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    20 January 2022, Volume 60 Issue 1
    Revisit of Hsianwenia wui (Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae) from the Pliocene of Qaidam Basin
    BI Dai-Ran, WU Fei-Xiang, WANG Ning, CHANG Mee-Mann, FANG Geng-Yu
    2022, 60(1):  1-28.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.211026
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    The Qaidam Basin is a key area for understanding the paleoenvironmental and faunal history of the Tibetan Plateau. The fossil schizothoracine fish, Hsianwenia wui, evolved extraordinarily thickened bones to adapt to the aridification of the Qaidam Basin during the Pliocene. However, the nature of the bone thickening itself remains elusive. To promote the further investigation of the physiological mechanism of the pachyostosis and the phylogenetic interrelationships of Hsianwenia and all relevant cyprinids, here we present a comprehensive morphological study of Hsianwenia. We have new information on the anterior part of the cranial cavity, a large supraneural 3 in the Weberian apparatus, numerous procurrent caudal fin rays supported by the preural centrum (Pu) 5, and a neural arch on Pu2. We also find the differentiated pattern of the bone-thickening: the pachyostosis exists in the endoskeleton but not in the dermal skeleton; it is more obvious in ventral bones than in dorsal ones, when the thickening is present in the dorsally and ventrally grouped endoskeletal bones (e.g., the epineural and epipleural intermuscular bones). Considering the integrity of musculoskeletal system manipulating the chewing activities, we suspect that the thickened pharyngeal jaws and the hard food processing might be associated with the unique hind protrusion (cleithral “humeral” process) of the dermal pectoral girdle of Hsianwenia.

    A cuboid bone of a large Late Miocene elasmothere from Qingyang, Gansu, and its morphological significance
    ZHANG Xiao-Xiao, SUN Dan-Hui
    2022, 60(1):  29-41.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.210809
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    A cuboid specimen collected from the Late Miocene stratum at Qingyang, Gansu, China is described here. The size of the Qingyang specimen is comparatively huge, even larger than the average size of Elasmotherium caucasicum collected from Nihewan, Hebei, China. The morphology of the Qingyang specimen is identical to that of other specimens of Elasmotheriini; thus, the Qingyang specimen belongs to a huge elasmothere, most probably Sinotherium. By comparison with extant rhino species, the complex of the main body and the apophysis exhibit functional significance. The angle between the frontal plate of the cuboid and the main axis of the apophysis can suggest the ecological conditions occupied by an elasmothere. From analysis of the morphology of the cuboid, Sinotherium and the more derived elasmotheres probably lived in forested or wooded environments, differing from the previous hypothesis of their paleoenvironment.

    Stratigraphical significance of Ulantatal sequence
    Joonas Wasiljeff, ZHANG Zhao-Qun
    2022, 60(1):  42-53.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.210716
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    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 geologic events associated with the EOT in China have remained uncertain before and after the epoch boundaries, mainly due to the scarcity of continuous records and problems in correlating and subdividing the classic areas containing abundant mammalian fossils. Past decades have seen developments in establishing Chinese regional Paleogene Land Mammal Ages, and albeit many ages are well constrained, some, such as those of the latest Eocene and the Oligocene, have remained unsettled. In this paper, we present how recent evidence from the fossiliferous Ulantatal sequence, Nei Mongol, China, provides better constraints to the latest Eocene and Oligocene Chinese Land Mammal ages (Baiyinian, Ulantatalian, and Tabenbulukian). We propose Ulantatal sequence as a new regional unit stratotype section of the Ulantatalian stage, and the lower boundary of Tabenbulukian stage to be reassigned to Chron C9r (27.7 Ma), with the lowest occurrence of Sinolagomys as the marker horizon.

    A Temnospondyl tooth from the Middle Triassic of the Ordos Basin, Shaanxi Province
    WU Rui, TU Li, HAN Feng-Lu
    2022, 60(1):  54-58.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.210810
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    An isolated large temnospondyl tooth was discovered from the Middle Triassic Tongchuan Formation, Weibei Oilfield, Ordos Basin, Shaanxi Province of China. Compared with the teeth of crocodylomorphs, plesiosaurs and temnospondyls, the tooth can be referred to temnospondyl based on the following features: the crown is elongated and recurved with a circular cross-section; there are no denticles or carinae on the crown; well-marked apicobasal grooves are shown on the crown surface. This tooth represents the first temnospondyl found in the Middle Triassic Tongchuan Formation and is the youngest fossil record of temnospondyls in the North China Block.

    A revision of the eggshell fragment of Spheroolithus megadermus from Laiyang, Shandong Province, China
    ZHANG Shu-Kang
    2022, 60(1):  59-68.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.211021
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    In 1958, a special type of dinosaur egg was discovered in Zhaotuan, Laiyang, Shandong Province, China. Although only a large eggshell fragment was collected, its extremely large thickness indicated that the eggshell fragment represented a new ootaxon. In previous studies, it was named Spheroolithus megadermus and assigned to the oogenus Spheroolithus under the oofamily of the Spheroolithidae based on the microstructure in radial view. However, a comparative study of the microstructure in tangential views between the large eggshell fragment from Laiyang and the recently reported Multifissoolithus from Zhejiang Province, China and Yamaguchi, Japan revealed that all of them have roughly paralleled and wavy clefts. Therefore, this study reassigned the large eggshell fragment from Laiyang to Multifissoolithus of the Dongyangoolithidae and discussed its unique compact layer near the eggshell’s inner surface, as well as the chronological and spatial distribution of dongyangoolithid eggs. The reassignment of the holotype of Spheroolithus megadermus also indicates that the referred specimen of Spheroolithus megadermus from Changtu, Liaoning Province becomes the holotype of a new oospecies Spheroolithus quantouensis.

    Discovery of Stalicoolithidae in Shanggao County, Jiangxi Province, China
    FANG Kai-Yong, LIU Qing-Hua, WANG Qiang, ZHU Xu-Feng, DENG Li, LIU Yu-Chun, WEN Jun, WANG Xiao-Lin
    2022, 60(1):  69-78.  DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.211222
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    Here we describe a partially-preserved dinosaur clutch with twelve nearly complete eggs discovered in Shanggao County, Jiangxi Province that can be assigned to Coralloidoolithus shizuiwanensis. These dinosaur eggs are nearly spheroid in shape, with an average polar axis of 11.8 cm and an average equatorial diameter of 9.8 cm. The eggshell has a maximum thickness of about 2.5 mm and is composed of a thin cone layer and a multilevel columnar layer, the latter of which can be divided into inner, medial and outer zones. There are dense horizontal growth lines in the inner zone, lamellar and speckled dark materials in the medial zone, and the secondary eggshell units are distributed in the medial and outer zones. According to this discovery, we revise the main taxonomic characteristic of Coralloidoolithus in the Stalicoolithidae to be the loose and dark materials in the medial zone of the columnar layer. This discovery not only extends the paleogeographic distribution of Coralloidoolithus shizuiwanensis, but also provides comparative evidence of the Late Cretaceous strata in the Shanggao red basin.