云南禄丰晚中新世的大熊猫祖先化石

本文对1981年以前和1983年在云南禄丰古猿产地发现的,为本文后一作者于1984年和1985年订为Ursavus depereti的化石材料进行了再研究。通过对标本的仔细观察及与有关属种的对比,作者将上述化石材料订为一新属新种Ailurarctos lufengensis gen.et sp.nov.。此种动物在形态特征和系统关系上介于Ursavus和Ailuropoda之间,它很可能代表了目前已知大熊猫类最早的祖先类型。

AILUROPOD FOUND FROM THE LATE MIOCENE DEPOSITS IN LUFENG,YUNNAN

As far as its origin and systematic position are concerned,the giant panda(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)is one of the most ardently debated animals.The dispute actually started im- mediately after the animal was first scientifically recognised in 1869,and remains unsettled till now.The major reason for that lies undoubtedly in lacking of fossil evidence.Indarctos,Ag- riotherium and Arctotherium were sometimes considered closely related to it,but none of them has ever been proved to be ancesto of the giant panda.Ursavus has usually been conceived as a group giving rise to the giant panda,however,no reliable links have ever been found so far. The little known Agriarctos shows some striking resemblances to the giant panda in morpho- logy,but the fossils are so poor that its real affinity is still obscure.In fact,the earliest fos- sils that we could attribute to the giant panda group with certainty differ from the latter at most specifically,for instance Ailuropoda microta from the early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus fauna in South China(see Pei,1974 & 1987). A preliminary study of the ursid material collected from the Lufengpithecus locality prior to 1981 and discovered later in 1983 was published by one of the present authors(Qi G.q.)in 1984 and in 1985 respectively.Reexamination of all the materials at hand have covinced us that the specimens originally identified as Ursavus depereti supposedly represent the earliest re- cord of a true member of ailuropods.This new finding will doubtless play an important ro- le in solving the problems concerning the origin and systematic position of the giant panda in the future.