关键词: 广西崇左; 三合巨猿大洞; 早更新世中期; 鼠科化石

Abstract: This article describes the murid rodents from the newly discovered Gigantopithecus fauna from Sanhe Cave, Chongzuo, Guangxi. There are 7 genera and 11 species, of which 4 ( 40% ) are extinct. Systematic comparisons indicate that the murid species from Sanhe Cave are morphologically more advanced than those from the hominid site at Longgupo Cave, Wushan, but resemble those from the hominid site at Longgudong Cave, Jianshi. Paleomagnetic dating of the fossil??bearing strata in Sanhe Cave gives an age of approximately 1.2-1.6 Ma BP, i.e. the middle Lower Pleistocene. Except for a few widespread types, most murid species from Sanhe Cave belong to the Oriental faunal realm. Furthermore, almost all of them are arboreal or semi??arboreal species preferring tropical to subtropical forest or grassland environments, basically identical with the ecological characteristics reflected by megamammals from Sanhe Cave. Consequently, the local environment at that time may be inferred to have been a lush forest with a warm to hot climate. The murids discovered at Sanhe Cave represent the first record of murids in the Gigantopithecus fauna of Guangxi. This new data will help paleontologists to further interpret its ecological and environmental contexts.

Key words: Chongzuo Guangxi; Sanhe Cave; Middle Lower Pleistocene; Muridae