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A new spiral-horned antelope, Gazellospira tsaparangensis sp. nov., from Pliocene Zanda Basin in Himalaya Mountain

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Abstract

Explorations in the past 20 years in the Plio-Pleistocene Zanda Basin (3,800–4,500 m above sea level) along the northern slopes of the Himalaya Mountains have substantially enriched our understanding of the paleoenvironments of the Tibetan Plateau and associated biologic evolution. Many elements of the mammalian fauna recovered are either new to science or shed new light about their special adaptations in this high elevation basin. Here we describe a new species of twisted-horned antelope, Gazellospira tsaparangensis, with a heteronymous spiral. Its small size and primitive morphology, such as relatively short horncore with less twisting, thin frontal bones, a lack of frontal and horncore sinuses, small size of supraorbital foramina, and lack of an anterior keel, helps to place it at the base of genus Gazellospira, substantially more stem-ward than the type species G. torticornis from the Plio-Pleistocene of Europe and western Asia. With an estimated age of 3.62 Ma, this also places G. tsaparangensis as one of the early occurrences in Eurasia, although some fragmentary records in Turkey may be slightly earlier. Considering this early appearance and primitive morphology, G. tsaparangensis once again may be a case of the ‘out-of-Tibet’ model of megafauna origin, with earlier progenitors adapted to cold environments in high Tibet before expanding their range to the rest of Eurasia.

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Data availability

3D models of specimens described are available for download at https://www.morphosource.org/projects/000510942?locale=en (see Material and methods section).

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Acknowledgements

We are greatly in debt to Dimitris Kostopoulos from the University of Thessaloniki for fruitful discussions and his insights that led to the recognition that our Zanda specimens are heteronymous instead of homonymous as originally thought by the senior author. We have also benefited from an Excel spreadsheet that he provided with detailed measurements of materials from the Dafnero fossil sites. In addition, Kostopoulos has kindly provided critical literatures. We thank Alan Zdinak of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for repairs of described specimens. We greatly appreciate comments and suggestions by two reviewers, Cecile Blondel and Grégoire Metais, and their efforts at editing the text, as well as the handling of our manuscript by editor François Pujos.

This paper would not be possible without the dedicated efforts by members of our 2007 field party, Yang Wang, Gary Takeuchi, and Juan Liu, and Chinese and Tibetan drivers, Shi Fuqiao, Lawa Jianzan, and Basang, as well as courtesies and assistances from Dong Junshe, Tian Yuewu, Wa Hei, and Yun Dan of the Provincial Science and Technology Bureau, Bi Dongmei of the Public Security office.

Funding

Funding for fieldwork and travel were provided by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26030304), CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams, Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (nos. 40702004 to Q.L., 40730210 to T. Deng, 49872011, 40128004), Chinese Academy of Science Outstanding Overseas Scholar Fund (KL205208), National Science Foundation (US) (EAR-0446699, 0444073, 0958704, 1227212 to X.W.), and National Geographic Society (no. W22-08 to Q.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA

    Xiaoming Wang & Z. Jack Tseng

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

    Xiaoming Wang & Qiang Li

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qiang Li

  4. Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Z. Jack Tseng

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Contributions

XW, QL, and ZJT led the field works that collected the materials in this study. XW collected and analyzed the data. XW drafted the manuscript. All authors discussed, revised, and reviewed the paper.

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Correspondence to Xiaoming Wang.

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10914_2023_9692_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Online Resource1 Supplementary images showing locations and orientations of cross sections of digital 3D models used in Figs. 5, 6, 8, 9. (DOCX 1127 KB)

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Wang, X., Li, Q. & Tseng, Z.J. A new spiral-horned antelope, Gazellospira tsaparangensis sp. nov., from Pliocene Zanda Basin in Himalaya Mountain. J Mammal Evol 30, 1067–1088 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09692-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09692-2

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