New Material from the Miocene of Ningxia (Western China) Reveals Life History of Platybelodon
The middle Miocene Dingjiaergou Fauna in Tongxin County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, western China has yielded 27 taxa from more than 10 families and is approximately equivalent to European Neogene mammal zone (MN) 6. During recent fieldwork, Drs. WANG Shiqi and YE Jie, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, collected a well-preserved newborn mandible and an incomplete left pes of Platybelodon. As the pes of Platybelodon has not been described before, these new material provides important paleobiological information on Platybelodon. A study published online May 23 in Historical Biology shows that Platybelodon has an early evolution of tooth succession independent from other proboscideans, and owns a light-built body and rapid locomotion relative to other gomphotheres and elephants.