Sinomegaceros

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Sinomegaceros
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene–Late Pleistocene
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Sinomegaceros yabei - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo - DSC06925.JPG
Sinomegaceros yabei at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
Zhong Gu Da Jiao Lu Da Qing Bo Wu Guan .jpg
Sinomegaceros pachyosteus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Cervinae
Tribe: Cervini
Genus:† Sinomegaceros
Dietrich, 1933
Species
  • S. yabeiShikama, 1938
  • S. pachyosteusYoung, 1932
  • S. flabellatus Teilhard de Chardin, 1936
  • S. konwanlinensisChow, Hu and Lee, 1965
  • S. tadzhikistanisVislobokova, 1988
  • S. ordosianusYoung, 1932
Synonyms
  • Cervus (Sinomegaceroides)Shikama, 1949
  • Megaceros (Sinomegaceros)Kahlke & Hu, 1957 [1]
  • MongolomegacerosShikama & Okafuji, 1958
  • MegaceraxisMatsumoto, 1963

Sinomegaceros is an extinct genus of deer known from the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene of Central and East Asia. It is considered to be part of the group of "giant deer" (often referred to collectively as members of the tribe Megacerini), with a close relationship to Megaloceros . Many members of the genus are noted for their distinctive palmate antler brow tines.

Contents

Taxonomy

Sinomegaceros yabei head closeup Sinomegaceros yabei - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo - DSC06928.JPG
Sinomegaceros yabei head closeup

The first species of the genus S. ordosianus and S. pachyosteus were named by pioneering Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young as species of Cervus in 1932 for material from Zhoukoudian. [2] In a review of the paper the subsequent year Dietrich created the name Sinomegaceros as a subgenus of Cervus to house the species, with S. pachyosteus as the type species. [3] Due to the fact that the name was not published in a formal research paper, it was not widely used for several decades after publication. [4] The species S. yabei was named in 1938. [5] In the following decades various researchers considered it a subgenus of Megaloceros, [6] [7] or a distinct genus. [8] [9] Several named species are likely to be junior synonyms. [4]

Named species include: [10]

Indeterminate remains of Sinomegaceros are also known from the Late Pleistocene of the Korean Peninsula. [11]

Sinomegaceros has often been considered closely related to other genera "giant deer", like Praemegaceros and Megaloceros , as part of the tribe Megacerini. [12] Mitochondrial genomes from Late Pleistocene Chinese and Siberian Sinomegaceros (including S. ordosianus and S. pachyosteus) indicate that the mitochondrial diversity of the Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus, also known as the giant deer) is nested within the diversity of Sinomegaceros, suggesting that the two lineages interbred after their initial split. This interbreeding may have occurred in the contact region between the two groups in Siberia. Relationships of Sinomegaceros mitochondrial genomes after Xiao, et al. 2023 [13]

Dama

Sinomegaceros+Megaloceros

Sinomegaceros pachyosteus (China)

Megaloceros giganteus (Russia, Belgium)

Sinomegaceros ordosianus (China, Russia)

Sinomegaceros pachyosteus (China)

Megaloceros giganteus (Europe, Russia)

Description

Species of Sinomegaceros were large deer, with estimated body masses for Chinese Pleistocene species ranging from 220 kilograms (490 lb) in S.pachyosteus to 365 kilograms (805 lb) in S. konwanlinensis, with S. ordosianus estimated at 330 kilograms (730 lb). Remains attributed to the genus in Central Asia are even larger, with the body mass of S. tadzhikistanis being estimated at 465 kilograms (1,025 lb), while an indeterminate species from the Pleistocene locality of Lakhuti 2 in Tajikistan was estimated 560 kilograms (1,230 lb), making it one of the largest deer known. [14] The antlers have palmate brow tines, with the palmation generally orientated transversely and vertically. [4] [10] The mandibles of Sinomegaceros, like those of Megaloceros giganteus, are robust and display pachyostosis with the robustness being the most extreme in S. pachyosteus. [4] [15]

Ecology

S. yabei and S. pachyosteus are suggested to have been grazers. [4] [15]

Evolution

One of the oldest species in the genus is Sinomegaceros tadzhikistanis, known from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Tajikistan. [16] The oldest species of the genus in China is Sinomegaceros konwanlinensis, from Gongwaling in Northern China, dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 1.6 million years ago. [10] [4] S. fabellatus is known from fossils spanning the latest Early Pleistocene to early Middle Pleistocene. S. sangwonensis is known from fossils spanning the mid-Middle Pleistocene. The oldest fossils of S. pachyosteus date to around 700,000 years ago, during the early Middle Pleistocene. While some authors suggest youngest fossils of the species date to the late Middle Pleistocene, [10] other sources have suggested that the species persisted into the Late Pleistocene, with reported radiocarbon dates as recent as 35,000 years ago. [13] The species S. yabei and S. ordosianus first appeared during the late Middle Pleistocene. [10] It has been suggested that both S. pachyosteus and S. yabei ultimately derive from S. konwanlinensis. [4] While often stated to have become extinct around 12,000 years ago, a lack of high-quality radiocarbon dates makes the time of extinction uncertain for S. yabei, with the only certain radiocarbon dates dating to around 40,000 years ago. [17] Radiocarbon dates for S. ordosianus in Northeastern China extend as recently as the Last Glacial Maximum, around 22,000 years ago. [13]

