Notes on Asian stegodontids

New Proboscideans (Mammalia) from the middle Miocene of Thailand

“…Other Asian Stegolophodon: The Mae Moh Stegolophodon differs from S. cautleyi (Neogene, Myanmar) by the absence of median conules on upper molars; from S. pseudolatidens (middle Miocene, Japan) by larger mesoconelets and rectilinear posterior lophids on M/3; from the holotype of S. stegodontoides and the material associated with this species by Tassy (1983c) under the name S. cf. Stegodontoides by weaker cusps, absence of supplementary cusps on the pretrite half‐lophs, and narrower upper molars; from S. progressus (Neogene, Myanmar) by narrower upper molars, absence of median conules and accessory crests in upper molars; and from the other large Stegolophodon of the Late Miocene of Yunnan (China), Myanmar and Tha Chang (Thailand) by fewer lophs on M3/3, weaker conules, and small and proportionally narrower molars (Tobien, 1978; Tassy, 1983c; Saegusa, Thasod & Ratanasthien, 2005). The unique specimen of S. hueiheensis (middle Miocene, China) is too worn to allow a serious comparison with the Thai material.…”

“…Contrary to the proposition of Koenigswald (1959), S. latidens and S. praelatidens probably do not belong to a single lineage: even if the lectotype of S. latidens appears more derived than S. praelatidens by having broader teeth with higher laminar frequency, it displays central conules on upper molars and a strong posterior shift of the pretrite main cone. These primitive features [see Saegusa et al. 's (2005) discussion of the latter trait], not maintained in S. praelatidens , render the S. Praelatidens – S. latidens lineage hypothesis weakly parsimonious.…”

“…stegodontoides might thus belong to different lineages. Some large Stegolophodon of the Late Miocene of Yunnan (China), Myanmar and Tha Chang (Thailand) (see Saegusa et al. , 2005) are also potential descendants of S. praelatidens.…”

Juvenile hominoid cranium from the terminal Miocene of Yunnan, China

“…Stegodon is a widespread member of late Baodean- age assemblages and Sinomastodon is known from the MioPliocene boundary to the late Pliocene elsewhere in China [19]. Stegodon zhaotongensis is a primitive stegodont recorded from latest Miocene-early Pliocene sediments in China [20]. The mammalian biochronology is consistent with the presence of late Miocene fossil pollens [21].…”

The site of Shuitangba (Yunnan, China) preserves a unique, terminal Miocene fauna

“…Although several of the species appear to be endemic to southern China, the majority of genera reveal faunal similarity with areas beyond Yunnan. Among large mammals, Sinomastodon and Stegodon are known from northern China (Tedford et al, 1991) and throughout Asia and Africa (Saegusa, 2005); Propotamochoerus is widespread throughout Europe and Asia (Barry et al, 2002;Geraads et al, 2008;Sein et al, 2009); and Siamogale is known from Thailand (Groh e et al, 2010). Soriculus is widespread in Asia, and Lantanotherium is indistinguishable from other hedgehogs throughout Eurasia.…”