chapter 21 oligocene/miocene beds and faunas from

568

Chapter 21

Oligocene/Miocene Beds and Faunas from Tieersihabahe in theNorthern Junggar Basin of Xinjiang

YE JIE,1 MENG JIN,2 AND WU WENYU3

ABSTRACT

A mid-Tertiary rock sequence at the Tieersihabahe locality from the Ulungur River area inthe northern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Province, China, is described. The study introduces threelate Oligocene/Early Miocene faunas from the continuous section of the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ andSuosuoquan formations within the sequence, and discusses the age determination, faunal cor-relation, and existing problems concerning the formations and faunas. The ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ faunaat the Tieersihabahe locality is late Oligocene in age, correlative to the Taben Buluk fauna.The 99005 fauna is probably Oligocene–Miocene transitional. The Suosuoquan fauna is re-garded as early Miocene, so the Oligocene/Miocene boundary would be contained in thecontinuous section at the Tieersihabahe section.

1 Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.2 Associate Curator, Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History.3 Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.

INTRODUCTION

Since Bohlin (1937, 1942, 1946) first re-ported late Oligocene faunas from the Shar-galtein Gol and Taben Buluk areas of GansuProvince, China, other late Oligocene faunashave come to light in China only in recentdecades. These are the Yikebulage (Wang etal., 1981), late Taoshuyuanzi (Zhai, 1978),Saint Jacques (Wang et al., 1981), and Xia-gou faunas (Qiu et al., 1997; Wang and Qiu,2000). Early Miocene faunas are relativelynewly known in China. The Xiejia fauna, thefirst named early Miocene fauna of China,was reported 20 years ago (Li and Qiu, 1980)from Xining Basin, Qinghai Province. It hasbeen considered to represent the earliestMiocene of China since its discovery, and isstill regarded as the namesake of the earliestMiocene biochron (Hock et al., 1999; Qiu etal., 1999). Other early Miocene faunas re-ported more recently include the Lanzhou(Qiu and Gu, 1988), Jaozigou, Zhangjiaping(Qiu et al., 1990), and Wuertu faunas (Wangand Wang, 1989). A fauna from the Hon-

gliugou Formation of Haiyuan County, Ning-xia, is also considered to be early Miocene(Wang et al., 1994).

Of the late Oligocene and early Miocenefaunas in China, the Suosuoquan fauna fromthe northern Junggar Basin of Xinjiang re-mains controversial in age determination.Some workers regarded the Suosuoquan faunaas Late Oligocene (Tong, 1989; Tong et al.,1990, 1995; Wang, 1997a, 1997b; Wu et al.,1998b), whereas others (Qiu and Qiu, 1990)correlated it, on the basis of occurrences ofSinolagomys and a brachyericine hedgehog,to the Lanzhou fauna and considered bothfaunas to represent the earliest Miocene ofChina. The Suosuoquan assemblage was laterrecorrelated to the Xiejia fauna and consid-ered to be slightly younger than the earliestMiocene Lanzhou fauna (Qiu and Qiu, 1995).Additional specimens collected in the last twoyears led Qiu et al. (1999) to conclude thatthe Suosuoquan fauna is the representative lo-cal fauna of the earliest Miocene in China.

In studying late Oligocene and early Mio-

2003 569YE ET AL.: MID-TERTIARY OF NORTHERN XINJIANG

Fig. 21.1. Location map of localities and sec-tions. Measured sections correspond to those il-lustrated in figure 21.3.

cene faunas, considerable attention has fo-cused on pinning down the Oligocene/Mio-cene boundary in the terrestrial Tertiary ofChina. In this regard, much progress hasbeen made in the Lanzhou area during thelast decade (Qiu et al., 1990, 1997; Flynn etal., 1999; Wang and Qiu, 2000). The contin-uous mid-Tertiary rock sequence in the Lan-zhou area permits a comprehensive boundarystratigraphic study, whereas in other areas,such as Xining and Taben Buluk, a boundarystudy is relatively difficult owing to prob-lems resulting from either isolated outcrops,complex geology, or poor stratigraphic con-trol of sparse fossils. To the northwest ofLanzhou, promising sections containing theOligocene/Miocene boundary have now beendiscovered from the northern Junggar Basinof Xinjiang. These provide an additional op-portunity to tackle the boundary issue in ageographically interesting region.

Terrestrial sediments of the Mesozoic andTertiary are widely distributed in northernXinjiang, as first revealed by geological in-vestigations conducted in the 1950s by ateam from the Geological Survey of XinjiangProvince (Tong et al., 1990; Wei and Tong,1992). Fossil mammals then collected fromthis area were fragmentary and were oftenassociated with poor or no locality and strati-graphic data (e.g., Chow, 1957, 1958). Dur-ing the last three decades more extensivegeological and paleontological studies of theTertiary in northern Xinjiang have been ac-complished (Wu, 1973; Peng, 1975; Pengand Wu, 1983; Chen, 1988; Wu, 1988; Qi,1989; Tong, 1989; Wang and Qi, 1989; Ye,1989). However, our field experience contin-ues to show that we are still at an early stagein understanding the geology, stratigraphy,and paleontology of northern Xinjiang.

Since 1995, we have been working in Xin-jiang, primarily along the banks of the UlungurRiver in the northern Junggar Basin (fig. 21.1).During this period of fieldwork, we have con-firmed the presence of late Cretaceous, Eocene,Oligocene, and Miocene terrestrial deposits inthis region. A large number of mammal fossilsfrom several localities form the basis of a se-ries of papers describing new fossils and rocksequences (Wang et al., 1998; Wu et al., 1998a,1998b, 2000; Bi, 1999, 2000; Bi et al., 1999;Meng et al., 1999, 2001; Ye et al., 1999, 2000).

Here we present a preliminary biostratigraphicstudy of additional sections measured along the15-km Tieersihabahe-Chibaerwoyi cliffs(TCC), with focus on rock units and faunaspertinent to the issue of the Oligocene–Mio-cene boundary.

The outcrops ranging from the late Oli-gocene to middle Miocene along the TCC areextensively exposed (fig. 21.2). This areawas first explored in 1982 by a field teamfrom the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontologyand Paleoanthropology (IVPP), ChineseAcademy (Tong et al., 1987, 1990). It waspreviously believed that sediments along theTCC contain three units: the basal, late Cre-taceous ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation, the late Ol-igocene Suosuoquan Formation, and the mid-dle Miocene Halamagai Formation, separatedone from another by disconformities. Ourfield investigations provide persuasive fossilevidence for the age determination of theserock units and show that the previous agedetermination of the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formationis incorrect and that the Suosuoquan For-mation ranges probably from earliest Mio-cene to early middle Miocene.

