Antler fossil of Sinomegaceros ordosianus from Nanbaishan site of Late Pleistocene age in Yüxian, Hebei Province

doi:10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2023.0001

Abstract

Abstract:

Giant deer is among the most common animals of Mid-Late Pleistocene sites in northern China, and was one of the representative icons of the Pleistocene fauna in northern China, while the fossil materials are fairly poor and very few complete antlers were ever recovered, except those from Zhoukoudian site; on the other hand, the knowledge about the age-related changes of the antlers is absolutely insufficient. Therefore, the previous taxonomic work based only on the antler features is open to questions.

In 2018, a quite complete antler of giant deer was recovered from the Nanbaishan site of Middle Paleolithic period in Yüxian County, Hebei Province. The antler is quite big; brow tine and the palmation of beam are thin and fan-like, without palm tines; the brow tine and the palmation of beam run along two nearly parallel planes, but are not exactly parallel; the shaft of the beam bends at the basal part, but the sigmoid form is not prominent. In general morphology, the new antler is very close to that of Sinomegaceros ordosianus. The new specimen represents the most complete antler of S. ordosianus ever recovered. The dimensions (L: length & W: width) of the palmate is 670×526.8 mm; the dimensions (L& W) of the brow tine is 510×480 mm, the length and circumference of the beam are 270 and 193 mm respectively, the circumference of the burr is 310 mm. The first phalanx is robust, its greatest length is 77.7 mm; proximal width is 29.2 mm, transverse and antero-posterior diameters are 24.0 and 26.0 mm respectively.

In China, quite a number of megalocerine taxa had been named at the species and subspecies levels, namely Sinomegaceros pachyosteus, S. ordosianus, S. flabellatus, S. konwanlinensis, S. youngi, S. luochuanensis, S. sangganhoensis, S. o. mentougouensis and S. baotouensis, among which S. ordosianus is the most widely distributed species and has the richest fossil records. On the contrary, S. baotouensis is the least known species which only represented by one shed antler and one metatarsal bone. With only a few exceptions, e.g. Tangshan near Nanjing, Zhoushan island in Zhejiang and Hualong Cave in Anhui, all the other megalocerine fossil sites in China occur north of the Yangtze River, and most of them are located in northern China. The fossils of S. ordosianus were frequently appeared in the prehistoric site, which indicates that the giant deer was very probably among the food sources of early humans. The OSL age of the Nanbaishan site is around 110 kaBP, which falls into the range of the Middle Paleolithic period.

Key words: Sinomegaceros, antler fossil, Nanbaishan site, Late Pleistocene, Yüxian, Hebei

CLC Number:

Q915.87

MEI Huijie, ZHANG Bei, LEI Huarui, TONG Haowen. Antler fossil of Sinomegaceros ordosianus from Nanbaishan site of Late Pleistocene age in Yüxian, Hebei Province[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2023, 42(02): 225-237.

Figures/Tables 8

References 49

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属种taxon	河套大角鹿S. ordosianus					肿骨鹿S. pachyosteus	扁角鹿S. flabellatus	洛川大角鹿S. luochuanensis
地点Locality	南柏山 Nanbai- shan	丁村 Dingcun^[35]	周家油坊 Zhoujia- youfang^[36]	闫家岗 Yanjia- gang^[33]	灵井Lingjing^[37]	周口店 ZKD 1^[11]	周口店 ZKD 13^[5]	陕西洛川^[26] Luochuan
角总长度L(Antler)	930	-	-	-	-	260-576	950-1050	530
角环周长C (Burr)	310	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
角环前后径d(Antero-posterior of burr)	104.7	78.0-99.8	62.0-94.8	41.1-91.5	103.3	74-94	-	65
角环内外径d(Medial-lateral of burr)	96.4	74.0-99.0	68.2-95.5	49.0-97.1	98.2	-	-	54
眉枝最大高H_max(Brow tine)	480	-	-	-	-	-	350-530	174
眉枝最大宽b_max(Brow tine)	510	-	-	-	-	-	250-300	260
眉枝基部宽b(Base of brow tine)	114.6	74.5-88.0	59.5-92.7	43.3-97.2	-	-	-	-
主枝角干周长C (Shaft)	193	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
主枝角干前后径d(Antero-posterior of shaft)	59.8	48.0-51.1	50.4-87.0	32.5-70.5	53.7	46-94	-	56
主枝角干上下(横)径d(Superoinferior of shaft)	56.7	53.3-69.0	51.5-95.0	22.5-56.9	45.3	-	-	42
主枝角干长L(Shaft)	270	-	-	-	-	-	-	120
主枝掌部最大长L_max( Palmation)	526.8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
主枝掌部最大宽b_max(Palmation)	670	-	-	-	-	-	450	400

