Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Occurrence of the Gomphotherium angustidens group in China, based on a revision of Gomphotherium connexum (Hopwood, 1935) and Gomphotherium shensiensis Chang and Zhai, 1978: continental correlation of Gomphotherium species across the Palearctic

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Paläontologische Zeitschrift Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, we restudy previously reported material of Gomphotherium connexum and G. shensiensis from China. G. connexum is characterized by the strong posterior pretrite central conules of the upper molars, which are larger than the corresponding anterior ones (at least in the second loph), the narrow interloph(id)s, the high central conules, and the narrow contour of m3. Gomphotherium cf. shensiensis (here is attributed to G. connexum) from the Junggar Basin is more derived than the type material of G. connexum in larger size and heavier cementum. G. connexum is very similar to G. angustidens, which was widely distributed in the Middle Miocene (MN6–8) of Europe. Gomphotherium shensiensis (here is attributed to G. cf. subtapiroideum) shows crest-like elements in the teeth crowns. The posttrite lophs are subdivided and anteroposteriorly compressed, and the interlophs are relatively anteroposteriorly wide. These features are similar to G. subtapiroideum, which occurred in the later Early Miocene to the earlier Late Miocene (MN5–9) of Europe. This revision of Chinese Gomphotherium demonstrates strong similarities in Gomphotherium species between eastern and western Eurasia, representing a continental diffusion of Gomphotherium species across the Palearctic region.

Kurzfassung

In dieser Studie re-evaluieren wir bereits früher beschriebenes Material von Gomphotherium connexum und G. „shensiensis" aus China. Gomphotherium connexum ist durch stark ausgeprägte, posteriore prätrite Zentral-Conuli der oberen Molaren, die (zumindest am zweiten Joch) größer sind als die entsprechenden anterioren Gegenstücke, durch anteroposterior komprimierte Täler, hohe zentrale Conuli sowie durch das schmale Profil des m3 gekennzeichnet. Gomphotherium cf. „shensiensis" (wird hier G. connexum zugeschrieben) aus dem Junggar Basin ist im Vergleich zu G. connexum stärker abgeleitet, was sich in einer Zunahme der allgemeinen Körpergröße und in stärker ausgeprägtem Zahnzement im Vergleich zum Typus-Material äußert. Gomphotherium connexum ähnelt G. angustidens, einem im mittleren Miozän (MN6–8) in Europa weit verbreiteten Taxon, stark. Gomphotherium „shensiensis" (wird hier G. cf. subtapiroideum zugeschrieben) zeigt eher kammartige Elemente in seinen Zahnkronen. Die postriten Zahnjoche sind unterteilt und anteroposterior komprimiert, während die Täler anteroposterior relativ breit sind. Diese Eigenschaften sind ähnlich wie G. subtapiroideum, das ebenfalls im späteren frühen Miozän bis früheren späten Miozän (MN5–9) Europas vorkommt. Die Revision von Gomphotherium aus China lässt starke Ähnlichkeiten bei Gomphotherien-Arten zwischen dem östlichen und westlichen Eurasien erkennen, was eine kontinentale Verbreitung von Gomphotherium-Spezies quer durch die paläarktische Region zeigt.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

IVPP:

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China

MNHN:

Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France

NHMW:

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria

PMU:

Palaeontological Museum, Uppsala, Sweden

References

  • Burmeister, H. 1837. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte. Zum Gebrauch bei Vorlesungen. Berlin: Enslin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Borissiak, A.A., and E. Belyaeva. 1928. Trilophodon (Serridentinus?) inopinatus n. sp. from the Jilančik Beds of the Turgai Region. Bulletin de l’Académie des Sciences de l’URSS, Classe des Sciences Physico-Mathématique. Leningrad 241–252.

  • Chang, H.-C., and R.-J. Zhai. 1978. Miocene mastodonts of Lantian and Lintung, Shensi. Professional Papers of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology 7: 136–142 (Chinese 136–141; English 141–142).

  • Chen, G.-F. 1978. Mastodont remains from the Miocene of Zhongning–Tongxin area in Ningxia. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 16(2): 103–110 (Chinese).

  • Chen, G.-F. 1988. Mastodont remains from the Miocene of Junggar Basin in Xinjiang. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 26(4): 265–277 (Chinese 265–273; English 274–277).

  • Chow, M.C., and Y.-P. Zhang. 1974. Chinese fossil elephantoids. Beijing: Science Press (Chinese).

