An 11 000-year-old giant muntjac subfossil from Northern Vietnam: implications for past and present populations

Abstract

Described at the end of the twentieth century, the large-antlered or giant muntjac, Muntiacus gigas (syn . vuquangensis ), is a Critically Endangered species currently restricted to the Annamite region in Southeast Asia. Here we report subfossil evidence of giant muntjac, a mandible fragment dated between 11.1 and 11.4 thousand years before present, from northern Vietnam. We describe morphological and metric criteria for diagnosis and consider the specimen in the context of regional archaeological and palaeontological records of Muntiacus . We then consider the palaeoenvironmental context of the specimen and the implications for habitat requirements for extant populations. The new specimen extends the known spatial and temporal range of giant muntjacs in Vietnam and is further evidence that this species was more widely distributed in the Holocene than current records indicate. While regional proxy evidence indicates a drier climate and more open woodland habitats at the onset of the Holocene, contextual evidence indicates that the specimen derived from an animal inhabiting limestone karst forest. This record also supports the assertion that remnant populations are in a refugial state, as a result of anthropogenic pressures, rather than representing a centre of endemism. These facts underscore the urgent need for the conservation of remaining populations.

Confirmed archaeological evidence of water deer in Vietnam: relics of the Pleistocene or a shifting baseline?

“…Modern comparative specimens were consulted at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) and previous observations and measurements at the Natural History Museum, UK (C.M.S., unpublished data, 2018) and American Museum of Natural History (B.U., unpublished data, 2018) were employed. Comparative descriptions and dental metric data were also compiled from the literature ( [9,21,38,50,[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]; electronic supplementary material, tables S3-S5). Dental terminology follows Bärmann & Rössner [71].…”

“…The Tràng An karst landscape and environs are located in Ninh Binh Province, Northern Vietnam (see [9,[53][54][55][56] for detailed descriptions). Hang Thung Binh 1 (TB1) is one of six caves within an isolated limestone hill of the same name, in the northwest corner of the Tràng An core zone, 1.5 km west of the main massif set within cultivated alluvial plains (figure 2).…”

“…Now, as the mechanisms, scale and rapidity of recent human impact on ecosystems worldwide have no geological analogue, efforts to characterize the 'Anthropocene' are gaining impetus [2,3] and the global biodiversity crisis becomes increasingly acute [4][5][6]. With mammal populations in decline, the necessity and utility of longer-term Quaternary records to provide 'pre-Anthropocene' insights into populations, diversity and geographical range is being demonstrated [6][7][8][9][10][11]. The principal warrant of this longer-term perspective is that baselines for quantification and description (e.g.…”

Geochemical fingerprinting of Pleistocene stone tools from the Tràng An Landscape Complex, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam

“…Archaeological investigations at cave and rockshelter sites throughout Tràng An have revealed consistent occupation of the complex for at least 37,000 years [ 36 ]. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction [ 17 , 37 – 40 ] suggests that the karstic ecology of Tràng An remained relatively resistant to large scale environmental instability associated with coastal inundation and global climate change, making it a potential refugial area for prehistoric populations. This means that Tràng An may have served as a key area where stable resource distribution encouraged long term, consistent occupation.…”

Mid-Holocene coastline reconstruction from geomorphological sea level indicators in the Tràng An World Heritage Site, Northern Vietnam

“…Between 2007 and 2014 the Tràng An Archaeological Project (Rabett et al, 2009(Rabett et al, , 2011 conducted a targeted assessment of three prehistoric cave sites within the massif. Most recently, SUNDASIA (2016-2021) has been investigating human adaptation to cycles of sea transgression and regression during the past 60 ka (Rabett et al, 2017a;Utting, 2017;Rabett et al, 2019;Stimpson et al, 2019;O'Donnell et al, 2020) (Figure 2). 2020) 2 ) after Boyd and Lam (2004) 3 ) after UNESCO (2014a).…”