属种taxon	河套大角鹿S. ordosianus					肿骨鹿S. pachyosteus	扁角鹿S. flabellatus	洛川大角鹿S. luochuanensis
地点Locality	南柏山 Nanbai- shan	丁村 Dingcun^[35]	周家油坊 Zhoujia- youfang^[36]	闫家岗 Yanjia- gang^[33]	灵井Lingjing^[37]	周口店 ZKD 1^[11]	周口店 ZKD 13^[5]	陕西洛川^[26] Luochuan
角总长度L(Antler)	930	-	-	-	-	260-576	950-1050	530
角环周长C (Burr)	310	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
角环前后径d(Antero-posterior of burr)	104.7	78.0-99.8	62.0-94.8	41.1-91.5	103.3	74-94	-	65
角环内外径d(Medial-lateral of burr)	96.4	74.0-99.0	68.2-95.5	49.0-97.1	98.2	-	-	54
眉枝最大高H_max(Brow tine)	480	-	-	-	-	-	350-530	174
眉枝最大宽b_max(Brow tine)	510	-	-	-	-	-	250-300	260
眉枝基部宽b(Base of brow tine)	114.6	74.5-88.0	59.5-92.7	43.3-97.2	-	-	-	-
主枝角干周长C (Shaft)	193	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
主枝角干前后径d(Antero-posterior of shaft)	59.8	48.0-51.1	50.4-87.0	32.5-70.5	53.7	46-94	-	56
主枝角干上下(横)径d(Superoinferior of shaft)	56.7	53.3-69.0	51.5-95.0	22.5-56.9	45.3	-	-	42
主枝角干长L(Shaft)	270	-	-	-	-	-	-	120
主枝掌部最大长L_max( Palmation)	526.8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
主枝掌部最大宽b_max(Palmation)	670	-	-	-	-	-	450	400

样品编号Sample	铀含量 U(/10⁶)	钍含量 Th(/10⁶)	钾含量 K(%)	水含量 H₂O(%)	剂量率 Dose rate (Gy/ka)	测片数Number of aliquots	等效剂量 Equivalent dose(Gy)	年龄 Age (kaBP)
18NBS-OSL-01 （东侧East）	1.93±0.04	13.07±0.16	2.06±0.04	15±5	3.70±0.13	7	406.20±6.56	109.9±4.2
18NBS-OSL-02 （西侧West）	2.06±0.05	9.10±0.06	2.10±0.07	15±5	3.42±0.13	7	369.27±7.77	108.1±4.6

样品编号Sample	铀含量 U(/10⁶)	钍含量 Th(/10⁶)	钾含量 K(%)	水含量 H₂O(%)	剂量率 Dose rate (Gy/ka)	测片数Number of aliquots	等效剂量 Equivalent dose(Gy)	年龄 Age (kaBP)
18NBS-OSL-01 （东侧East）	1.93±0.04	13.07±0.16	2.06±0.04	15±5	3.70±0.13	7	406.20±6.56	109.9±4.2
18NBS-OSL-02 （西侧West）	2.06±0.05	9.10±0.06	2.10±0.07	15±5	3.42±0.13	7	369.27±7.77	108.1±4.6