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Penemuan
fosil baru: prekursor badak Eropa ditemukan di Vietnam
New fossil find: Precursor of European rhinos found in Vietnam
Date:
March 12,
2014
Source:
Senckenberg Research Institute and
Natural History Museum
Summary:
Scientists have recovered fossils of two previously
unknown mammal species that lived about 37 million years ago. The newly
described mammals show a surprisingly close relationship to prehistoric species
known from fossil sites in Europe. The location: The open lignite-mining Na
Duong in Vietnam. Here, the team of scientists was also able to make a series
of further discoveries, including three species of fossilized crocodiles and
several new turtles
.........................
A team of scientists from the University of Tübingen and the
Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment Tübingen was able
to recover fossils of two previously unknown mammal species that lived about 37
million years ago. The newly described mammals show a surprisingly close
relationship to prehistoric species known from fossil sites in Europe. The
location: The open lignite-mining Na Duong in Vietnam. Here, the team of
scientists was also able to make a series of further discoveries, including
three species of fossilized crocodiles and several new turtles.
Southeast
Asia is considered a particularly species-rich region, even in prehistoric
times -- a so-called hotspot of biodiversity. For several decades now,
scientists have postulated close relationships that existed in the late Eocene
(ca. 38-34 million years ago) between the faunas of that region and Europe. The
recent findings by the research team under leadership of Prof. Dr. Madelaine
Böhme serve as proof that some European species originated in Southeast Asia.
Rhinoceros
and Coal beast
One of the
newly described mammals is a rhinoceros, Epiaceratherium naduongense.
The anatomy of the fossil teeth allows identifying this rhinoceros as a
potential forest dweller. The other species is the so-called "Coal
Beast," Bakalovia orientalis. This pig-like ungulate, closely
related to hippos, led a semi-aquatic lifestyle, i.e., it preferred the water
close to bank areas. At that time, Na Duong was a forested swampland
surrounding Lake Rhin Chua. The mammals' remains bear signs of crocodile
attacks. Indeed, the excavation site at Na Duong contains the fossilized remains
of crocodiles up to 6 meters in length.
From island
to island toward Europe
In the Late
Eocene, the European mainland presented a very different aspect than it does
today. Italy and Bulgaria were part of an island chain in the Tethys Sea. These
islands spanned several thousand kilometers between what later became Europe
and India. European fossils from that epoch are very rare, since little
material has been preserved due to the folding of mountains and erosion. Yet,
the two new species had relatives in this area: A rhinoceros Epiaceratherium
bolcense closely resembling the one from Na Duong was found in Italy
(Monteviale). Fossil finds of Epiaceratherium magnum from Bavaria
indicate that rhinoceroses reached continental Europe no later than 33 million
years ago and colonized the landmass. The coal beast did not quite make it to
the European mainland -- but it certainly reached the so-called
Balkano-Rhodopen Island: a fossilized coal beast very similar to Bakalovia
orientalis was unearthed in present-day Bulgaria.
Research
among coal dust and excavators
The open
mining pit Na Duong is still active. While the scientists conduct their
excavations, lignite is being extracted nearby. Since 2008, the international
research team around Prof. Dr. Madelaine Böhme from the Senckenberg Center for
Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP) at the University of Tübingen has
studied the prehistoric ecosystem and the fossils of Na Duong in Vietnam. This
research revealed that the lignite seams contained a globally important fossil
deposit from the Paleogene interval. Originally, scientists had expected to
find fossils from the younger Cenozoic (up to 23 million years ago) at the
site. This ecosystem, which the scientists from Vietnam, France and Germany
explore and reconstruct in ever more detail from one excavation season to the
next, is a 37 million year-old swamp forest in a tropical to subtropical
climate. Up to 600 trees grew there per hectare, and their crowns reached
heights of up to 35 meters.
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by Senckenberg Research Institute and
Natural History Museum. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- Madelaine Böhme, Manuela Aiglstorfer, Pierre-Olivier Antoine, Erwin Appel, Philipe Havlik, Grégoire Métais, Laq The Phuc, Simon Schneider, Fabian Setzer, Ralf Tappert, Dang Ngoc Tran, Dieter Uhl, Jérôme Prieto. Na Duong (northern Vietnam) – an exceptional window into Eocene ecosystems from Southeast Asia. Zitteliana A, 2014; 53: 120-167 [link]