In this study, we introduce the early Mio-cene Suosuoquan and late Oligocene ‘‘Ulun-guhe’’ formations by providing a descriptionof the sequence at the Tieersihabahe locality,brief histories of study, and persisting prob-lems for these rock units. We compile threefaunal lists for the two rock units, includingthe late Oligocene Tieersihabahe fauna, ?lateOligocene/earliest Miocene fauna from lo-cality 99005, and early Miocene Suosuoquanfauna. We discuss the related biostratigraphic

570 NO. 279BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Fig. 21.2. Views of the TCC cliffs at the Tieersihabahe locality. The white line in top and bottomphotographs indicates the lithological boundary between the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation (lower, light-col-ored beds) and the Suosuoquan Formation (red beds). The lithological boundary is tentatively consideredas the Oligocene/Miocene boundary. The light-colored beds overlying the Suosuoquan red beds in thetop photograph are the middle Miocene Halamagai Formation. Note the gradual change of color fromthe ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ beds to the Suosuoquan beds.

issues that are relevant to the faunas and theOligocene/Miocene boundary.

ROCK SEQUENCE AT TIEERSIHABAHE

Figure 21.3 displays four stratigraphic sec-tions measured along the TCC on the north

bank of the Ulungur River and one from theDuolebulejin on the south bank of the river.The description of the sections from the Du-olebulejin was given in Ye et al. (2000). Partsof the sequence from the Tieersihabahe werealso reported in that paper. In the 2000 sea-


Fig. 21.3. Measured sections from the Tieersihabahe-Chibaerwoyi cliffs (TCC) in the northern Jung-gar Basin, showing the lithology, formation boundaries, occurrences of fossils, and thickness in meters.The sequence at the Tieersihabahe locality (00TE) is described in the text. Section 96DL is from theDuolebulejin area on the south bank of the Ulungur River (fig. 21.1), and other sections are drawn tothe same scale.


son, we made a more detailed measurementof the entire sequence at the Tieersihabahe inthe hope that this may help to provide a start-ing point to address the issue of the Oligo-cene/Miocene boundary in the region. Al-though our focus is on the Suosuoquan For-mation and the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation,which we believe encompass the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, we nonetheless presentthe description of the complete sequence intable 21.1. Good badland exposures make themain rock units at the TCC traceable in thefield; their lateral extension and superposi-tional relationships are clear.

SUOSUOQUAN FORMATION

The Suosuoquan Formation, the most dis-tinctive Tertiary rock unit in Northern Xin-jiang, is characterized by a set of reddishsandy mudstones that varies little in lithologyover a large area. The formation was origi-nally called the Suosuoquan series by geo-logical mapping team 631 from the XinjiangGeological Survey (Peng, 1975; Tong et al.,1987, 1990; Wu et al., 1998b) and has beenuniversally accepted since its proposal. Sed-iments of the Suosuoquan Formation and itsfauna have been found as far north as theJimunai area, near the border with Kazakh-stan, in Xinjiang. The best exposure of thisformation is concentrated in the UlungurRiver region (fig. 21.1). The thickest depositsof the Suosuoquan Formation are exposed inthe Duolebulejin area on the south bank ofthe Ulungur River, and measure up to 115 mthick. In this area, sediments of the Suosuo-quan Formation are coarser than those foundon the northern bank of the river. The topbeds of the Suosuoquan Formation in Duole-bulejin embrace two layers of grayish greensandstone (Wu et al., 1998b; Ye et al., 2000).These sandstones are lithologically similar tothe overlying Halamagai Formation andyield fossils common to the middle MioceneHalamagai fauna (Wu et al., 1998b). In ad-dition, there is no indication of significantsedimentary hiatus between the two forma-tions. Therefore, we consider that the Suo-suoquan Formation in the Duolebulejin re-gion is continuous with the overlying Hala-magai Formation and that the latest deposits

of the Suosuoquan Formation are early mid-dle Miocene in age.

At the TCC, however, the SuosuoquanFormation is 60 to 70 m thick. Not only isthe sandstone seen at the top of the Suosuo-quan Formation in the Duolebulejin area ab-sent, but there is also an erosion surface ontop of the formation. Moreover, basal con-glomerates occur at the bottom of the Hala-magai Formation, suggesting a disconformitybetween the two formations in the TCC. Ero-sion of the uppermost Suosuoquan sedimentsbefore deposition of the middle MioceneHalamagai Formation is probably a factor inthe difference in rock thickness of variousareas.

Geological investigations in 1958 recordedcontacts of the Suosuoquan Formation withthe underlying ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation inconformity, disconformity, or unconformityfrom place to place (Peng, 1975). Our fieldinvestigations reveal that the SuosuoquanFormation rests unconformably on the Paleo-zoic basement in the Jimunai area, conform-ably on late Oligocene beds at the Tieersi-habahe area, and probably disconformablyon Eocene or Oligocene beds in the Hala-magai area (see below). In the area we in-vestigated, the only place where the Suosuo-quan Formation possibly lies on Mesozoicbeds is at the northern bank of the UlungurRiver about 2 km north of Kalabulegen vil-lage. However, although the red beds ex-posed in this area are lithologically similar toand previously considered as the SuosuoquanFormation (Tong et al., 1990), no field par-ties have found any fossil confirming the ageassessment of those red beds.

In several localities from Jimunai to theUlungur River, fossils typical of the Suosuo-quan fauna occur in the lower part of theformation at roughly the same distance fromthe base of the formation. Possibly the basalsurface of the Suosuoquan Formation, al-though overlying rocks of different ages, rep-resents a roughly equal chronological plane.Although the Suosuoquan fossils are distrib-uted over a wide area, the richest concentra-tion, in terms of number of species and spec-imens, is in the Chibaerwoyi locality of theTCC. In the TCC area, three beds containingvertebrate fossils have been discovered fromthe lower part of the Suosuoquan Formation,

2003 573YE ET AL.: MID-TERTIARY OF NORTHERN XINJIANGT

AB

LE

21.1

Com

ple

teS

equ

ence

ofS

ecti

onat

the

Tie

ersi

hab

ahe


at 4, 7–12, and 14–21 m from the base ofthe formation. The upper two levels are sep-arated from each other by a meter of coarsesandstone. Fossils from the two levels are ba-sically the same, and are lumped into oneassemblage, named the Suosuoquan Fauna.

The lowest fossil assemblage in the Suo-suoquan Formation was found at site 99005,a few kilometers west of the Chibaerwoyimain locality. As shown below, the compo-sition of this assemblage is different fromthat of the overlying Suosuoquan fauna; itprobably represents a distinct, earlier assem-blage. Being in an early stage of study, wedo not name this fauna here, but simply referto it by its locality in number.

