A cranium of<i> "Gazella</i>"<i> nihensis</i> from Pliocene of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the differentiation of early Antilopina

doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2025.200960

IVPP-IR

	*A cranium of "Gazella" nihensis* from Pliocene of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the differentiation of early Antilopina**
	Wang, Shi-Qi1 ; Zhang, Xiao-Yong 2; Li, Yi-Kun 3; Zhang, Xiao-Xiao 4; Jiangzuo, Qi-Gao 1
	2025-10-01
发表期刊	PALAEOWORLD
ISSN	1871-174X
卷号	34 期号:5 页码:15
通讯作者	Wang, Shi-Qi(wangshiqi@ivpp.ac.cn)
摘要	Fossils of Antilopina were often referred to and classified under the genus name "Gazella", except for some Miocene spiral horned antelopes; however, their true taxonomic attribution is difficult to determine due to the significant morphological variation observed in large fossil samples. Species of two extant genera within Antilopina that are widely distributed in China are Gazella subgutturosa and Procapra spp. Assigning abundant fossil specimens identified as "Gazella" from China to these two extant groups is particularly challenging. Molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed that Gazella and Procapra belong to two distinct clades within Antilopina. Therefore, the study of fossil "Gazella" is crucial for understanding the differentiation and evolutionary history of Antilopina, which includes a diverse array of genera that lived in Eurasia and Africa. In this article, we describe a newly discovered cranium of "Gazella" nihensis from the Pliocene Epoch on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The new cranium exhibits several distinctive features: the braincase is considerably elongated, with the occipital condyles protruding caudally beyond the paroccipital process; the cranial-facial axis is weakly curved, and the horn cores are strongly inclined caudally. The morphology is distinct from most other members of Antilopina. We testified the view that "Gazella" nihensis is possibly related with the living Procapra because of these specialized features. Interestingly, in "Gazella" nihensis, the elongated braincase that is less bent from the facial axis resembles that of the living Litocranius walleri; and the strongly caudally inclined horn core that of the living Ammodorcas clarkei and Antidorcas marsupialis. These similarities maybe the result of parallel evolution, but further research is needed to explore this interesting resemblance. (c) 2025 Elsevier B.V. and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
关键词	Antilopinae Gazella Procapra Pliocene Tibetan Plateau
DOI	10.1016/j.palwor.2025.200960
关键词[WOS]	LATE MIOCENE ; BOVIDAE MAMMALIA ; ARTIODACTYLA ; MITOCHONDRIAL ; RUMINANTIA ; TAXONOMY
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[42430207] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[42472004] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[42402025] ; National Key Research and Development Program of China[2023YFF0804501] ; Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation[23JCYBJC00530] ; Upper Reaches of the Yellow River (in Qinghai Province) Research on Paleobiological Fossils and Environmental Changes[2022]
项目资助者	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; National Key Research and Development Program of China ; Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation ; Upper Reaches of the Yellow River (in Qinghai Province) Research on Paleobiological Fossils and Environmental Changes
WOS研究方向	Paleontology
WOS类目	Paleontology
WOS记录号	WOS:001582373300001
出版者	ELSEVIER
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/24974
专题	中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所
通讯作者	Wang, Shi-Qi
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China 2.Northern Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Key Lab Geol Proc & Mineral Resources, Xining 810012, Qinghai, Peoples R China 3.Shenyang Normal Univ, Shenyang 110034, Peoples R China 4.Tianjin Nat Hist Museum, Tianjin 300201, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Wang, Shi-Qi,Zhang, Xiao-Yong,Li, Yi-Kun,et al. A cranium of "Gazella" nihensis from Pliocene of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the differentiation of early Antilopina[J]. PALAEOWORLD,2025,34(5):15.
APA	Wang, Shi-Qi,Zhang, Xiao-Yong,Li, Yi-Kun,Zhang, Xiao-Xiao,&Jiangzuo, Qi-Gao.(2025).A cranium of "Gazella" nihensis from Pliocene of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the differentiation of early Antilopina.PALAEOWORLD,34(5),15.
MLA	Wang, Shi-Qi,et al."A cranium of "Gazella" nihensis from Pliocene of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the differentiation of early Antilopina".PALAEOWORLD 34.5(2025):15.