中国真猛犸象和披毛犀化石14C年代研究新进展

真猛犸象（Mammuthus primigenius）和披毛犀（Coelodonta antiquitatis）是北半球高纬度地区晚更新世动物群的主要成员,其消亡的年代和原因一直是国际学术界关注的热点科学问题。本文对黑龙江青冈县英贤村最新出土的5个真猛犸象和5个披毛犀化石进行了AMS¹⁴C年代测定,结果均大于4万年,部分化石可能已经超出了目前¹⁴C的测定范围。通过整理并对比已公开发表的中国境内两种动物化石的¹⁴C年代学数据,本文认为早期常规¹⁴C测年方法所获得的年代值需要重新考虑其准确性。埋藏地层与最新的AMS¹⁴C测年数据显示,我国真猛犸象化石年代主要集中于MIS3阶段;披毛犀在我国消亡的时间很可能晚于真猛犸象,至少延续到末次冰消期。中国猛犸象-披毛犀动物群化石仍然需要开展更多的年代学研究。

New radiocarbon evidence on the woolly mammoth and rhinoceros in China

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus Primigenius) and the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) were the dominated members of the late Pleistocene fauna in the high latitude of northern Hemisphere. The age and causes of their extinction are still controversy. In this study, five woolly mammoth and 5 woolly rhinoceros fossils unearthed recently from Yingxiancun, Qinggang County, Heilongjiang Province were dated by AMS¹⁴C methods. The dating results were all over 40,000 years, and some fossils may have exceeded the current limit of radiocarbon dating. Based on comparing the published radiocarbon data of two animal fossils in China, we argued that the accuracy of the dating results obtained by the conventional ¹⁴C dating method should be reconsidered. The dating results of woolly mammoth fossils were mainly in MIS3, and the woolly rhinoceros survived in China until the last deglacial period. More chronology data of Mammuthus Primigenius and Coelodonta antiquitatis fossils were still needed for the research on the late Pleistocene megafauna extinction in China.