广西崇左木榄山智人洞的鼠科化石

最近在广西崇左木榄山智人洞遗址采集到1件具有现代智人解剖特征初始状态的下颌骨和丰富的哺乳动物化石。啮齿类中的鼠科化石有锡金小鼠(Mus pahari)、中华姬鼠(Apodemus draco)、黑线姬鼠(Apodemus agrarius)、似德氏狨鼠(Hapalomys cf.H.delacouri)、笔尾树鼠(Chiropodomys gliroides)、社鼠(Niviventer confucianus)、针毛鼠(Niviventer fulvescens)、爱氏巨鼠(Leopoldamys edwardsi)、印度板齿鼠(Bandicota indica)、褐家鼠(Rattus norvegicus)和黄毛鼠(Rattus losea)共8属11种。这种全部由当地或邻近地区现生种类构成的组合显然比当地早更新世的三合大洞和川黔地区中更新世歌乐山期的鼠类组合进步, 而与广西田东雾云洞的鼠类组合相似, 其动物群的时代为晚更新世早期, 与不平衡铀系法得到的测年结果(距今约11万年)相吻合。智人洞鼠科动物的组合明显具有东洋界热带-亚热带动物群的特点, 其中林灌和草地型所占比例较大表明当时的森林面积可能减少、林灌和草地面积可能增加, 反映出当时的气候相对干旱。

Murid Rodents from the Homo sapiens Cave of Mulan Mountain,Chongzuo,Guangxi,South China

Recently, an incomplete mandible of anatomically modern Homo sapiens associated with abundant mammalian fossils has been recovered from the Homo sapiens Cave of Mulan Mountain, Chongzuo, Guangxi. In this study we describe the murid rodents of this site, which include 8 genera and 11 species: Mus pahari, Apodemus draco, Apodemus agrarius, Hapalomys cf. H. delacouri, Chiropodomys gliroides, Niviventer confucianus, Niviventer fulvescens, Leopoldamys edwardsi, Bandicota indica, Rattus norvegicus and Rattus losea. The murid species from the Homo sapiens Cave, all of which are still extant, are morphologically more advanced than those from the Early Pleistocene Sanhe Cave, Chongzuo and the Middle Pleistocene Geleshanian fauna found in the Sichuan-Guizhou area, but resemble those from the Late Pleistocene Wuyun Cave of Tiandong, Guangxi. The geological age of the Homo sapiens Cave fauna is estimated to be early Late Pleistocene based on this biostratigraphic correlation. U-series dating of the strata containing the human fossils gives an age of approximately 110ka BP. The murid assemblage is mainly made up of tropical-subtropical elements within the Oriental realm. Both shrub-dwelling and grass-dwelling murid species are comparatively abundant, indicating that the forest was shrinking while the shrub and grassland were expanding at the time the fossils were deposited. This evidence was probably the result of a comparatively dry climate.