A new species of Musk Ox from the Late Miocene of Gansu Province, China.

A diverse fauna of Musk Oxen (Ovibovines) is known from the Late Miocene of China, each showing distinct and specialized horn cores (the bone core upon which the keratin horn is supported; the diversity of horn core shapes can be used to infer a diversity of horn shapes, even in the absence of horns), but otherwise quite similar. One of these early Musk Oxen is Shaanxispira, to date known from two species from the Bahe Formation of Shaanxi Province. Shaanxispira are distinguished by their long, straight, divergent horn cores with a distinct keel.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 8 May 2014, Qinqin Shi of the Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wen He and Shanqin Chen of the Hezheng Paleozoological Museum, describe a third species of Shaanxispira from the Late Miocene Liushu Formation in the Linxia Basin of Gansu Province.

The new species is named Shaanxispira linxiaensis, meaning from Linxia. The species is described from a single, well-preserved skull, lacking only the tips of the horn cores, the tip of the muzzle and a single tooth. There is slight damage to the right maxilla and left squamosal.

Skull of Shaanxispira linxiaensis: (A) dorsal view, (B) left lateral view, (C) posterior view; the dashed lines show the lateral profile of the frontals; the shadows indicate the parts mended with plaster. Abbreviations: AB, auditory bulla; EAD, external auditory duct; EF, ethmoidal fissure; F, frontal; FM, foramen magnum; FT, facial tuberosity; HC, horn-core; HF, hyoid fossa; K, antero-medial keel of the horn-core; L, lachrymal; LF, lachrymal foramina; IoF, infraorbital foramen; M, maxilla; Mas, mastoid exposure; N, nasal; NC, nuchal crest; O, occipital; OC, occipital condyle; OrbR, orbital rim; Pa, parietal; PoP, paroccipital process; Preof, preorbital fossa; SoF, supraorbital foramen; SoG, supraorbital groove; SpO, supraoccipital; Sq, squamosal; TL, temporal line; Z, zygomatic; ZA, zygomatic arch. Shi et al. (2014).

This is the first member of the genus discovered from outside the Lantian area of Shaanxi Province, and is the best-preserved specimen of a member of the genus to date, which should help to understand the relationship between this and other Miocene Musk Oxen.

See also…

 A new species of fossil Pig from the early Pleistocene of Ethiopia.

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 How fencing the Tibetan prairies is effecting the endangered Przewalski’s Gazelle.

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 A Giant Camel from the mid-Pliocene of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic.

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Rhinoceros teeth from the Early Miocene of Gansu Province, China.

Rhinoceroses are iconic members of the modern Mammalian megafauna, distinguished by their large bulk, thick hides and horns. There are five modern species of Rhinoceros from Africa and Asia, three of which are considered to be Critically Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Endangered Species, with the two remaining being considered Vulnerable and Near Threatened. The earliest Rhinoceroses appear in the fossil record in the Early Eocene in North America. These animals were more Horse-like than Rhinoceros-like in appearance, and the smallest were no bigger than a Dog. 

In a paper published in the journal Vertebrata PalAsiatica in April 2013, Deng Tao of the Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin and Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reports the discovery of a number of tusk-like lower incisors attributed to the early Rhinoceros Aprotodon lanzhouensis from the Early Miocene Shangzhuang Formation of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province in northwest China.

Tusk like lower incisors of Aprotodon lanzhouensis from the Early Miocene Shangzhuang Formation of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province in northwest China. Deng (2013).

Rhinos of the genus Aprotodon are known from the Late Eocene to Early Miocene of Central, South and East Asia. There are four described species, all known only from their skulls and teeth. The genus is noted for its large tusks, which have been compared to those of Hippos, and it has been suggested that these Rhinos had a similar lifestyle.

Aprotodon lanzhouensis has previously been reported from the Late Eocene of Mongolia, and from the Linxia and Lanzhou Basins of northwest China as well as sites in Pakistan and Kazakhstan in the Oligocene and early Miocene, disappearing by the Middle Miocene. Deng notes that this was a time of falling temperatures and increasing aridity across much of Asia, and that despite its Hippo-like dentition Aprotodon lanzhouensis appears to have been restricted to drier areas; it is notably absent from the several sites in eastern Yunnan, which have produced abundant Mammal specimens (including other types of Rhino) from the same period but a warmer, wetter climate. He suggests that if Aprotodon lanzhouensis did have an aquatic, Hippo-like lifestyle, then it was restricted to rivers in areas of dry, open woodland.

See also A new species of Rhinoceros from the Late Miocene of northeastern Thailand, Three new species of Tapir from the Early Eocene of Pakistan, What a 4.6 million-year-old Three Toed Horse can tell us about the climate of Mid Pliocene Tibet, The Western Black Rhino and Vietnamese Rhino declared extinct and A Woolly Rhino from the Pliocene of Tibet.

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