Tong Xin 'Dragon Bones' collection, Ningxia (Miocene of China)

Also known as Tongxin

Where: Ningxia, China (37.0° N, 105.9° E: paleocoordinates 36.9° N, 103.8° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Serravallian (13.8 - 11.6 Ma)

• Middle Miocene (originally though to be Late Miocene by Chiu et al. (1979)), Tunggurian, Astaracian, MN6. Fauna very similar to Belometchetskaya in former Soviet Union, thought to be MN5/6.

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; lithology not reported

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: Material comprises 'dragon bones' collected from the Tongxin region. The material comes from a number of localities. Collected in the 1970s by the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, the Beijing Museum of Natural History and the Ningxia Bureau of Geology.

Primary reference: G. Chen. 1978. Some mastodonts from Miocene of Ningxia. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 16(2):103-110 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 42539: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 02.08.2004, edited by John Alroy

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Specimens identified to family had not been published before Qiu (1990) was written. Small mammals are present but are not described.
unclassified
  -
Elasmotherii indet.3
skulls and jaws of an elasmothere (undescribed).
Mammalia
 Placentalia -
Rodentia indet.2 Bowdich 1821 rodent
 Rodentia - Castoridae
Monosaulax sp.2 Stirton 1935 beaver
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Alloptox sp.2 Dawson 1961 pika
many isolated teeth (undescribed).
 Primates - Pliopithecidae
Pliopithecus zhanxiangi n. sp.2 Harrison et al. 1991 monkey
1 tooth.
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
"Caementodon tongxinensis" = Hispanotherium matritense2 de Prado 1864 rhinoceros
skulls and jaws of an elasmothere (undescribed).
Aceratherium sp.2 Kaup 1834 rhinoceros
skulls and jaws of an acerathere (undescribed).
 Perissodactyla - Chalicotheriidae
Schizotheriinae indet.3 Holland and Peterson 1913 chalicothere
jaw of a schizothere (undescribed), either Ancylotherium or Metaschizotherium - omitted by Harrison et al. 1991
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Kubanochoerus lantienensis3 pig
a skull and several incomplete mandibles.
Kubanochoerus sp.2 Gabunia 1955 pig
Listriodon sp.2 von Meyer 1846 pig
 Artiodactyla - Lagomerycidae
Stephanocemas sp. Colbert 1936 ruminant
V 5586.
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Cervidae indet.2 Gray 1821 deer
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Eotragus sp.3 Pilgrim 1939 antelope
horncores (undescribed) - omitted by Harrison et al. 1991
 Carnivora - Percrocutidae
Percrocuta primordialis3 Qiu and Cao 1988 carnivoran
skull and lower jaws.
 Carnivora - Nimravidae
Sansanosmilus sp.3 Kretzoi 1929 false sabre-tooth
1 skull (undescribed) - omitted by Harrison et al. 1991
 Carnivora - Hyaenidae
"Miohyaena sp." = Thalassictis2, Protictitherium sp.2
"Miohyaena sp." = Thalassictis2 Nordmann 1850 hyaena
Protictitherium sp.2 Kretzoi 1938 hyaena
 Carnivora - Amphicyonidae
Gobicyon sp.3 Colbert 1839 bear-dog
a partial skull and teeth (undescribed).
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Platybelodon tongxinensis3 gomphothere
about 50 teeth.
Platybelodon tongxinensis2 gomphothere
1 skull? 2 upper M3, 2 lower M3 but only 1 specimen number given (V 5572).
Platybelodon tongxinensis2 gomphothere
6 specimen numbers given - V 5573-V 5578.
Platybelodon tongxinensis2 gomphothere
V 5579, lower teeth DP3-M1 (V 5580), Lower teeth M2-M3 (V 5581).
Platybelodon tongxinensis2 gomphothere
V 5584.
Platybelodon tongxinensis2 gomphothere
1 lower M3 (V 5584), 1 upper M3 (V 5585).
Reptilia
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudinidae indet.1 Batsch 1788 turtle