Relationship with humans

Remains of S. yabei at Lake Nojiri in Nagano Prefecture of Honshu, Japan, dating to approximately 37,900 to 42,600 years Before Present have been found associated with spear-shaped wood pieces and large pebbles, with the long bones fractured, with their fragments bearing percussive marks, suggesting that these deer (alongside elephants belonging to the species Palaeoloxodon naumanni ) were butchered by humans at the site, with the long bones likely cracked to extract bone marrow. [18] S. ordosianus is suggested to have likely been hunted by archaic humans, based on the finds of its remains in Chinese Paleolithic archaeological sites. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ Vislobokova, I. A. (2013). "Morphology, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny of Megacerines (Megacerini, Cervidae, Artiodactyla)". Paleontological Journal. 47 (8): 833–950. doi:10.1134/S0031030113080017. ISSN   0031-0301. S2CID   86697746.
  2. ↑ Young, C.C., 1932. On the Artiodactyla from the Sinanthropus site at Chouk’outien. Palaeontogia Sinica, Series C 8 (2), 159
  3. ↑ Dietrich, W.O., 1933. [Review of] C.C. Young: on the Artiodactyla from the Sinanthropus Site at Choukoutien. Neuest Jahrbuch fu ̈r Miner-alogie, Geologie und Pala ̈ontologie. Referate, III 1933(2), 475–477.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 van der Made, J.; Tong, H.W. (March 2008). "Phylogeny of the giant deer with palmate brow tines Megaloceros from west and Sinomegaceros from east Eurasia" (PDF). Quaternary International. 179 (1): 135–162. Bibcode:2008QuInt.179..135V. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2007.08.017.
  5. ↑ Shikama, T., 1938. Discovery of giant fallow deer from the Pleistocene in Japan. Japanese Journal of Geology and Geography 16 (1–2), 115–122
  6. ↑ Kahlke, H.D., Hu, C.-k., 1957. On the distribution of Megaceros in China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 1 (4), 273–283 pl. 1.
  7. ↑ Kahlke, R.D., 1999. The history of the origin, evolution and dispersal of the Late Pleistocene Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex in Eurasia (large mammals). Mammoth site of Hot Springs, SD, inc., 219.
  8. ↑ Shikama, T., Tsugawa, S., 1962. Megacerid remains from Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Bulletin of the National Science Museum 6 (1), 1–13.
  9. ↑ Otsuka, H., Shikama, T., 1977. Studies on fossil deer of the Takao Collection (Pleistocene deer fauna in the Seto Inland Sea, West Japan— Part 1). Bulletin of the National Science Museum 3 (1), 9–40 pls. 1-6.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Citation: Mei HJ, Zhang B, Lei HR, et al. Antler fossil of Sinomegaceros ordosianus from Nanbaishan site of Late Pleistocene age in Yüxian, Hebei Province[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2023, 42(2): 225-237 (In Chinese with English abstract)
  11. ↑ Choe, Rye Sun; Han, Kum Sik; Kim, Se Chan; U, Chol; Ho, Chol Ung; Kang, Il (September 2020). "Late Pleistocene fauna from Chongphadae Cave, Hwangju County, Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Quaternary Research. 97: 42–54. doi:10.1017/qua.2020.9. ISSN   0033-5894.
  12. ↑ Vislobokova, I. A. (December 2013). "Morphology, taxonomy, and phylogeny of megacerines (Megacerini, Cervidae, Artiodactyla)". Paleontological Journal. 47 (8): 833–950. doi:10.1134/S0031030113080017. ISSN   0031-0301.
  13. 1 2 3 Xiao, Bo; Rey-lglesia, Alba; Yuan, Junxia; Hu, Jiaming; Song, Shiwen; Hou, Yamei; Chen, Xi; Germonpré, Mietje; Bao, Lei; Wang, Siren; Taogetongqimuge; Valentinovna, Lbova Liudmila; Lister, Adrian M.; Lai, Xulong; Sheng, Guilian (November 2023). "Relationships of Late Pleistocene Giant Deer as Revealed by Sinomegaceros Mitogenomes from East Asia". iScience. 26 (12): 108406. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108406 . PMC   10690636 .
  14. ↑ Croitor, Roman (2022-11-06). "Paleobiogeography of Crown Deer". Earth. 3 (4): 1138–1160. doi: 10.3390/earth3040066 . ISSN   2673-4834.
  15. 1 2 Fu, Jiao; Zhang, Ji; Wang, Yuan; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Wang, Shi-Qi (2022-07-19). "Finite element analysis of the hemimandible of the giant deer, Sinomegaceros pachyosteus , revealing its feeding potentialities". Historical Biology: 1–8. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2101368. ISSN   0891-2963.
  16. ↑ Croitor, Roman; Abbas, Sayyed Ghyour; Babar, Muhammad Adeeb; Khan, Muhammad Akbar (September 2021). "A new deer species (Cervidae, Mammalia) from the upper Siwaliks (Pakistan)". Quaternary International. 595: 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.03.009.
  17. ↑ Iwase, Akira; Hashizume, Jun; Izuho, Masami; Takahashi, Keiichi; Sato, Hiroyuki (March 2012). "Timing of megafaunal extinction in the late Late Pleistocene on the Japanese Archipelago". Quaternary International. 255: 114–124. Bibcode:2012QuInt.255..114I. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.029.
  18. ↑ Kondo, Y.; Takeshita, Y.; Watanabe, T.; Seki, M.; Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group (April 2018). "Geology and Quaternary environments of the Tategahana Paleolithic site in Nojiri-ko (Lake Nojiri), Nagano, central Japan". Quaternary International. 471: 385–395. Bibcode:2018QuInt.471..385K. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.012.
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