Biology:Bubalus teilhardi

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Short description: Extinct species of mammal

Bubalus teilhardi
Temporal range: 0.126–0.012 Ma[1]
Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene
德氏水牛牛角.jpg
Horn of Bubalus teilhardi(exhibited in National Taiwan Museum)
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bubalus
Species:
B. teilhardi
Binomial name
Bubalus teilhardi
Young, 1932

Bubalus teilhardi is an extinct species of water buffalo that existed during the Middle to Late Pleistocene in North China, East China, and the Penghu Channel of Taiwan. It is included in the Penghu fauna.

Discovery

The discovery of Bubalus teilhardi was first published in 1932 by Chinese paleontologist Yang Chung-Chien and French geologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The fossil specimens were found at Peking Man Site in Longgu Mountain, Zhoukoudian Village, Fangshan District, located approximately 48 kilometers southwest of Beijing. This site, also referred to as “Zhoukoudian Locality 1,” is the same location where the Peking Man skullcap was discovered in 1929. Subsequently, numerous findings of Bubalus teilhardi have been recorded at the Zhoukoudian Locality 13.[2]

The specific epithet “teilhardi” is named after the French geologist Teilhard, in recognition of his contributions to the study of vertebrate paleontology of China.[2] In addition to Beijing, fossils of Bubalus teilhardi have also been found in Shaanxi, Jiangsu,[3] and Zhejiang. Among the approximately ten extinct buffalo species in China, Bubalus teilhardi is the second-widest distributed species, surpassed only by Bubalus wansijocki. However, there have been no fossil discoveries of Bubalus teilhardi in South China so far.[4][5]

In 1995, researchers from the National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan salvaged a skull fossil of Bubalus teilhardi in the Penghu Channel. Based on the morphology of its skull, horn core and maxillary teeth, it bears a resemblance to the holotype described from the Zhoukoudian Locality 1 in 1932. The discovery of Bubalus teilhardi in the Penghu fauna indicates that during the Pleistocene, when the sea level dropped, Taiwan was connected to mainland China, allowing this species to migrate to Taiwan via a land bridge.[6]

Morphology

Bubalus teilhardi is a larger species among the Bubalus genus. It has a relatively wide inter-orbital region, a domed frontal region, and a sloping facial profile. Behind the horns, the cranium is longer, the top and occipital regions exhibit a significant posterior convexity, and the occipital crest is well-developed. The two horns extend horizontally backward in a narrower crescent or wide V shape, with a flat front and slightly concave upper surface. The cross section of the base of the horn core resembles an acute triangle, giving an overall slender appearance.[7][8][9]

Some research suggests that the Bubalus tingi discovered in 1925 should be classified as a subspecies of Bubalus teilhardi.[4]

Evolution and phylogenetic tree

Paleontologist Yang Chung-Chien analyzed the cranium and horn morphology of several Chinese buffalo fossils and classified them into two major branches: the Bubalus teilhardi with slender horn cores and the Bubalus brevicornis with thick and short horn cores. Subsequently, other studies further supplemented this classification by suggesting that the Bubalus tingi with slender horn cores represents a separate evolutionary branch derived from Bubalus teilhardi, while the other Chinese buffalo belong to the branch of Bubalus brevicornis.[9]

The following is a phylogenetic tree of the Bubalus genus based on cranial characteristics reconstructed in 2008:[9]

Leptobos

Bubalus teilhardi

Bubalus tingi

Bubalus brevicornis

Bubalus mephistophele

Bubalus guzhenensis

Bubalus wansijocki

Bubalus fudi

Bubalus youngi

Bubalus triangulus

Bubalus bubalis

Bubalus bubalus

Reference

  1. "†Bubalus teilhardi Young 1932 (water buffalo)". http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=162454#. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 林俊聰 (February 2021). "蘭博史前巨獸展好牛─德氏水牛來拜年!". 蘭博博物 (宜蘭縣立蘭陽博物館) (125). https://www.lym.gov.tw/ch/collection/epaper/epaper-detail/b8c0396b-6a82-11eb-b345-2760f1289ae7/. 
  3. 董为 (1999). "与南京汤山直立人伴生的偶蹄类及其古环境浅析". 人类学学报 (人类学学报) 4: 270-281. http://www.cqvip.com/qk/90835x/1999004/3818589.html. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Dong, Wei; Liu, Jin-yi; Zhang, Li-min; Xu, Qin-qi (2014). "The Early Pleistocene water buffalo associated with Gigantopithecus from Chongzuo in southern China". Quaternary International 354: 86–93. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.054. ISSN 1040-6182. Bibcode2014QuInt.354...86D. 
  5. 陳光祖 (2000). "試論臺灣各時代的哺乳動物群極其相關問題─臺灣地區動物考古學研究的基礎資料之一(上篇)". 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 71 (1). http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/3111QQPWEMU.pdf. Retrieved 2019-09-22. 
  6. 何傳坤; 祁國琴; 張鈞翔 (1996). "臺灣更新世晚期水牛化石的初步研究及復原". 臺灣省立博物館年刊 39: 1-15. doi:10.6548/ATMB.199612_39.0001. https://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/alDetailedMesh?DocID=P20180614003-199612-201806150006-201806150006-1-15. Retrieved 2023-03-30. 
  7. 同号文、陈曦、王晓敏 (2015). "北京平原地区水牛化石新材料:时代与环境问题". 第四纪研究 35 (3): 561-572. doi:10.11928/j.issn.1001-7410.2015.03.08. http://html.rhhz.net/DSJYJ/20150308.htm. Retrieved 2021-02-12. 
  8. Xue, Xiang-Xu; Li, Xiao-Chen (2000). "FOSSIL BUBALUS FROM SHAANXI, DIS TRIBUTION AND PHYLOGENY OF FOSSIL BUBALUS IN CHINA". Vertebrata PalAsiatica 38 (3): 218-231. http://www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/Y2000/V38/I03/218. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 郭建崴 (2008). 董为. ed. 第十一届中国古脊椎动物学学术年会论文集. 海洋出版社. p. 93-102. https://max.book118.com/html/2015/0615/19112175.shtm. Retrieved 2021-02-13. 

Wikidata ☰ Q100720007 entry