First occurrence of Duboisia (Bovidae, Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from Thailand
Author
Nishioka, Yuichiro
Chavalit Vidthayanon & Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Shinjuku, 169 - 8050, Japan
Author
Correspondence, Chavalit Vidthayanon
text
Fossil Record
2018
2018-10-24
21
2
291
299
http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/fr-21-291-2018
journal article
10.5194/fr-21-291-2018
2193-0074
11359617
Duboisia
aff.
santeng
(
Dubois, 1891
)
(
Fig. 3
)
Examined material:
PPN
01-000109, a calvarium with right and left horn cores.
Locality:
A sandpit at Tha Chang,
Nakhon Ratchasima
City, north-eastern
Thailand
.
Age:
Younger than the Middle Miocene and older than the Middle Pleistocene.
Measurements:
Antero-posterior diameter of the left horn core: 18.5 mm; medio-lateral diameter of the left horn core: 33.6 mm; length of brain case (between bregma and superior nuchal line): 65.1 mm; maximum width of brain case: 68.7 mm; height of the occipital without the foramen magnum: 38.1 mm (see also
Table 1
).
Description:
The present specimen is a calvarium with complete right and left horn cores, including the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital bones. The basioccipital part is broken. The dorsal surface on the fronto-parietal region is flat and faintly depressed. The frontal surface is rugose, with weak precornual ridges extending from the anterior ridge of the horn cores (
Fig.
3g
). Supraorbital foramina are not found on the preserved parts: that means they are situated further towards the front than the horn pedicels. The postero-dorsal rims of the orbits weakly project outwards. Temporal crests are moderately developed, slightly overhanging along the superior nuchal line on the occipital. The external occipital protuberance is projected posteriorly. The median nuchal line forms a sharp ridge and gently inclines below the centre. The brain case is squared in dorsal view (length/width = 0.95). The height of the occipital without the foramen magnum is low relative to the brain-case width (height/width = 0.55). The mastoid processes project laterally, with shallow squamosal shelves.
Table 1.
Comparison of brain-case dimensions (in mm) among boselaphins. Measuring points (
L
, length;
W
, width;
H
, height) are shown in Fig. 3.
L
|
W
|
H
|
L/W
|
H/W
|
B. tragocamelus
|
BNHS 18183 BNHS 18184 BNHS 18186 |
107.2 93.5 89.9 |
81.5 74.4 87.9 |
51.6 53.9 52.4 |
1.32 1.26 1.02 |
0.63 0.72 0.60 |
B. namadicus
|
BMNH 36851 BMNH M486 |
83.0 86.3 |
91.9 77.8 |
58.0 56.6 |
0.90 1.11 |
0.63 0.73 |
T. quadricornis
|
BNHS 18004 BNHS 18125 |
58.6 63.9 |
59.7 53.7 |
22.6 19.4 |
0.98 1.19 |
0.38 0.36 |
D. santeng
|
MGB.Dbs. |
68.1 |
79.8 |
41.5 |
0.85 |
0.52 |
D.
aff.
santeng
|
PPN 01-000109 |
65.1 |
68.7 |
38.1 |
0.95 |
0.55 |
The horn cores insert caudolaterally from the orbits, strongly inclined backwards being parallel to the frontal surface at the base, and bend upwards at the middle part. In the antero-dorsal view (
Fig. 3a
), the horn cores diverge at an angle of 95
◦
at the base, and curve inwards after the middle part. The horn core is weakly twisted clockwise (right side). Right and left horn cores have a wide interval at the frontal surface (56.0 mm between the medial keels). The cross section of the horn cores has a rounded triangular outline antero-posteriorly compressed (
Fig. 4b
). There are medial and lateral keels from the base to the top. The anterior surface is convex but does not have a clear keel.
Remarks:
Most antelope-sized species of
Bovinae
were traditionally included in the tribe
Boselaphini (
McKenna and Bell, 1997
)
. However, it is currently accepted that the tribe encompasses only the following crown genera:
Boselaphus
,
Tetracerus
, and
Duboisia
(Bibi, 2009;
Bibi et al., 2009
). There are some bovines whose taxonomic positions are formally pending.
Schlosser (1903)
proposed
Paraboselaphus ameghinoi
, referring to some isolated cheek teeth from
China
, but his materials and description are insufficient to define an independent taxon based on apomorphies of the genus.
