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New materials of Lophiomeryx (Artiodactyla: Lophiomerycidae) from the Oligocene of Nei Mongol, China

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A Correction to this article was published on 06 March 2024

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Abstract

Fossil teeth representing four species of Lophiomeryx are identified from early Oligocene strata in the Saint Jacques area of Nei Mongol, including L. shinaoensis, L. gracilis, L. cf. chalaniati, and L. triangularis sp. nov. This represents the highest species richness of this early traguline from a single stratigraphic sequence. The new materials expand the spatiotemporal ranges of L. shinaoensis and L. gracilis, which are previously known from the late Eocene of Guizhou, south China. We present further morphological details that support the validity of the original taxonomy for the Guizhou materials. L. cf. chalaniati resembles the type species morphologically but is smaller than European specimens. L. triangularis sp. nov. is the last to appear in the sequence, and it is notably larger and more high-crowned than all the other known species of Lophiomeryx. Aside from the dental materials, we report the first known skull of L. gracilis, collected from a nearby locality, Qianlishan. While the overall skull morphology is primitive for tragulines, the specimen preserves a closed postorbital bar, a derived feature that was previously thought to be absent in Lophiomeryx. Our new specimens shed light on the diversity, biogeography, and ecology of this basal ruminant as well as on the evolution of early tragulines.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Yuan-Qing Wang, Bin Bai, Qian Li, and Ran-Cheng Xu for their helpful discussions on this work; Yong-Xing Wang, Yong-Fu Wang, Wei Zhou, Shi-Jie Li, Yuan-Qing Wang, Bin Bai, Li-Ping Dong, Yan Liu, and Li-Qun Shi for assistance with fossil collection in the field; Shi-Qi Wang, Qiang Li, and Hao Gong for generously lending specimens for comparison; Wei Zhou for discoverying and preparing the skull specimen; Wei Gao for the photography; Ye-Mao Hou and Peng-Fei Yin for CT imaging; Grégoire Métais and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments and suggestions.

Funding

This study was funded by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41472003), the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) (223128), and the Special Fund for Fossil Excavation and Preparation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. BW is supported by an International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. The author declare no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Bian Wang, Qian Wang & Zhao-Qun Zhang

  2. College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qian Wang & Zhao-Qun Zhang

  3. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Major Geological Events and Effects of Resources and Environment, Chongqing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Chongqing, 401120, China

    Qian Wang

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  1. Bian Wang
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Contributions

ZQ.Z. conceived the research idea. All authors participated in fossil collection and identification. B.W. and Q.W. drafted the manuscript text and prepared the figures. B.W. and ZQ.Z. reviewed and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhao-Qun Zhang.

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This article is registered in ZooBank under http://zoobank.org/References/F4772BF6-51CD-4686-9F87-C898377BBB3B.

The original online version of this article was revised: The first error concerns the dental formula of Lophiomeryx; described on page 1049 as 3.1.3.3/3.1.4.3 but should be corrected to ?0.1.3.3/3.1.4.3. The second error concerns a catalogue number on page 1051, under Referred specimens of Lophiomeryx cf. chalaniati. IVPP V282450 should be corrected to IVPP V28250. This catalogue number is correctly when mentioned elsewhere in the article.

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Wang, B., Wang, Q. & Zhang, ZQ. New materials of Lophiomeryx (Artiodactyla: Lophiomerycidae) from the Oligocene of Nei Mongol, China. J Mammal Evol 30, 1047–1066 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09691-3

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