Zanda (ZD1208) (Miocene to of China)

Where: Tibet, China (31.7° N, 79.7° E: paleocoordinates 28.4° N, 80.6° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Zanda Formation, Late/Upper Miocene to Late/Upper Miocene (11.6 - 3.6 Ma)

• The type locality IVPP ZD1001 is stratigraphically correlated to chron C3n.1r with an estimated age of 4.42 Ma [9]. The strati- graphic range of occurrence of the species based on all available material is from 5.95 Ma (IVPP locality ZD1223, corre- lated to chron C3r) to 4.10 Ma (IVPP locality ZD1208, correlated to chron C2Ar), or from the end of the Late Miocene to the Early Pliocene [9] ( figure 3).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lacustrine - small; coarse-grained, green sandstone

• or detailed description of Zanda Basin and its biostratigraphy, refer to [1-4]. The Zanda Basin is a northwest-southeast trending, pull-apart sag basin parallel to the Himalaya Range in its north-western region. The elevation of the basin ranges from 3,700 m to about 4,500 m, with a ~800 m basin fill of fluvial, lacustrine, eolian, and alluvial fan sequences. The type locality, ZD1001, occurs in the middle unit of the Zanda Formation, which exhibits an upward-coarsening sequence of profundal lacustrine to deltaic sediments. Mammal fossils in this unit often occur in coarser, near-shore strata, whereas fish fossils are associated with finer sediments. The fossils from locality ZD1001 are concentrated within a 20 m long by 5.6 m wide lens of coarse-grained, poorly consolidated sandstone, with a maximum remaining thickness of ~1 m. The locality is exposed on top of a narrow ridge with steep cliffs on either side, and extends towards 315-320°. The fossiliferous layer is situated above a 50-80 mm thick coarse sandstone layer of high iron content cemented by carbonates.

•Above and below this layer are 1.5 m thick conglomerates formed mainly by fragments of slate, shale, and metamorphic sandstones, with lower amounts of calcite and quartz. Imbrications of the majority of the pebbles within the conglomerates are oriented towards 140°, indicating the direction of the paleocurrent. Basement exposures of metamorphic limestone and brownish shale can be seen at the bottom of the cliff, indicating that the local sedimentary package is not far from basement rocks, which often form local islands in the paleo-Zanda lake (see Fig. S1) [1].

• greenish, coarse-grained sandstone

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the IVPP

Primary reference: Z. J. Tseng, X. Wang, G. J. Slater, G. T. Takeuchi, Q. Li, J. Liu, and G. Xie. 2013. Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 152266: authorized by Mark Uhen, entered by Mark Uhen on 14.11.2013

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Mammalia
 Carnivora - Felidae
Panthera blytheae
Panthera blytheae Tseng et al. 2013 cat