Fossils of Macaca mulatta from Tianyuan Cave, with Notes on Some Previously Unpublished Specimens of Macaca from Zhoukoudian Area

The recently discovered macaque fossils, including isolated teeth and mandible fragments, from Tianyuan Cave and the juvenile maxilla from Wanglaopu Cave near Zhoukoudian can be identified as Macaca mulatta; they represent the first recognized occurrence of fossil M. mulatta in the far north of China. Some previously unearthed but still unpublished Macaca specimens were also studied, including a cranium and the associated mandible from CKT Loc.13A, a maxilla and a mandible from Loc.1, a mandible from Loc.4, and a maxilla from Loc.20, as well as a mandible with complete toothrow from Zhoukoudian but without locality details, all of them can be referred to M. robusta. The study shows M. robusta is more closely related to M. mulatta than to M. anderssonL Zhoukoudian is the richest area of Macacina fossils in North China, totally 2 genera and 4 species were once recognized from 9 localities, namely, Procynocephalus wimani, M. cf. anderssoni, M. robusta and M. mulatta. The fossil records of Macacina in Zhoukoudian area were almost continuous through the Quaternary Period, and it＇s reasonable to assume that Zhoukoudian used to be an evolutionary center for macaques in North China. Therefore, the macaque population of M. mulatta once existed decades ago around Beijing probably originated from the Pleistocene ancestors in the local area, rather than being human-introduced as previously thought.

Fossils of Macaca mulatta from Tianyuan Cave,with Notes on Some Previously Unpublished Specimens of Macaca from Zhoukoudian Area

The recently discovered macaque fossils, including isolated teeth and mandible fragments, from Tianyuan Cave and the juvenile maxilla from Wanglaopu Cave near Zhoukoudian can be identified as Macaca mulatta; they represent the first recognized occurrence of fossil M. mulatta in the far north of China. Some previously unearthed but still unpublished Macaca specimens were also studied, including a cranium and the associated mandible from CKT Loc.13 A, a maxilla and a mandible from Loc.1, a mandible from Loc.4, and a maxilla from Loc.20, as well as a mandible with complete toothrow from Zhoukoudian but without locality details, all of them can be referred to M. robusta. The study shows M. robusta is more closely related to M. mulatta than to M. anderssoni. Zhoukoudian is the richest area of Macacina fossils in North China, totally 2 genera and 4 species were once recognized from 9 localities, namely, Procynocephalus wimani, M. cf. anderssoni, M. robusta and M. mulatta. The fossil records of Macacina in Zhoukoudian area were almost continuous through the Quaternary Period, and it's reasonable to assume that Zhoukoudian used to be an evolutionary center for macaques in North China. Therefore, the macaque population of M. mulatta once existed decades ago around Beijing probably originated from the Pleistocene ancestors in the local area, rather than being human-introduced as previously thought.