  • Cope, E.D. 1884. The extinct Mammalia of the valley of Mexico. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 22: 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Depéret, C. 1897. Découverte du Mastodon angustidens dans l’étage cartennein de Kabylie. Bulletin de la Société géologique de France 3(25): 518–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer, H. 1857. On the species of mastodon and elephant occurring in the fossil state in Great Britain. Part I. Mastodon. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 13: 307–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frick, C. 1933. New remains of trilophodont-tetrabelodont mastodons. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 56: 505–652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, O.P. 1922. Further observations on some extinct elephants. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 35: 97–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illiger, C.D. 1811. Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium additis terminis zoographicis uttriusque classis. Berlin: Salfeld.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gasparik, M., and G.N. Markov. 2009. Gomphotherium “annectens group” (Proboscidea) in Hungary. Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica 27: 73–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Göhlich, U.B. 1998. Elephantoidea (Proboscidea, Mammalia) aus dem Mittel- und Obermiozän der Oberen Süßwassermolasse Süddeutschlands: Odontologie und Osteologie. Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen 36: 1–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Göhlich, U.B. 2007. Gomphotheres (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the Early-Middle Miocene of Central Mongolia. In Oligocene–Miocene vertebrates from the valley of lakes (Central Mongolia): morphology, phylogenetic and stratigraphic implications, ed. G. Daxner-Höck. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 108A: 271–289.

  • Göhlich, U.B. 2010. The Proboscidea (Mammalia) from the Miocene of Sandelzhausen (southern Germany). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 84(1): 163–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopwood, A.T. 1935. Fossil Proboscidea from China. Palaeontologia Sinica, Series C 9: 1–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayda, S. 2014. Review of the Late Neogene Proboscideans from Turkey. In Abstract book of the VIth international conference on mammoths and their relatives, 5–12 May 2014, Grevena-Siatista, eds. D.S. Kostopoulos, E. Vlachos, and E. Tsoukala, Scientific Annals of the School of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, special issue 102: 125–126.

  • Osborn, H.F. 1923. New subfamily, generic, and specific stage in the evolution of the Proboscidea. American Museum Novitates 99: 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H.F. 1924. Serridentinus and Baluchitherium, Loh Formation, Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 148: 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H.F. 1932. Trilophodon cooperi n. sp. of Dera Bugti, Baluchistan. American Museum Novitates 393: 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H.F. 1936. Proboscidea: a monograph of the discovery, evolution, migration and extinction of the mastodonts and elephants of the world. New York: The American Museum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qiu, Z.-D., C.-K. Li, and S.-J. Wang. 1981. Miocene mammalian fossils from Xining Basin, Qinghai. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 19(2): 156–173 (Chinese 156–168; English 169–173).

  • Qiu, Z.-X., and Z.-D. Qiu. 1995. Chronological sequence and subdivision of Chinese Neogene mammalian faunas. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 116: 41–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger, G. 1917. Die Mastodonten des K. K. naturhistorischen Hofmuseums. Denkschriften des K. K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums, Geologisch-paläontologische Reihe 1: 1–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W.J., E. Gheerbrant, J.M. Harris, H. Saegusa, and C. Delmer. 2010. Proboscidea. In Cenozoic mammals of Africa, ed. L. Werdelin, and W.J. Sanders, 161–251. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shoshani, J., and P. Tassy. 2005. Advances in proboscidean taxonomy & classification, anatomy & physiology, and ecology & behavior. Quaternary International 126–128: 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tasnádi Kubacska, A. 1939. Trilophodon angustidens Cuv. forma praetypica koponyamaradványa Zagyvapálfalváról. Annales Musei Nationalis Hungarici, Pars Mineralogica, Geologica et Palaeontologica 22: 154–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. 1977. Le plus ancien squelette de gomphothère (Proboscidea, Mammalia) dans la Formation Burdigalienne des sables de l’Orléanais France. Mémoirs du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (N. Sér) C 37: 1–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. 1985. La place des mastodontes Miocènes de l’ancien monde dans la phylogénie des Proboscidea (Mammalia): hypothèses et conjectures. 861 p., unpubl. D.Sc. these, UPMC, Paris.

