the new species differs from Diandongosaurus in having the preorbital region shorter than the postorbital region, the prefrontal with no contact of the postfrontal along the dorsal margin of the orbit, the short mandibular symphysis with the entrance of the splenial, and the premaxillary and anterior dentary teeth fang like but notking-sized. Additionally, the anterolateral process of the clavicle is very sharp and slender in Diandongosaurus. Compared with the Dianopachysaurus, the new species is different in having no pachyostosis of the caudal ribs, no more than three carpal ossifications, and the rounded astragalus. Our phylogenetic analyses suggest that Dianmeisaurus is probably the sister group ofDiandongosaurus. The two genera, together with the Majiashanosaurus,Keichousaurus, and Dianopachysaurus are grouped in a monophyletic clade and phylogenetically more closely related to the Nothosauroidea than the European pachypleurosaurs (Dactylosaurus, Anarosaurus, Serpianosaurus, andNeusticosaurus). The coexist of three small-sized eosauropterygians indicates that sauropterygians were a highly diversified group of marine reptiles in the Luoping fauna, Yunnan Province during the early Middle Triassic.

A new specimen of Diandongosaurus acutidentatus(Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of Yunnan,China

LIU Xue-Qing, LIN Wen-Bin, Olivier RIEPPEL, SUN Zuo-Yu, LI Zhi-Guang, LU Hao, JIANG Da-Yong

2015, 53(4):  281-290. 

Asbtract ( )   PDF (5657KB) ( )  

Related Articles | Metrics

A new nearly complete specimen of Diandongosaurus acutidentatusShang et al., 2011 is described from the Upper Member of the Guanling Formation (Anisian, Middle Triassic) of Luoping, Yunnan Province. With the new information derived from the new specimen, some elements of the skeleton that were either uncertain or controversial in the previous studies areconfirmed and discussed, and the diagnosis of D. acutidentatus is revised. The result of our phylogenetic analysis suggests that Diandongosaurus is an eosauropterygian, closely related to the Eusauropterygia.

Caenagnathasia sp. (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Iren Dabasu Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of Erenhot, Nei Mongol, China 

YAO Xi, WANG Xiao-Li, Corwin SULLIVAN, WANG Shuo,Thomas STIDHAM, XU Xing 

2015, 53(4):  291-298. 

Asbtract ( )   PDF (1254KB) ( )  

Related Articles | Metrics

The oviraptorosaurian theropod Caenagnathasia was first described from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) vertebrate assemblage from the Bissekty Formation of the Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan. Here we report a partial pair of oviraptorosaurian fused lower jaws, comprising the symphysial region, from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Iren Dabasu Formation of Nei Mongol, China. This mandibular fragment can be referred to Caenagnathasia based on the following shared characters: dentaries fully fused, symphysial portion of dentary not downturned, anterior part of dorsal margin of dentary broadly concave in lateral view, lingual ridge present at margin of occlusal surface on each dentary, lingual ridge bears apical projection, vascular grooves and associated foramina do not extend to dorsal surface of symphysis, and anterior occlusal groove present. This new specimen extends the temporal and geographic range of Caenagnathasia to the Campanian of China. 

First fossil cobitid (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from Early-Middle Oligocene deposits of South China

CHEN Geng-Jiao, LIAO Wei, LEI Xue-Qiang

2015, 53(4):  299-309. 

Asbtract ( )   PDF (3601KB) ( )  

Related Articles | Metrics

Cobitis nanningensis sp. nov., the earliest fossil cobitid fish from Early-Middle Oligocene deposits of Nanning Basin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China, is described here. The new species is represented by specimens of the distinctive suborbital spine. The bifid suborbital spines are 1.8-3.0 mm in length. Their laterocaudal processes are thinner and shorter than their mediocaudal processes, and the lengths of the laterocaudal processes are about 1/3 of those of the mediocaudal ones. The lateral process of the spine is prominent. The new species most closely resembles Cobitis primigenus from the Late Oligocene deposits of Germany, but in C. nanningensis the lateral process of the suborbital spine is more developed. The discovery of the new species and other previously known fossils of Cobitis indicate that the Cobitidae family has had a wide distribution in Eurasia since at least Oligocene.

Phylogenetic analysis on Palaeogale (Palaeogalidae, Carnivora) based on specimens from Oligocene strata of Saint-Jacques, Nei Mongol

WANG Jian, ZHANG Zhao-Qun

2015, 53(4):  310-334. 

Asbtract ( )   PDF (7206KB) ( )  

Related Articles | Metrics

Palaeogale was established by H. von Meyer in 1846. Fossils of this genus were discovered from both Eurasia and North America ranging from Late Eocene to Miocene. Lacking of well preserved specimens and complicated historical nominations hampered its phylogeny and classification. The genus has previously been assigned in Mustelidae,Viverravidae, Felidae, Palaeogalidae, and Feliformia (Family uncertain) respectively. In the past few years, we found five specimens that can be attributed to Palaeogale from the Oligocene strata of Saint-Jacques, Nei Mongol. Of them the specimen IVPP V 19325 represents a single individual, including a partial skull, a pair of nearly complete lower jaws, some vertebrae and ribs, which is by far the most complete specimen of Palaeogale discovered from Asia.

Re-description and phylogenetic assessment of the Late Miocene ducks Aythya shihuibas and Anas sp. (Aves: Anseriformes) from Lufeng, Yunnan, China

Thomas A. STIDHAM

2015, 53(4):  335-349. 

Asbtract ( )   PDF (7177KB) ( )  

Related Articles | Metrics

 In 1985, Hou Lianhai published a short paper on some of the bird specimens from the Miocene hominoid fossil locality of Lufeng in Yunnan, and in that paper, he named one species of duck (Aythya shihuibas) and described a second specimen as a member of Anas. Assessment of the phylogenetic characters preserved in those two anatid specimens, in combination with their currently known distribution, confirms that two different species (from different phylogenetic lineages) are present in the Lufeng avifauna, as originally published. The presence of the primitive state of a highly pneumatic cavity with bony struts in the ventral pneumotricipital fossa in A. shihuibas differs from nearly all living species in Aythya and helps to establish that it is a distinct extinct species likely outside the crown group ofAythya. The more fragmentary Lufeng anatid specimen, originally called Anassp., cannot be as accurately constrained phylogenetically. It is likely a member of Anatinae and perhaps could be called Anas, although the species of that genus are not monophyletic. The Lufeng Anas specimen may be closely related to one of the unnamed species placed in Anas from the Mio-Pliocene of Mongolia because they share an uncommon combination of characters.