Qinhuangdao Goat Walled Mammalian Group Leporidae Animal Fossils

Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna located in Liujiang Basin, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province are mainly in the cave sediments. It is dominated by small animal fossils and the large-scale mammal fossils are limited. We had found more than 10000 fossils including Soricidae, Talpidae, Vespertilionidae, Rodentia, Lagomorpha and some species of reptiles.By the study on the composition characteristics of Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna and Comparative analysis with Zhoukoudian Formation fauna and Jinniushan Formation fauna, it indicates that the chronology is later than lower Jinniushan Formation fauna in Liaoning Province and earlier than Qian'an Zhaocun fauna in Hebei Province and Shalawusu fauna in the Inner Mongolia. Based primarily on the rodents and other fossils, the geologic age of the Shanyangzhai Cave is estimated as the Middle Pleistocene.This paper aims at the study on the Leporidae fossils of Shanyanzhai mammalian fauna. In this paper, The Leporidae fossils contains 84 pieces of skulls, 158 pieces of maxilla, 524 pieces of mandible, 226 teeth of right P2, 213 teeth of left P2, 136 teeth of right p3 and 199 teeth of left p3. UP to now, 3 genera 7 species have been identified, including Sericolagus cf. brachypus, ?Sylvilagus sp., Lepus qinhuangdaoensis sp.nov., Lepus mandschuricus, Lepus capensis and Lepus sp.. Lepus qinhuangdaoensis sp.nov. is a new species of Lepus of Pleistocene and it is the smallest Lepus in China. Lepus mandschuricus is typical representative of northern China. It can only be found in Jinniushan fauna before. Lepus capensis is the euryecious type, which often live in steppe, droughty steppe, forest steppe or other open-field environment. A large number of Lepus capensis fossils represent droughty climate. According to the members of Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna and the living habits of these fossils, we inferred that the grassplot is luxuriant out of the cave, and the cave approaches a source of water which adjacent to distant luxuriant forest at that time. Therefore, the environment of this area transits from forest-sylvosteppe to steppe-desert step by step, and the climate transits from warm and moist to cold and mild wet in Middle Pleistocene. Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna is a mammalian fauna with northern features, which located in transitional region. We discussed the systematics of Leporidae in Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna, summed up the characteristic of P2 and p3 which are important basis of classification at present, combined the predominance of amount and previous study results, and compared with other fossils of Leporidae in contiguity mammalian fauna in the thesis. Based on these studies, we can provide more analysis datum for studying the species and characteristics of Leporidae fossils of Middle Pleistocene in northern China. In addition, based on the configuration structure of fossils of Leporidae in Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna, we discussed evolution relationship among the fossils of Leporidae in Shanyangzhai mammalian fauna, and we suggest that the evolution of Lepus in this area is diversifying in Pleistocene. Compare with Lepus in other areas of China, Lepus qinhuangdaoensis sp.nov. has closer kinship with early species (such as Alilepus).