The age determination of the SuosuoquanFormation was based primarily on faunalcorrelation and has been unstable withoutnew fossils available. It was considered ei-ther middle Miocene or early Miocene (Peng,1975; Tong et al., 1990) or late Oligocene(Tong et al., 1987, 1990). It was also regard-ed as ranging from late Oligocene to earlymiddle Miocene (Wu et al., 1998b) or fromearliest Miocene to middle Miocene (Ye etal., 2000); the latter view gains further sup-port from the discovery of the 99005 fauna(see below).

‘‘ULUNGUHE’’ FORMATION

The ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ (Ulungu-he meaningUlungur-River) Formation is a set of light-colored fluvial sediments that underlie theSuosuoquan Formation in northern Xinjiang.Its definition and age remain most contro-versial. To reflect the uncertainty, we placethe name in quotation marks throughout thetext.

The ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation is derivedfrom the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ series first used by the631 mapping team in the 1950s (Tong et al.,1987, 1990; Wei and Tong, 1992). The typelocality and section of the formation were notoriginally specified, but were later assumedto be in the Ulunguhe area and were mostlikely located near the Halamagai village(Tong et al., 1987, 1990). The age of the for-mation was believed to be Oligocene in earlystudies (Tian et al., 1959, and Jiang, 1959, inTong et al., 1990) or Eocene and Oligocenecollectively (Peng, 1975). Vertebrate fossils,

including Amia and Lophialetes cf. expeditus(Peng, 1975), support an Eocene/Oligoceneage. However, Wu (1973) reported dinosaurspecimens of Yaxartosaurus from the ‘‘Ulun-guhe’’ Formation at a locality 2 km north ofKalabulegen village, and suggested Creta-ceous age of the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation atthat locality. With the discovery of the di-nosaur, Peng (1975) then pointed out twopossibilities concerning the nature of the‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation at the Kalabulegenlocality: (1) the beds yielding the dinosaurspecimens are late Cretaceous Ailike For-mation, or (2) some dinosaurs survived intothe early Tertiary. Peng (1975) was con-vinced by his field observation that the sed-iments in question were the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’Formation and did not rule out possibility 2.

Additional reptile fossils were collected in1982 from Kalabulegen, including Tyranno-saurus sp., Coelurosauria indet., Yaxartosau-rus sp., and Bactrosaurus sp. (identified byZhao Xijing in Tong et al., 1987, 1990).Based on these fossils, the late Cretaceousage of the sediments at Kalabulegen wasagain corroborated. Tong et al. (1987, 1990)believed that the lithology and sequence ofthe Kalabulegen ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formationwere similar to those of the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’Formation at the presumed type locality Hal-amagai; therefore, they considered the age of‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation there to be late Cre-taceous as well. Accordingly, Tong et al.(1987, 1990) regarded the light-colored sed-iments underlying the Suosuoquan Forma-tion at the TCC as late Cretaceous ‘‘Ulun-guhe’’ Formation. Nonetheless, Tong et al.restricted the late Cretaceous ‘‘Ulunguhe’’Formation to those exposures in the Ulun-guhe area and were unsure about the age of‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation in other areas.

Our fieldwork indicates that the nature of‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation is much more com-plex than previously thought. Although fur-ther investigation is needed to clarify thecontroversies surrounding the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’Formation, we offer the following observa-tions from our field investigations.

First, we found fragmentary dinosaur andother reptilian specimens in the light-coloredbeds at the Kalabulegen locality, confirmingthe dinosaur report of Wu (1973) and Tong(1989) and Tong et al. (1990). These sedi-


ments rest on the dark-colored Paleozoicbasement that is exposed along riverbanks,and are overlain by reddish sandy mudstonecurrently believed to be the Suosuoquan For-mation. However, because no fossil has beenfound from the red beds, the age of the redbeds is uncertain. In addition, there is no ex-posure that shows the contact relationshipbetween the two rock units. Therefore, thereis no sufficient evidence to establish thestratigraphic correlation between the sedi-ments subjacent to the Suosuoquan Forma-tion at Kalabulegen and other areas.

Second, during field seasons of 1998–2000, we discovered a new fauna in the pre-sumed ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation that conform-ably underlies the Suosuoquan Formation atTieersihabahe locality. The fossils are found22.6 m below the Ulunguhe/Suosuoquanboundary. We have identified about 30 spe-cies from 7 mammalian orders. This newfauna demonstrates that the light-coloredsediments under the Suosuoquan Formationat Tieersihabahe are not late Cretaceous inage, contra Tong et al. (1987, 1990), but arelate Oligocene (see below). Through the rocksequence from bottom up, sediments changefrom dark grayish, greenish mudstone at thelowest part, to yellowish and brownish, andthen to the red beds of the Suosuoquan For-mation (fig. 21.2). It is clear that the late Ol-igocene beds at Tieersihabahe are continuouswith the overlying Suosuoquan Formation.These beds have rhythmically repeating unitsthat contain rounded gravels, primarily ofquartz. The dinosaur-yielding beds at Kala-bulegen lack the rhythmical structure andcontain particles that are little rounded andare of complex origins. Although the bedsunder the reddish sediments of the Suosuo-quan Formation are generally recognized bytheir ‘‘light’’ color, they are lithologicallydifferent in sedimentary structure and com-position. Therefore, we believe that the bedsunderlying the Suosuoquan Formation atTieersihabahe represent a different rock unitfrom that yielding dinosaurs at Kalabulegen,although both units are currently called‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation.

Third, we have found specimens of aprimitive ctenodactyloid rodent, Advenimus,from the light-colored sediments under theSuosuoquan Formation near Halamagai vil-

lage. These sediments were also regarded as‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation and probably are in-cluded in the type section, according to Tonget al. (1987, 1990). The rodent fossils sug-gest an age of late early Eocene. Sedimentsyielding the rodent fossils are similar to thosein the Tieersihabahe locality, but are moregreenish in color and contain coarser con-glomerates. We consider that these bedsprobably underlie those at Tieersihabahe.

To sum up, relationships of the ‘‘Ulungu-he’’ Formation at Halamagai, Kalabulegen,and Tieersihabahe are unclear. Our currentunderstanding is that the name ‘‘Ulunguhe’’Formation has been applied to different rockunits in northern Xinjiang. These rock units,although all light in color, differ in their sed-imentary structure and composition as wellas in fossil content. It appears that the con-ventional view that the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Forma-tion encompasses Eocene and Oligocenebeds (Peng, 1975) remains sound, althoughfurther division of these beds is possible. Thelight sediments yielding dinosaurs at the Kal-abulegen locality should not be considered as‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation, but may represent anew rock unit. For this study, we will focuson the section at Tieersihabahe and refer toits sediments containing the late Oligocenefauna as ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation.

