The first cranium of Postschizotherium (Pliohyracidae, Hyracoidea) from the Lower Pleistocene of China

doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2025.200998

IVPP-IR

	The first cranium of Postschizotherium (Pliohyracidae, Hyracoidea) from the Lower Pleistocene of China
	Xing, Lu-Da 1; Wang, Xiao-Bing 2,3; Pickford, Martin 4; Chen, Yan-Jie 5; Ma, Jiao 1; Wang, Shu-Qiong 5; Liu, Yi-Yang 3; Wang, Shi-Qi1
	2026-02-01
发表期刊	PALAEOWORLD
ISSN	1871-174X
卷号	35 期号:1 页码:13
通讯作者	Wang, Shi-Qi(wangshiqi@ivpp.ac.cn)
摘要	Pliohyracidae, a group of large-bodied hyracoids, successfully colonised Eurasia during the late Cenozoic. However, their cranial morphology has remained poorly understood due to the scarcity of complete specimens in East Asia, particularly for Postschizotherium. This study presents the first nearly complete cranium of Postschizotherium cf. intermedium from the Early Pleistocene Longdan locality in Gansu Province, China. The cranium exhibits several distinctive features, including an exceptionally laterally projecting orbit, a massive maxillary sinus that significantly invades the orbital fossa, and a highly developed pre-orbital fossa system. These morphological traits, especially the first one, suggest that Postschizotherium is closely related to Pliohyrax and Kvabebihyrax, both being large pliohyracids from the upper Cenozoic of East Europe and West Asia. The morphology also suggests that Postschizotherium likely occupied semi-aquatic habitats, similar to those of extant hippos, with a diet primarily consisting of grasses. The discovery of this species at Longdan also provides evidence for a relatively humid palaeoenvironment in the region during the earliest Pleistocene, contributing to our understanding of the palaeoenvironmental conditions and evolutionary history of pliohyracids in Eurasia. (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	Postschizotherium Early Pleistocene Longdan Pliohyracidae palaeoenvironments
DOI	10.1016/j.palwor.2025.200998
关键词[WOS]	NEOGENE ; MAMMALIA
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[42430207]###3143 ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[42472004]###3250 ; National Key Research and Development Program of China[2023YFF0804501]###2752
项目资助者	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; National Key Research and Development Program of China
WOS研究方向	Paleontology
WOS类目	Paleontology
WOS记录号	WOS:001665924400001
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/311034/25208
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.Academician Liu Baojun Innovat Workstat, Chengdu 611200, Peoples R China 3.Chongzhou Tianyan Museum, Chengdu 611200, Peoples R China 4.Museum Natl Hist Nat, Ctr Rech Paleontol, F-75005 Paris, France 5.Inner Mongolia Museum Nat Hist, Hohhot 010000, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Xing, Lu-Da,Wang, Xiao-Bing,Pickford, Martin,et al. The first cranium of Postschizotherium (Pliohyracidae, Hyracoidea) from the Lower Pleistocene of China[J]. PALAEOWORLD,2026,35(1):13.
APA	Xing, Lu-Da.,Wang, Xiao-Bing.,Pickford, Martin.,Chen, Yan-Jie.,Ma, Jiao.,...&Wang, Shi-Qi.(2026).The first cranium of Postschizotherium (Pliohyracidae, Hyracoidea) from the Lower Pleistocene of China.PALAEOWORLD,35(1),13.
MLA	Xing, Lu-Da,et al."The first cranium of Postschizotherium (Pliohyracidae, Hyracoidea) from the Lower Pleistocene of China".PALAEOWORLD 35.1(2026):13.