Matsumoto (1915)
described
Proboselaphus
from the Pleistocene of
Sichuan
,
China
, as a primitive form of living
Boselaphus
, but the
holotype
skull of
P. watasei
has neither cranial nor tooth characteristics of
Bovidae
, but rather those of
Cervidae (
Nishioka et al., 2018a
)
. According to
Pilgrim (1939)
,
Sivaportax
from the Neogene
Irrawaddy
beds of
Myanmar
is phylogenetically related to
Boselaphus
, but our recent studies indicated that the former shares horn core morphology with Miocene Tragoportacini or Stem Bovini rather than
Boselaphini
(
Nishioka et al., 2018b
). In this study, we accept that
Duboisia
is the only extinct genus included in
Boselaphini
.
Regarding cranial morphology,
PPN
01-000109 has the precornual ridges extending from the anterior keels (or ridges) of the horn cores which are a synapomorphy of
Boselaphini
. Rugosity on the fronto-parietal surface is a symplesiomorphy of Tragoportacini (e.g.
Protragocerus
,
Helicoportax
,
Tragoportax
, and
Miotragocerus
) and
Boselaphini
, but that of
PPN
01-000109 is finer than that of the tragoportacin genera. Moreover,
PPN
01-000109 has relatively weaker temporal crests on the parietals and an antero-posteriorly shorter brain case than the tragoportacin genera listed above. According to previous studies (
Stremme, 1911
;
Hooijer, 1958
) and our observation, a combination of the following characteristics of the horn cores is diagnostic to distinguish the genus
Duboisia
from all of the other genera of
Bovinae
: the lower half inclined backwards; the upper half curved upwards; and the cross section rounded triangular, compressed antero-posteriorly, and with medial and lateral keels.
Boselaphus namadicus
is known as an extinct form of boselaphins from the older alluvium (Middle Pleistocene) of the Narmada basin,
India
(Rütimeyer, 1878;
Pilgrim, 1939
;
Chauhan, 2008
), and from the Plio-Pleistocene deposits of Sardhok,
Pakistan
(
Siddiq et al., 2017
). The horn core of the
holotype
(
BMNH
36851) of
B. namadicus
has equilateral triangular cross section with a sharp anterior keel and is less compressed antero-posteriorly than that of
PPN
01- 000109 or the genus
Duboisia
. In measurements (
Table 1
), the brain case of
PPN
01-000109 is antero-posteriorly shorter than that of
Boselaphus tragocamelus
and approximately as long as that of
Boselaphus namadicus
or
Tetracerus quadricornis
based on dividing length by width. In the occipital height divided by width,
PPN
01-000109 is intermediate between
Boselaphus
and
Tetracerus
. Based on the qualitative and quantitative comparisons in horn core and brain-case morphology, as mentioned above,
PPN
01-000109 is distinguished from
Boselaphus
and
Tetracerus
.
The genus
Duboisia
formally contains two species i.e.
D. santeng
(
Dubois, 1891
)
and
D
.?
sartonoi
Geraads, 1979
(or
D. saatensis
Von Koenigswald, 1934
), although the latter was established based on some isolated teeth.
Van den Bergh (1988)
, in his unpublished master dissertation, suggested that
Cervus problematicus
Von Koenigswald, 1933
, from Bumiayu, Java, should be combined with the genus
Duboisia
based on a large skull fragment. Both?
D. sartonoi
and
D. problematicus
are likely larger than
D. santeng
, but these species are still debatable taxonomically (
Rozzi et al., 2013
).
PPN
01-000109 is almost as large as the specimen
MGB
.Dbs. of
D. santeng
from Sangiran (
Table 1
). The horn cores of
PPN
01-000109 are primarily similar to those of
D. santeng
, in having keels on the medial and lateral sides and cross section compressed antero-posteriorly, but there are some minor differences between
PPN
01-000109 and
D. santeng
(
MGB
.
SA
290709) from Pucung. Compared to the latter, the former has slender horn cores, curved prominently, and incomplete anterior and medial keels (
Fig. 4
). Moreover, precornual ridges of
PPN
01-000109 are weaker than those of
MGB
.SA 290709. These differences of horn cores are possibly due to intraspecific variation. Although a species identification of
PPN
01-000109 should be discussed in detail based on additional specimens from
Thailand
and comparing with a sufficient number of specimens of
D. santeng
from Java,
PPN
01-000109 has a strong affinity with
D. santeng
.