Habitat, climate and potential plant food resources for the late Miocene Shuitangba hominoid in Southwest China: Insights from carpological remains
Habitat, climate and potential plant food resources for the late Miocene Shuitangba hominoid in Southwest China: Insights from carpological remains
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DOI：
10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.014
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发表时间：
2017-03-15
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Zhou, Zhe-Kun
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Huang, Yong-Jiang;Ji, Xue-Ping;Zhou, Zhe-Kun
晚中新世是一个亚时代，当类人猿在世界范围内变得罕见，但设法生存在少数避难所。因此，调查晚中新世人科动物的生活条件对于更好地了解他们如何在这些避难所中生存至关重要。本研究对水塘坝古猿（Lufengpithecus cf. lufengensis）。从昭通盆地新发现的化石中鉴定出14个植物类群，其中10个类群在以往的花粉记录中没有反映。这些新的植物类群扩展了我们对植物群的认识，并表明昭通盆地中新世晚期生态系统的多样性。根据我们的化石分类群，我们推测，水塘坝古猿生活在一个分层的混合森林组成的乔木，灌木，藤本植物，草本植物和草，附近的湖泊占据了各种水生植物。利用共存法（CoA）定量古气候重建表明，昭通盆地晚中新世的年平均气温（MAT）为11.317.6 ℃，年平均降水量（MAP）为1042-1547 mm，表明该盆地处于温和的暖湿气候。这也表明，在亚洲季风的影响下，古猿有温暖潮湿的夏天，但凉爽干燥的冬天。可食用和营养丰富的水果和相当大的种子，例如，山核桃和榛的坚果，芡实和菱的果实可能被水塘坝古猿利用。较硬的水果，例如，山核桃和榛属的坚果，可能有利于人科动物作为后备资源，在冬季食物稀缺。(C)2017爱思唯尔B. V.保留所有权利。
The late Miocene is a sub-epoch when hominoids became rare worldwide but managed to survive in a few refugia. Investigating the living conditions of the late Miocene hominoids is therefore crucial for a better understanding of how they survived in those refugia. In this study, we present relevant palaeobotanical evidence regarding the habitat, climate and possible plant food resources for the Shuitangba hominoid (Lufengpithecus cf. lufengensis) from the late Miocene Zhaotong Basin, Southwest China. A total of 14 plant taxa were recognized from carpological remains newly recovered from the Zhaotong Basin, among which ten taxa were not reflected in the previous pollen record. These new plant taxa expand our knowledge of the flora and indicate how diverse the ecosystem in the late Miocene Zhaotong Basin was. Based on our carpological taxa, we hypothesize that the Shuitangba hominoid lived in a stratified mixed forest composed of trees, shrubs, lianas, herbs and grasses, near a lake occupied by various aquatic plants. The quantitative palaeoclimate reconstruction using the Coexistence Approach (CoA) indicates that the late Miocene Zhaotong Basin had a mean annual temperature (MAT) of 11.317.6 C and a mean annual precipitation (MAP) of 1042-1547 mm, suggesting a mildly warm and humid climate for the Shuitangba hominoid. It also indicates that the hominoid had warm and wet summers but cool and dry winters, under the influence of the Asian monsoon. Edible and nutritious fruits and seeds of a considerable size, e.g., nuts of Carya and Corylus, fruits of Euryale and Trapa, were possibly exploited by the Shuitangba hominoid. The harder fruits, e.g., nuts of Carya and Corylus, might have benefited the hominoid as a fallback resource in winter when foods were scarce. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.