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Sinomegaceros Temporal range: Early Pleistocene–Late Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Sinomegaceros yabei at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
Sinomegaceros pachyosteus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Tribe:	Cervini
Genus:	†Sinomegaceros Dietrich, 1933
Species
S. yabei Shikama, 1938 S. pachyosteus Young, 1932 S. flabellatus Teilhard de Chardin, 1936 S. konwanlinensis Chow, Hu and Lee, 1965 S. tadzhikistanis Vislobokova, 1988 S. ordosianus Young, 1932
Synonyms
Cervus (Sinomegaceroides) Shikama, 1949 Megaceros (Sinomegaceros) Kahlke & Hu, 1957 Mongolomegaceros Shikama & Okafuji, 1958 Megaceraxis Matsumoto, 1963

Sinomegaceros is an extinct genus of deer known from the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene of Central and East Asia. It is considered to be part of the group of "giant deer" (often referred to collectively as members of the tribe Megacerini), with a close relationship to Megaloceros. Many members of the genus are noted for their distinctive palmate antler brow tines.

Taxonomy

The first species of the genus S. ordosianus and S. pachyosteus were named by pioneering Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young as species of Cervus in 1932 for material from Zhoukoudian. In a review of the paper the subsequent year Dietrich created the name Sinomegaceros as a subgenus of Cervus to house the species, with S. pachyosteus as the type species. Due to the fact that the name was not published in a formal research paper, it was not widely used for several decades after publication. The species S. yabei was named in 1938. In the following decades various researchers considered it a subgenus of Megaloceros, or a distinct genus. Several named species are likely to be junior synonyms.

Named species include:

• Sinomegaceros tadzhikistanis, known from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Tajikistan
• Sinomegaceros konwanlinensis, from Gongwaling in Northern China, dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 1.6 million years ago.
• Sinomegaceros fabellatus, known from the late Early Pleistocene-Early Middle Pleistocene of China
• Sinomegaceros sangwonensis known from the mid-Middle Pleistocene of China
• Sinomegaceros luochuanensis known from the late Middle Pleistocene of China
• Sinomegaceros baotouensis known from the Late Pleistocene of China
• Sinomegaceros pachyosteus known from the early Middle Pleistocene to the late Middle Pleistocene or Late Pleistocene of China
• Sinomegaceros ordosianus, known from the late Middle Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene of China and small adjacent areas of Russian Siberia
• Sinomegaceros yabei late Middle Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene of Japan

Indeterminate remains of Sinomegaceros are also known from the Late Pleistocene of the Korean Peninsula.

Sinomegaceros has often been considered closely related to other genera "giant deer", like Praemegaceros and Megaloceros, as part of the tribe Megacerini. Mitochondrial genomes from Late Pleistocene Chinese and Siberian Sinomegaceros (including S. ordosianus and S. pachyosteus) indicate that the mitochondrial diversity of the Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus, also known as the giant deer) is nested within the diversity of Sinomegaceros, suggesting that the two lineages interbred after their initial split. This interbreeding may have occurred in the contact region between the two groups in Siberia. Relationships of Sinomegaceros mitochondrial genomes after Xiao, et al. 2023

Description

Species of Sinomegaceros were large deer, with estimated body masses for Chinese Pleistocene species ranging from 220 kilograms (490 lb) in S. pachyosteus to 365 kilograms (805 lb) in S. konwanlinensis, with S. ordosianus estimated at 330 kilograms (730 lb). Remains attributed to the genus in Central Asia are even larger, with the body mass of S. tadzhikistanis being estimated at 465 kilograms (1,025 lb), while an indeterminate species from the Pleistocene locality of Lakhuti 2 in Tajikistan was estimated 560 kilograms (1,230 lb), making it one of the largest deer known. The antlers have palmate brow tines, with the palmation generally orientated transversely and vertically. The mandibles of Sinomegaceros, like those of Megaloceros giganteus, are robust and display pachyostosis with the robustness being the most extreme in S. pachyosteus.

Ecology

S. yabei and S. pachyosteus are suggested to have been grazers.

Evolution

One of the oldest species in the genus is Sinomegaceros tadzhikistanis, known from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Tajikistan. The oldest species of the genus in China is Sinomegaceros konwanlinensis, from Gongwaling in Northern China, dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 1.6 million years ago. S. fabellatus is known from fossils spanning the latest Early Pleistocene to early Middle Pleistocene. S. sangwonensis is known from fossils spanning the mid-Middle Pleistocene. The oldest fossils of S. pachyosteus date to around 700,000 years ago, during the early Middle Pleistocene. While some authors suggest youngest fossils of the species date to the late Middle Pleistocene, other sources have suggested that the species persisted into the Late Pleistocene, with reported radiocarbon dates as recent as 35,000 years ago. The species S. yabei and S. ordosianus first appeared during the late Middle Pleistocene. It has been suggested that both S. pachyosteus and S. yabei ultimately derive from S. konwanlinensis. While often stated to have become extinct around 12,000 years ago, a lack of high-quality radiocarbon dates makes the time of extinction uncertain for S. yabei, with the only certain radiocarbon dates dating to around 40,000 years ago. Radiocarbon dates for S. ordosianus in Northeastern China extend as recently as the Last Glacial Maximum, around 22,000 years ago.