THE TIEERSIHABAHE FAUNA

Fossils were discovered from the ‘‘Ulun-guhe’’ Formation underlying the SuosuoquanFormation at the north foot of the cliffscalled Tieersihabahe. As mentioned above,these beds were previously considered to belate Cretaceous ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ Formation untilthe discovery of the late Oligocene fauna atsite 98023 (468409 N, 888289 E) in 1998. Sur-face collecting at several sites of the samehorizon and screenwashing of sediments atsites 98023, 98024, and 98035 in 1998–2000seasons generated numerous specimens, pri-marily of small mammals. On the basis ofthese fossils, we name the Tieersihabahe fau-na after the local name of the cliffs. Whileadditional concentrate of washed sediment isbeing sorted, in table 21.2 we list the taxacurrently identified.

Tieersihabahe fauna shares the followingspecies with the late Oligocene Taben Buluk


TABLE 21.2Taxa Currently Identified in the

Tieersihabahe Fauna

and Shargaltein Gol faunas: Amphechinuskansuensis, A. minimus, A. cf. A. rectus, Sin-olagomys major, S. kansuensis (probably S.gracilis as well), Desmatolagus gobiensis, D.sp. (possibly D. shargaltensis), Parasminthustangingoli, P. asiae-centralis, Bohlinosmin-thus parvulus, Tachyoryctoides obrutschewi,Yindirtemys ambiguus, Eumeryx sp., and Di-dymoconus sp. Pseudotheridomys asiaticusfound in Tieersihabahe (fig. 21.4f) was orig-inally based on specimens from the late Ol-igocene Saint Jacques locality, Nei Mongol(Inner Mongolia; Wang and Emry, 1991).Yindirtemys deflexus commonly occurs in thelate Oligocene of China (Wang, 1997a), andis larger than Yindirtemys cf. Y. deflexus fromTieersihabahe.

There are many aplodontid specimens thatcertainly represent a new, primitive speciesof the subfamily Ansomyinae Qiu, 1987. Thelower m1 of this new taxon is comparable tothat of Ansomys shantungensis (?Prosciurusshantungensis Rensberger and Li, 1986; seeQiu, 1987) known from only an m1 from thelate Oligocene Shahejie Formation at Dong-ying of Shandong. The cheek teeth of ourspecimens have a lower degree of lophodon-ty than the middle Miocene species of An-somys from Xiacaowan, Shanwang, andTunggur areas (Qiu, 1987, 1996; Qiu andSun, 1988). In addition, the mesostyle is notfully crested to close the trigon basin on thelabial side of upper cheek teeth (fig. 21.4a,b).

The specimens of Eucricetodon also rep-resent a new species that differs from knownspecies of the genus from Europe and Asia.Parasminthus tangingoli, P. asiae-centralis,and Bohlinosminthus parvulus of the Dipod-idae are also reported from the Xiagou faunafrom the lower member of the XianshuiheFormation, Lanzhou Basin (Wang and Qiu,2000). Litodonomys sp. (fig. 21.4c) is similarto Litodonomys huangheensis (Wang andQiu, 2000) from Xiagou, but much largerand with more developed mesolophid. Ple-siosminthus sp. (fig. 21.4g) from Tieersiha-bahe shows some features typical of the ge-nus, such as grooved upper incisor, uppermolar with three roots, and the metaloph ofupper molars connecting with the hypocone.Plesiosminthus was previously considered aEuropean genus (Hugueney and Vianey-


Fig. 21.4. a, b, Left P4 and right m1 of Ansomyinae gen. et sp. nov. c, Right m2 of Litodonomyssp. d, e, Left M1 and right m1 of Eucricetodon sp. nov. f, Left M1(or M2) of Pseudotheridomysasiaticus. g, Left M1 of Plesiosminthus sp. All specimens come from the Tieersihabahe fauna.

Liaud, 1980). Among the known species, theTieersihabahe specimens are more similar tothe European P. myarion and P. promyarionin morphology and size. Other specimens ofPlesiosminthus reported from Biozone D of

the Loh Formation of Mongolia (Hock et al.,1999) and from the Aral Formation of theAltynshokysu locality (Lopatin, 1999) fur-ther indicate the presence of this taxon in thelate Oligocene and early Miocene of Asia.


TABLE 21.3Taxa Currently Identified in the

Fauna at Site 99005

Didymoconus, Eumeryx, and Indricother-ium from the Tieersihabahe fauna are com-mon taxa in the Oligocene of Asia (Russelland Zhai, 1987; McKenna and Bell, 1997).Based on the composition of fossils, it is con-vincing that the Tieersihabahe fauna is mostclosely correlative to the Taben Buluk fauna.The Tabenbulukian land mammal age of Chi-na has been correlated to late Oligocene Eu-ropean Chattian and North American Arika-reean (Qiu and Qiu, 1995; Tong et al., 1995;Lucas et al., 1998). Therefore, by faunal cor-relation, we consider the Tieersihabahe faunalate Oligocene in age, noting that most of theChinese land mammal ages need to be cali-brated by dating methods independent ofmammal evolution.

Hock et al. (1999) have conducted a mul-tidisciplinary analysis of the lithology, bio-stratigraphy, and chronology of the Tertiarybeds in the Valley of Lakes, Mongolia. Theirbiostratigraphic research, based primarily onrodents, has resulted in recognition of sevenbiozones (A, B, C, C1, D, D1, E) within theHsanda Gol and Loh formations in the stud-ied area. Hock et al. were able to correlatebiozones C and C1 of the Hsanda Gol andLoh formations with the Taben Buluk faunaof China. Because the Tieersihabahe fauna isalso correlative to Taben Buluk, as we showabove, we consider that the Tieersihabahe iscorrelative to biozones C and C1 from Mon-golia. With dating data of the basalt from theMongolian sequence (Hock et al., 1999), theage of the beds containing the Tieersihabahefauna is estimated to range from 28 to 24Ma.

The fauna from the Aral Formation of Ka-zakhstan has attracted great attention recently(Lopatin, 1994a, 1994b, 1995, 1996, 1999,2000; Lucas et al., 1998), but its age remainscontroversial. It is considered early Mioceneor late Oligocene (Lopatin, 1996; see Lucaset al., 1998, for a review). At this stage ofresearch, we defer comparison of these fau-nas until further work is accomplished inboth areas.

THE FAUNA AT SITE 99005

Site 99005 is found about 4 m above thebase of the Suosuoquan Formation, west ofthe Chibaerwoyi area and northeast of Bo-

tamoyin (fig. 21.1). Numerous skeletal frag-ments and isolated teeth of small mammalsare found in lenses of sands in the red bedsof the Suosuoquan Formation by surface col-lecting and screenwashing. Taxa representedby specimens obtained so far are listed intable 21.3.

Sinolagomys cf. S. kansuensis is commonin the 99005 fauna. Pseudotheridomys andPlesiosminthus from Tieersihabahe persist inthe 99005 fauna. Although Litodonomys andHeterosminthus are also present in the TabenBuluk and Xiagou faunas (Wang and Qiu,2000), the species from site 99005 are furtherdiversified and are more derived than thoseof the Xiagou fauna. There are two speciesof Heterosminthus from site 99005 (fig.21.5f, i), of which the large species is largerthan H. lanzhouensis from Xiagou, whereasthe small species is smaller than H. lan-zhouensis. In both species from site 99005,the posterior cingulum on M1 is fully devel-oped and cheek teeth are narrower but longerthan those of H. lanzhouensis, suggesting ahigher degree of specialization. There are


Fig. 21.5. a, Right M1 of Tachyoryctoidinae gen. et sp. nov. b, Left m1–3 of Litodonomys sp. nov.c, Left m2 of Litodonomys sp. (large species). d, e, Left m1 and left M2 of Democricetodon sp. f, g,Right M1 and left m1 of Heterosminthus sp. 1 (large species). h, i, Left m1 and left M1 of Heteros-minthus sp. 2 (small species). a and b are from the Suosuoquan fauna; c–i are from the 99005 fauna.


TABLE 21.4Suosuoquan Taxa from the

Tieersihabahe-Chibaerwoyi Cliffs

also two species of Litodonomys from the99005 fauna, which differ from L. huanghe-ensis of Xiagou both in morphology and size(Wang and Qiu, 2000).

The earliest species of Democricetodon inEurope is MN4 in age (Kalin, 1999; Mein,1999), a member of the first wave of moderncricetid immigrants from Asia to Europe(Fahlbusch, 1964) after the ‘‘cricetid vacu-um’’ (Daams and Freudenthal, 1988). Spec-imens of this genus have been reported fromthe Oligocene–Miocene transition (BiozoneD) and the early-middle Miocene (BiozoneD1) in the Loh Formation of Mongolia, rep-resented by M1 in both cases (Hock et al.,1999: figs. 21/4, /7). The specimen from Bio-zone D is by far the earliest record of De-mocricetodon in the world. Although lack ofM1 in our collection prohibits comparisonwith the Mongolian material, the size andgenerally primitive morphology of cheekteeth from the 99005 fauna (fig. 21.5d, c)match the M1 from Biozone D of the LohFormation.

Tachyoryctoides sp. from 99005 fauna isrepresented by an M1 and a broken m3. It ismore derived than T. obrutschewi in beinglarger and having closely spaced lophs thatdefine narrow valleys. The 99005 specimensare similar in size to T. kokonorensis fromthe Xiejia fauna, China, and from Biozone Dof the Loh Formation, Mongolia (Hock et al.,1999), but limited material from these sitesprevents further comparison.

In general, the species from the 99005 siteat the Chibaerwoyi show a mixed late Oli-gocene and early Miocene assemblage. Forthose genera that are common in the late Ol-igocene, the 99005 species often displaymore derived conditions. We tentatively re-gard the Xiagou fauna to be younger than theTieersihabahe but older than the 99005 fau-na.

Democricetodon, Plesiosminthus, Heter-osminthus, Tachyoryctoides, Litodonomys,and probably Pseudotheridomys are sharedwith the Hsanda Gol and Loh formations andthe 99005 fauna is probably correlative toBiozone D of the Loh Formation in Mon-golia. The lower stratigraphic position andfaunal composition indicate that the 99005fauna is slightly older than the Suosuoquan

fauna. The age of the 99005 fauna could beeither latest Oligocene, or earliest Miocene.

THE SUOSUOQUAN FAUNA

The Suosuoquan fauna was discovered in1982, and most fossils were found mainlyfrom site 82503 at Chibaerwoyi. However,most of the specimens collected in 1982 arestratigraphically poorly controlled. Our fieldinvestigations since 1996 recovered numer-ous new specimens, associated with preciseoccurrences in several sections. The list intable 21.4 includes material we collectedfrom TCC.

The Suosuoquan Formation was originallyestimated as Miocene in age based on pre-sumed occurrence of Gomphotherium sp. (5Serridentinus sp., Peng, 1975) from the low-er beds. Our field investigations, however,


have never produced any specimens of Gom-photherium. All specimens of Gomphother-ium that we know come from the middleMiocene Halamagai Formation. Because thelocality presumably generating the Gom-photherium specimen cited by Peng was notidentified, we cannot verify the occurrence,and it likely came from the overlying Hala-magai Formation.

A good collection of mammals from theSuosuoquan Formation was made in 1982 byan IVPP field team. Based on those fossils,particularly Sinolagomys ulungurensis(Tong, 1989), Prodistylomys xinjiangensis(Wang and Qi, 1989), and Tachyoryctoidessp., Tong et al. (1990) correlated the Suos-uoquan fauna with that of Taben Buluk (Boh-lin, 1937, 1942, 1946). Nonetheless, theseauthors noticed that the species from theSuosuoquan fauna are more derived thanthose from Taben Buluk. Subsequently, theSuosuoquan fauna has been regarded as ei-ther late Oligocene (Tong et al., 1995; Wang,1997a; Wu et al., 1998b), latest Oligocene(Wang, 1997b), earliest Miocene (Qiu et al.,1999; Ye et al., 2000), or early Miocene (Qiuand Qiu, 1995). With additional studies ofSuosuoquan species in comparison to thosefrom the new Tieersihabahe and 99005 fau-nas, the age estimate of the Suosuoquan fau-na can be further updated.

In the Suosuoquan fauna, the lagomorphSinolagomys ulungurensis (Tong, 1989) isthe dominant species. This species is morederived than S. cf. S. kansuensis from the99005 fauna in having a wider talonid, nearlythe same width of the trigonid. Metexallerixjunggarensis is more primitive than M. gao-lanshanensis Qiu and Gu, 1988, from theGaolanshan fauna of Lanzhou (Bi, 1999),suggesting that the Suosuoquan fauna is old-er than Gaolanshan (Qiu et al., 1999). Am-phechinus bohlini Bi, 2000, is most compa-rable despite differences to A. kansuensisfrom Taben Buluk among known species ofthe genus.

The Tachyoryctoidinae gen. et sp. nov. dif-fers significantly from late Oligocene Tachy-oryctoides obrutschewi. It is smaller andmore derived than the specimens of Tachy-oryctoidinae from the 99005 fauna in havingdeeper valleys between more closely packedlophs.

Dipodids are further diversified. There isone species of Parasminthus that is notablylarger than P. asiae-centralis and differs inmorphology from the latter. Four specieshave been tentatively assigned to the genusLitodonomys. One of the four species is larg-er than L. huangheensis from the Xiagou fau-na. On its cheek teeth the ectolophid extendsmore obliquely, the protoconid and hypocon-id are more crested, and the m3 is shortened.In contrast to the diverse dipodids, severaltaxa typical of the late Oligocene faunas,such as Ctenodactylidae, are absent in theSuosuoquan fauna.

The occurrence of Aprotodon and absenceof proboscidean fossils indicate that theSuosuoquan fauna is no younger than theZhangjiaping fauna (Qiu et al., 1999), whichhas proboscidean fossils and is correlated tothe upper part of European MN2. Therefore,the Suosuoquan fauna is probably of earlyMiocene age, older than the Gaolanshan fau-na but younger than the 99005 fauna andconsiderably younger than the Tieersihabahefauna. It is unclear how the Suosuoquan fau-na correlates to any of the biozones of Hocket al. (1999). By its relationship with the99005 fauna, which is considered correlativeto Biozone D, the Suosuoquan fauna may fillthe biostratigraphic gap between Biozone Dand D1 in the Hsanda Gol and Loh forma-tions (Hock et al., 1999).

THE OLIGOCENE/MIOCENEBOUNDARY

Given the lithology, stratigraphic relation-ships and faunal correlations, it can be con-cluded that the Oligocene/Miocene boundaryis contained in the Tieersihabahe section.The biostratigraphic evidence indicates thatthe boundary should be somewhere in the35-m-thick beds between the Tieersihabahefauna and the Suosuoquan fauna within thesection, but we cannot precisely pinpoint theboundary based only on fossil evidence. Asdiscussed in previous sections, the boundarycan be immediately below, above, or withinthe beds yielding the 99005 fauna. For con-venience, we tentatively place the Oligocene/Miocene boundary at the lithological transi-tion of the ‘‘Ulunguhe’’ and Suosuoquan for-mations. Further biostratigraphic investiga-


tion and, most importantly, evidenceindependent of faunal evolution such as pa-leomagnetic sequence, may help to define theboundary placement in this section.

Since the discoveries of the Xiejia, Gao-lanshan, and Suosuoquan faunas, the latestOligocene and earliest Miocene sequence ofmammalian ages in China has been frequent-ly modified, which results in a shift of theOligocene/Miocene boundary. This situationis attributable to several factors that hamperfaunal correlation, such as dominant endemicspecies in an isolated fauna with a limitednumber of fossils (e.g., Xiejia). In this re-gard, the three (at least) mammal faunaswithin a continuous rock sequence at Tieer-sihabahe provide an excellent opportunity tostudy the Oligocene/Miocene boundary inChina and Asia.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are honored in having the opportunityto contribute to the volume honoring Dr.Richard H. Tedford, who, as mentor, col-league, and friend, has generously shared hisknowledge and experience of Neogene pale-ontology and stratigraphy with us and otherChinese colleagues for decades. We thank BiShundong, Liu Liping, Wu Shaoyuan, FanGuizhong, Su Jianfeng, Dong Wei, Jin Xun,and Feng Wenqing for field assistance andZhang Wending for taking the SEM photo-graphs illustrated in figures 21.4 and 21.5. Weare very grateful to Dr. Daxner Hock forshowing W.W. her specimens of small mam-mals from Mongolia during her visit to IVPPin 1998. Drs. R.J. Emry, L.J. Flynn, and M.C.McKenna made insightful comments on themanuscript. This research has been supportedby grants from the Chinese National NaturalScience Foundation (49928202, 40172010)and Chinese Academy of Science (KZ952-J1–410). Meng is also supported by an NSFgrant (DEB-9796038).

REFERENCES

Bi, S.D. 1999. Metexallerix from the Early Mio-cene of North Junggar Basin, Xinjiang UygurAutonomous Region, China. Vertebrata Pal-Asiatica 37(2): 140–155. [in Chinese with En-glish summary]

Bi, S.D. 2000. Erinaceidae from the Early Mio-

cene of North Junggar Basin, Xinjiang UygurAutonomous Region, China. Vertebrata Pal-Asiatica 38: 43–51. [in Chinese with Englishsummary]

Bi, S.D., W. Wu, J. Ye, and J. Meng. 1999. Eri-naceidae from the middle Miocene of northJunggar Basin, Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion, China. In Y.-q. Wang and T. Deng (ed-itors), Proceedings of the Seventh AnnualMeeting of the Chinese Society of VertebratePaleontology: 149–156. Beijing: Ocean Press.[in Chinese with English summary]

Bohlin, B. 1937. Oberoligozane Saugetiere ausdem Shargaltein-Tal (Western Kansu). Palaeon-tologia Sinica, new series C3: 1–64.

Bohlin, B. 1942. The fossil mammals from theTertiary deposit of Taben-buluk, western Kan-su. Part I: Insectivora and Lagomorpha. Pa-laeontologia Sinica, new series C8a: 1–113.

Bohlin, B. 1946. The fossil mammals from theTertiary deposits of Taben-buluk, Western Kan-su. Part II: Simplicidentata, Carnivora, Artio-dactyla, Perissodactyla, and Primates. Palaeon-tologia Sinica, new series C8b: 1–259.

Chen, G.F. 1988. Mastodont remains from theMiocene of Junggar Basin in Xinjiang. Verte-brata PalAsiatica 26: 265–277. [in Chinese withEnglish summary]

Chow, M.C. 1957. Notes on some mammalianfossils from the late Cenozoic of Sinkiang. Ver-tebrata PalAsiatica: 33–41.

Chow, M.C. 1958. New material of Tertiary mam-mals from Sinkiang. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 2:289–293.

Daams, R., and M. Freudenthal. 1988. Synopsisof the Dutch-Spanish collaboration program inthe Aragonian type area, 1975–1986. In M.Freudenthal (editor), Biostratigraphy and paleo-ecology of the Neogene micromammalian fau-nas from the Calatayud-Teruel Basin (Spain).Scripta Geologica, Special Issue 1:3–18.

Fahlbusch, V. 1964. Die Cricetiden (Mamm.) derOberen Susswasser-Molasse Bayerns. Bayer-ische Akademie der Wissenschaften, mathe-matisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, Ab-handlungen, Neue Folge, 118: 1–136. Mun-chen.

Flynn, L.J., W. Downs, N. Opdyke, K.-l. Huang,E. Lindsay, J. Ye, G.P. Xie, and X.M. Wang.1999. Recent advances in the small mammalbiostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy ofLanzhou Basin. Chinese Science Bulletin 44:105–118.

Hock, V., G. Daxner-Hock, H.P. Schmid, D. Bad-amgarav, W. Frank, G. Furtmuller, O. Montag,R. Barsbold, Y. Khand, and J. Sodov. 1999. Ol-igocene-Miocene sediments, fossils and basaltsfrom the Valley of Lakes (Central Mongolia)—


an integrated study. Mitteilungen der Osterrei-chischen. Geologischen Gesellschaft 90: 83–125.

Hugueney, M., and M. Vianey-Liaud. 1980. LesDipodidae (Mammalia, Rodentia) d’Europe oc-cidentale au Paleogene et au Neogene inferieur:origine et evolution. Palaeovertebrata, MemoireJubilaire Rene Lavocat: 303–342.

Kalin, D. 1999. Tribe Cricetini. In G.E. Rossnerand K. Heissig (editors), The Miocene landmammals of Europe: 373–384. Munich: PfeilVerlag.

Li, C.K., and Z.D. Qiu. 1980. Early Miocenemammalian fossils of Xining Basin, Qinghai.Vertebrata PalAsiatica 18(2): 198–214. [in Chi-nese with English summary]

Lopatin, A.V. 1994a. New data on the early Mio-cene small mammals of the Aral faunistic com-plex. In P.A. Tleuberdina and M.A. Akhmetiev(editors), Oligocene-Miocene transition in theNorthern Hemisphere: 12. Almaty, Kazakhstan:Isdatelstvo Konzhik.

Lopatin, A.V. 1994b. Problems of correlation bymammals. In M.A. Akhmetiev and E.K. Sy-chyevskaya (editors), Oligocene-Miocene bound-ary in Kazakhstan: field excursion guidebook:45–51.Moscow: Paleontological Institute of theRussian Academy of Sciences.

Lopatin, A.V. 1995. The first finding of Eumy-arion (Cricetidae, Rodentia) in the lower Mio-cene of Kazakhstan and new data on the smallmammals of the Aral fauna. In: M.A. Akhme-tiev and S.V. Popov (editors), Paleontology andstratigraphy of the Eocene-Miocene sections ofthe western Pre-Caucasia: 13–14. Moscow: Pa-leontological Institute of the Russian Academyof Sciences.

Lopatin, A.V. 1996. Stratigraphy and small mam-mals from the Aral Formation of the Altyn-shokysu locality (North Aral Region). Stratig-raphy, Geological correlation 4: 65–79. (inRussian)

Lopatin, A.V. 1999. New early Miocene Zapodi-dae (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Aral For-mation, the Altynshokysu Locality (North AralRegion). Paleontological Journal 33: 429–438.

Lopatin, A.V. 2000. New early Miocene Aplodon-tiae and Eomyidae (Rodentia, Mammalia) fromthe Aral Farmation of the Altynshokysu locality(North Aral Region). Paleontologcal Journal34: 193–197.

Lucas, S.G., E.G. Kordikova, and R.J. Emry.1998. Oligocene stratigraphy, sequence stratig-raphy, and mammalian biochronology north ofthe Aral Sea, western Kazakstan. Bulletin ofCarnegie Museum of Natural History 34: 313–348.

McKenna, M.C., and S.K. Bell. 1997. Classifica-

tion of mammals above the species level. NewYork: Columbia University Press.

Mein, P. 1999. European Miocene mammal bio-chronology. In G.E. Rossner and K. Heissig(editors), The Miocene land mammals of Eu-rope: 25–38. Munich: Pfeil Verlag.

Meng, J., J. Ye, W.Y., Wu, and S.D. Bi. 1999. Thepetrosal morphology of a Late Oligocene eri-naceid from north Junggar Basin. VerebrataPalAsiatica 37: 300–308.

Meng, J., W.Y. Wu, J. Ye, and S.D. Bi. 2001. Twopetrosals of gliriform mammals from Late Ol-igocene of Tieersihabahe, Xinjiang Uygur Au-tonomous Region, China. Vertebrata Pal-Asiatica 39: 43–53.

Peng, S.L. 1975. Cenozoic vertebrate localitiesand horizon of Dzungaria Basin, Sinkiang. Ver-tebrata PalAsiatica 13: 185–189. [in Chinese]

Peng, X.L., and S.Z. Wu. 1983. Vertebrate fossilbeds from Xinjiang and discussion on relatedproblems. Xinjiang Geology 1: 44–58.

Qi, T. 1989. Miocene carnivores from Altai Re-gion, Xinjiang. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 27: 133–139. [in Chinese with English summary]

Qiu, Z.D. 1987. The Aragonian vertebrate faunaof Xiacaowan, Jiangsu, 7: Aplodontidae (Ro-dentia, Mammalia). Vertebrata PalAsiatica25(4): 283–296. [in Chinese with English sum-mary]

Qiu, Z.D. 1996. Middle Miocene micromammal-ian fauna from Tunggur, Nei Mongol. Beijing:Science Press. [in Chinese with English sum-mary]

Qiu, Z.D., and B. Sun. 1988. New fossil micro-mammals from Shanwang, Shandong. Verte-brata PalAsiatica 26(1): 50–58. [in Chinesewith English summary]

Qiu Z.X., and Z.G. Gu. 1988. A new localityyielding mid-Tertiary mammals near Lanzhou,Gansu. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 26: 198–213. [inChinese with English summary]

Qiu, Z.X., and Z.D. Qiu. 1990. Neogene localmammalian faunas: succession and ages. Jour-nal of Stratigraphy 14: 241–260. [in Chinese]

Qiu, Z.X., and Z.D. Qiu. 1995. Chronological se-quence and subdivisions of Chinese Neogenemammalian faunas. Palaeogeography, Palaeo-climatology, Palaeoecology 116: 41–70.

Qiu, Z.X., B.Y. Wang, Z.D. Qiu, G.-p. Xie, J.u.Xie, and X.-m. Wang. 1997. Recent advancesin study of the Xianshuihe Formation in Lan-zhou Basin. In Y.-s. Tong, Y.-y. Zhang, W.-y.Wu, J.-l. Li, and L.-q. Shi (editors), Evidencefor evolution—essays in honor of Professor C.C. Young on the hundredth anniversary of hisbirth: 177–192. Beijing: Ocean Press.

Qiu, Z.X., W.-y. Wu, and Z.D. Qiu. 1999. Mio-cene mammal faunal sequences of China: pa-


laeozoogeography and Eurasian relationships.In G.E. Rossner and K. Heissig (editors), TheMiocene land mammals of Europe: 443–455.Munchen: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil.

Qiu, Z.X., and J.Y. Xie. 1997. A new species ofAprotodon (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae)from Lanzhou Basin, Gansu, China. VertebrataPalAsiatica 35: 250–267. [in Chinese with En-glish summary]

Qiu, Z.X., J.Y. Xie, and D.F. Yan. 1990. Discov-ery of some early Miocene mammalian fossilsfrom Dongxiang, Gansu. Vertebrata PalAsiatica28: 9–24. [in Chinese with English summary]

Rensberger, J.M., and C.K. Li. 1986. A new pros-ciurine rodent from Shantung Province, China.Journal of Paleontology 60(3): 763–771.

Russell, D.E., and R. Zhai. 1987. The Palaeogeneof Asia: mammals and stratigraphy. Memoiresdu Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Se-ries C, Sciences de la Terre, 52: 1–488.

Tong, Y.S. 1989. A new species of Sinolagomys(Lagomorpha, Ochotonidae) from Xinjiang.Vertebrata PalAsiatica 27: 103–116. [in Chi-nese with English summary]

Tong, Y.S., T. Qi, J. Ye, J. Meng, and D.F. Yan.1987. Tertiary beds and fossils from northJunggur Basin, Xing Jiang Province. In Fossilvertebrates and stratigraphy of Xingjiang: 1–61. Beijing: Academia Sinica.

Tong, Y.S., T. Qi, J. Ye, J. Meng, and D.F. Yan.1990. Tertiary stratigraphy of the north of Jung-gar Basin, Xinjiang. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 28:59–70. [in Chinese with English summary]

Tong, Y., S.H. Zheng, and Z.D. Qiu. 1995. Ce-nozoic mammal ages of China. VertebrataPalAsiatica 33: 290–314.

Wang, B.Y. 1997a. The mid-Tertiary Ctenodac-tylidae (Rodentia, Mammalia) of eastern andcentral Asia. Bulletin of the American Museumof Natural History 234: 1–88.

Wang, B.Y. 1997b. Chronology sequence and sub-division of Chinese Oligocene mammal faunas.Journal of Stratigraphy 21: 183–191.

Wang B.Y., J. Chang, X.J. Meng, and J.R. Chen.1981. Stratigraphy of the upper and middle Ol-igocene of Qianlishan District, Nei Mongol (In-ner Mongolia). Vertebrata PalAsiatica 19: 26–34. [in Chinese with English summary]

Wang, B.Y., and R.J. Emry. 1991. Eomyidae (Ro-dentia, Mammalian) from the Oligocene of NeiMongol, China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleon-tology 11: 370–377.

Wang, B.Y., and T. Qi. 1989. Prodistylomys gen.nov. (Distylomyidae, ?Ctenodactyloidea, Ro-dentia) from Xinjiang, China. VertebrataPalAsiatica 27(1): 28–36. [in Chinese with En-glish summary]

Wang, B.Y., and Z.X. Qiu. 2000. Dipodidae (Ro-

dentia, Mammalia) from the lower member ofXianshuihe Formation in Lanzhou Basin, Gan-su, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 38: 10–35.

Wang B.Y., and P.Y. Wang. 1989. Discovery ofearly Miocene mammal fauna from Urtu Area,Alxa Zuoqi Nei Mongol. Chinese Science Bul-letin 8: 607–611.

Wang, B.Y., Z.Q. Yan, Y.J. Lu, and G.X. Chen.1994. Discovery of two Mid-Tertiary mamma-lian faunas from Haiyuan, Ningxia, China. Ver-tebrata PalAsiatica 32: 285–296. [in Chinesewith English summary]

Wang, X.M., J. Meng, J. Ye, W.Y. Wu, L.P. Liu,and S.D. Bi. 1998. Carnivora from middle Mio-cene of Northern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Au-tonomous Region, China. Vertebrata Pal-Asiatica 36: 218–243. [in Chinese with Englishsummary]

Wei, J.M., and Y.S. Tong. 1992. The discovery ofPaleocene and Eocene deposits in the northernJunggur Basin. Acta Petrolei Sinica 13: 117–120. [in Chinese]

Wu, S.Z. 1973. The discovery of Yaxartosaurussp. from Sinkiang. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 11:217–218. [in Chinese]

Wu, W.Y. 1988. The first discovery of middleMiocene rodents from the northern Junggar Ba-sin, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 26(4): 250–264. [in Chinese with English summary]

Wu, W.Y., J. Ye, J. Meng, S D. Bi, and Y. Zhang.1998a. New lagomorph from the Miocene ofnorthern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China. Ver-tebrata PalAsiatica 36: 319–329.

Wu, W.Y., J. Ye, S.D. Bi, and J. Meng. 2000. Thediscovery of Late Oligocene dormice from Chi-na. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 38: 39–47.

Wu, W.Y., J. Ye, J. Meng, X.M. Wang, L.P. Liu,S.D. Bi, and W. Dong. 1998b. Progress of thestudy of Tertiary biostratigraphy in north Jung-gar Basin. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 36: 24–31. [inChinese with English summary]

Ye, J. 1989. Middle Miocene artiodactyls from thenorthern Junggar Basin. Vertebrata PalAsiatica27(1): 37–52.

Ye, J., W.Y. Wu, S. D. Bi, Y. Zhang, and J. Meng.1999. A new species of Turcocerus from theMiddle Miocene of the northern Junggar Basin.In Y.-q. Wang and T. Deng (editors), Proceed-ing of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Chi-nese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: 149–156.Beijing: Ocean Press.

Ye, J., WY. Wu, J. Meng, S.D. Bi, and S.Y. Wu.2000. New results in the study of Tertiary bio-stratigraphy in the Ulungur River region ofXinjiang, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 38:192–202.

Zazhigin, V.S., and A.V. Lopatin. 2000. The his-tory of the Dipodoidea (Rodenita, Mammalia)


in the Miocene of Asia: 1. Heterosminthus (Lo-phocricetinae). Paleontological Journal 34:319–332.

Zhai, R.-j. 1978. Late Oligocene mammals from

the Taoshuyuanzi Formation of eastern TurfanBasin. Memoir of the Institute of Vertebrate Pa-leontology and Paleoanthropology, AcademiaSinica 13: 126–131. [in Chinese]

chapter 21 oligocene/miocene beds and faunas from

Documents