  • Tassy, P. 1994. Gaps, parsimony, and early Miocene elephantoids (Mammalia), with a re-evaluation of Gomphotherium annectens (Matsumoto, 1925). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 112: 101–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. 2013. L’anatomie cranio-mandibulaire de Gomphotherium angustidens (Cuvier, 1817) (Proboscidea, Mammalia): Données issues du gisement d’En Péjouan (Miocène moyen du Gers, France). Geodiversitas 35(2): 377–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. 2014. L’odontologie de Gomphotherium angustidens (Cuvier, 1817) (Proboscidea, Mammalia): Données issues du gisement d’En Péjouan (Miocène moyen du Gers, France). Geodiversitas 36(1): 35–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P., F. Goussard, and M.G. Sanz. 2013. The status of Mastodon angustidens pygmaeus Depéret, 1897 (Proboscidea, Mammalia): The contribution of X-ray tomography. Geobios 46: 329–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobien, H. 1972. Status of the genus Serridentinus Osborn 1923 (Proboscidea, Mammalia) and related forms. Mainzer Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen 1: 143–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobien, H. 1973. On the evolution of mastodonts (Proboscidea, Mammalia). Part 1: The bunodont trilophodont groups. Notizblatt des Hessischen Landesamtes für Bodenforschung zu Wiesbaden 10: 202–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobien, H. 1975. The structure of the mastodont molar (Proboscidea, Mammalia). Part 2: The zygodont and the zygobunodont patterns. Mainzer Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen 5: 143–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobien, H., G.-F. Chen, and Y.-Q. Li. 1986. Mastodonts (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the late Neogene and early Pleistocene of the People’s Republic of China. Part I: Historical account: The genera Gomphotherium, Choerolophodon, Synconolophus, Amebelodon, Platybelodon, Sinomastodon. Mainzer Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen 15: 119–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vacek, V.M. 1877. Über österreichische Mastodonten und ihre Beziehungen zu den Maston-Arten Europas. Abhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Geologischen Reichsanstalt 7(4): 1–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S.-Q. 2014. Gomphotherium inopinatum, a basal Gomphotherium species from the Linxia Basin, China, and other Chinese members of the genus. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 52(2): 183–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S.-Q., W. He, and S.-Q. Chen. 2013. Gomphotheriid mammal Platybelodon from the middle Miocene of Linxia Basin, Gansu, China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58: 221–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welcomme, J.-L. 1994. Le plus ancien crâne de proboscidien d’Europe, Gomphotherium hannibali nov. sp. (Proboscidea, Mammalia), du Miocène inférieur du Languedoc (France). Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences Paris, Série II 319: 135–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ye, J., W.-Y. Wu, X.-J. Ni, S.-D. Bi, J.-M. Sun, and J. Meng. 2012. The Duolebulejin Section of northern Junggar Basin and its stratigraphic and environmental implication. Science China: Earth Sciences 42: 1523–1532 (Chinese).

  • Young, C.C., and M.N. Bian. 1937. Cenozoic geology of the Kaolan-Yungteng area of Central Kansu. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 16: 221–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhai, R.J. 1961. On a collection of Neogene mammals from Ching-An, Eastern Kansu. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (3): 262–268 (Chinese 262–267; English 268).

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank P. Tassy and U.B. Göhlich for much help in comparing European specimens and providing literature, and Z.-X. Qiu, G.-F. Chen, T. Deng, Z.-D. Qiu, J. Ye, and J.-J. Zheng for useful advice and various types of assistance. We thank G. Markov and two anonymous reviewers for many suggestions to improve the article. We thank D. Wolf and M. Aiglstorfer for translating the abstract to German. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Number 2012CB821900), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Number XDB03020104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 41372001, 41430102, 41202017), and the Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Shi-Qi Wang, Jaroon Duangkrayom & Xiang-Wen Yang

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Shi-Qi Wang

  3. Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology), Nanjing, 210008, China

    Shi-Qi Wang

  4. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jaroon Duangkrayom & Xiang-Wen Yang

  5. Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand

    Jaroon Duangkrayom

Authors
  1. Shi-Qi Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jaroon Duangkrayom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiang-Wen Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shi-Qi Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, SQ., Duangkrayom, J. & Yang, XW. Occurrence of the Gomphotherium angustidens group in China, based on a revision of Gomphotherium connexum (Hopwood, 1935) and Gomphotherium shensiensis Chang and Zhai, 1978: continental correlation of Gomphotherium species across the Palearctic. Paläontol Z 89, 1073–1086 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-015-0270-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-015-0270-8

Keywords

Schlu¨sselwo¨rter

Search

Navigation