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First record of Eocene fossil rodent assemblages from the lower part of the Erden Obo Section, Erlian Basin (Nei Mongol, China) and its biochronological implications

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Abstract

The Erden Obo section is one of the best known Paleogene sections in central Asia since 1920s, but we still do not have a unified understanding of the division of strata in this area. During the last decade, numerous rodent fossils have been systematically collected from the Erden Obo section. Three separate rodent assemblages of different ages ranging from the “Basal Red” at the base to the “Basal White” beds in the Erden Obo section were recognised based on the new collection. The upper part of the “Basal Red” beds contains alagomyids (Alagomys sp. and Archetypomys sp.) and primitive ctenodactyloids (Chenomys orientalis and Tamquammys wilsoni). A variety of ctenodactyloids (Tamquammys wilsoni, Simplicimys bellus, Advenimus ulungurensis and Chenomys sp.) are present in the lower part of the “Basal White” beds. Ischyromyid rodents (Asiomys dawsoni and Acritoparamys naomugengensis sp. nov.), primitive cricetids (Pappocricetodon neimongolensis and Pappocricetodon sp.) and ctenodactyloids (Tamquammys wilsoni, Simplicimys bellus and Yuomys huheboerhensis) appear in the middle part of the “Basal White” beds. The three rodent assemblages, in ascending order, are similar to those from the upper part of the Nomogen Formation, the upper part of the Arshanto Formation and the lower part of the Irdin Manha Formation in the Nuhetingboerhe-Huheboerhe area, respectively. Based on the rodent assemblages, we propose that the “Basal Red” beds are most likely the Nomogen Formation, and the age of the upper part of the “Basal Red” beds is Bumbanian land mammal age. The lower part and middle part of the “Basal White” beds correspond to the upper part of the Arshanto and the lower part of the Irdin Manha Formations, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Bin Bai, Xun Jin, Ping Li, Jin Meng, K. C. Beard, D. L. Gebo, Xijun Ni, Wei Chen, Wei Zhou, Shejie Li, Qiang Cao, Wei Gao, Chenkai Sun, Haibin Wang, Yongxin Wang and Qi Li for assistance in fieldwork, and Yongfu Wang for specimen preparation. Hongwei Si for assistance in SEM. Judith A. Schiebout helped to improve the manuscript. The review comments of Lawrence Flynn and an anonymous reviewer greatly improved the manuscript. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41572013, 41404022), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDPB05). The fieldwork was also supported by the Special Fund for Fossil Excavation and Preparation, CAS.

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  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

    Qian Li, Fang-Yuan Mao & Yuan-Qing Wang

  2. College of Earth Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yuan-Qing Wang

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  1. Qian Li
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This article is registered in Zoobank under: urn:lsid:xzoobank.org:pub:F4CC9E07-1A96-419B-8110-0E6E49CFD734

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Li, Q., Mao, FY. & Wang, YQ. First record of Eocene fossil rodent assemblages from the lower part of the Erden Obo Section, Erlian Basin (Nei Mongol, China) and its biochronological implications. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 98, 259–276 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-017-0303-2

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