Relationship with humans

Remains of S. yabei at Lake Nojiri in Nagano Prefecture of Honshu, Japan, dating to approximately 37,900 to 42,600 years Before Present have been found associated with spear-shaped wood pieces and large pebbles, with the long bones fractured, with their fragments bearing percussive marks, suggesting that these deer (alongside elephants belonging to the species Palaeoloxodon naumanni) were butchered by humans at the site, with the long bones likely cracked to extract bone marrow. S. ordosianus is suggested to have likely been hunted by archaic humans, based on the finds of its remains in Chinese Paleolithic archaeological sites.

References

1. Vislobokova, I. A. (2013). "Morphology, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny of Megacerines (Megacerini, Cervidae, Artiodactyla)". Paleontological Journal. 47 (8): 833–950. doi:10.1134/S0031030113080017. ISSN 0031-0301. S2CID 86697746.
2. Young, C.C., 1932. On the Artiodactyla from the Sinanthropus site at Chouk’outien. Palaeontogia Sinica, Series C 8 (2), 159
3. Dietrich, W.O., 1933. C.C. Young: on the Artiodactyla from the Sinanthropus Site at Choukoutien. Neuest Jahrbuch fu ̈r Miner-alogie, Geologie und Pala ̈ontologie. Referate, III 1933(2), 475–477.
4. ^ van der Made, J.; Tong, H.W. (March 2008). "Phylogeny of the giant deer with palmate brow tines Megaloceros from west and Sinomegaceros from east Eurasia" (PDF). Quaternary International. 179 (1): 135–162. Bibcode:2008QuInt.179..135V. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2007.08.017.
5. Shikama, T., 1938. Discovery of giant fallow deer from the Pleistocene in Japan. Japanese Journal of Geology and Geography 16 (1–2), 115–122
6. Kahlke, H.D., Hu, C.-k., 1957. On the distribution of Megaceros in China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 1 (4), 273–283 pl. 1.
7. Kahlke, R.D., 1999. The history of the origin, evolution and dispersal of the Late Pleistocene Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex in Eurasia (large mammals). Mammoth site of Hot Springs, SD, inc., 219.
8. Shikama, T., Tsugawa, S., 1962. Megacerid remains from Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Bulletin of the National Science Museum 6 (1), 1–13.
9. Otsuka, H., Shikama, T., 1977. Studies on fossil deer of the Takao Collection (Pleistocene deer fauna in the Seto Inland Sea, West Japan— Part 1). Bulletin of the National Science Museum 3 (1), 9–40 pls. 1-6.
10. ^ Citation: Mei HJ, Zhang B, Lei HR, et al. Antler fossil of Sinomegaceros ordosianus from Nanbaishan site of Late Pleistocene age in Yüxian, Hebei Province. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2023, 42(2): 225-237 (In Chinese with English abstract)
11. Choe, Rye Sun; Han, Kum Sik; Kim, Se Chan; U, Chol; Ho, Chol Ung; Kang, Il (September 2020). "Late Pleistocene fauna from Chongphadae Cave, Hwangju County, Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Quaternary Research. 97: 42–54. doi:10.1017/qua.2020.9. ISSN 0033-5894.
12. Vislobokova, I. A. (December 2013). "Morphology, taxonomy, and phylogeny of megacerines (Megacerini, Cervidae, Artiodactyla)". Paleontological Journal. 47 (8): 833–950. doi:10.1134/S0031030113080017. ISSN 0031-0301.
13. ^ Xiao, Bo; Rey-lglesia, Alba; Yuan, Junxia; Hu, Jiaming; Song, Shiwen; Hou, Yamei; Chen, Xi; Germonpré, Mietje; Bao, Lei; Wang, Siren; Taogetongqimuge; Valentinovna, Lbova Liudmila; Lister, Adrian M.; Lai, Xulong; Sheng, Guilian (November 2023). "Relationships of Late Pleistocene Giant Deer as Revealed by Sinomegaceros Mitogenomes from East Asia". iScience. 26 (12): 108406. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108406. PMC 10690636.
14. Croitor, Roman (2022-11-06). "Paleobiogeography of Crown Deer". Earth. 3 (4): 1138–1160. doi:10.3390/earth3040066. ISSN 2673-4834.
15. ^ Fu, Jiao; Zhang, Ji; Wang, Yuan; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Wang, Shi-Qi (2022-07-19). "Finite element analysis of the hemimandible of the giant deer, Sinomegaceros pachyosteus , revealing its feeding potentialities". Historical Biology: 1–8. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2101368. ISSN 0891-2963.
16. Croitor, Roman; Abbas, Sayyed Ghyour; Babar, Muhammad Adeeb; Khan, Muhammad Akbar (September 2021). "A new deer species (Cervidae, Mammalia) from the upper Siwaliks (Pakistan)". Quaternary International. 595: 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.03.009.
17. Iwase, Akira; Hashizume, Jun; Izuho, Masami; Takahashi, Keiichi; Sato, Hiroyuki (March 2012). "Timing of megafaunal extinction in the late Late Pleistocene on the Japanese Archipelago". Quaternary International. 255: 114–124. Bibcode:2012QuInt.255..114I. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.029.
18. Kondo, Y.; Takeshita, Y.; Watanabe, T.; Seki, M.; Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group (April 2018). "Geology and Quaternary environments of the Tategahana Paleolithic site in Nojiri-ko (Lake Nojiri), Nagano, central Japan". Quaternary International. 471: 385–395. Bibcode:2018QuInt.471..385K. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.012.

External links

• Cervinae
• Pleistocene mammals of Asia
• Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera