PLIOCENE AND EARLY PLEISTOCENE PRIMITIVE MAMMOTHS OF NORTHERN CHINA: THEIR REVISED TAXONOMY, BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND EVOLUTION

Abstract

Primitive mammoth remains from the Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene of northern China are examined taxonomically and biostratigraphically. The taxonomy of the remains has been greatly confused in previous studies, but our revision reveals that three species such as Mammuthus rumanus, M. meridionalis and M. trogontherii are recognized in the remains. The recognition of the three species is comparable with the revised classification of the primitive mammoths recently proposed for European and Siberian remains. Among the three species, M. rumanus and M. meridionalis occur in the Pliocene sediments paleomagnetically dated as ca. 3.4-2.8 Ma and ca. 2.6-1.8 Ma, respectively. The biostratigraphic range of the remaining species, M. trogontherii, is determined more accurately to be 1.66 to 1.1 Ma in the Early Pleistocene, by referring to the results of the paleomagnetic measurements. On the basis of the taxonomic and biostratigraphic conclusions, we briefly discuss the evolution of the primitive mammoths in northern China, and their migration to and from the same area.