Abstract
Squirrels (Sciuridae) have been rarely recognized among surface finds of Yushe Basin. The sciurids described here are small samples of mainly isolated teeth recovered from the fossil deposits of Yushe Basin by screening in 1987 and 1988 with additions from 1991, but include six species from two subfamilies. They are Tamias cf. T. ertemtensis (Qiu 1991), Sciurus sp., Sinotamias sp., Marmota sp. of Sciurinae, and Pliopetaurista rugosa Qiu 1991 and Hylopetes yuncuensis sp. nov. (Pteromyinae). Among these squirrels, three taxa (Tamias cf. T. ertemtensis, Pliopetaurista rugosa, and Hylopetes yuncuensis) occur in more than one formation, with a temporal interval of 6.3 Ma to 3.4 Ma indicated by paleomagnetic stratigraphy. Morphological comparisons with species related to the chipmunk and the flying squirrel indicate agreement with a geologic span of late Miocene to early Pliocene for the fossil-bearing beds. The Yushe sciurid fauna is most similar in composition to those of Ertemte and Harr Obo of Inner Mongolia , strongly implying chronological similarity and biogeographical affiliation of these assemblages. However, the Yushe fauna contains proportionally more arboreal sciurids than the two Inner Mongolian faunas, and lacks the ground squirrel genus Prospermophilus, which is considered indicative of semi-arid grassland and is abundant in the Inner Mongolian faunas. This discrepancy highlights ecological distinctions between the Shanxi fauna and Inner Mongolian faunas, Yushe Basin being moister.
Note: This chapter includes one or more new nomenclatural-taxonomic actions, registered in Zoobank and for such purposes the official publication date is 2017.
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Sincere thanks are due reviewers, especially Everett Lindsay and Yuri Kimura, whose careful efforts led to improving this chapter.
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Qiu, ZD. (2017). Yushe Squirrels (Sciuridae, Rodentia). In: J. Flynn, L., Wu, WY. (eds) Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China: Geology and Fossil Mammals. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1050-1_5
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