Evolution of Chinese mammalian faunal regions and elevation of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau

On the basis of mammal’s high evolutionary rates and sensitivity to environment, this paper deals with the evolutionary history of the Chinese Cenozoic mammals and environmental changes, and explores the relationship between the uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the evolution of zoogeographic provinces of China, through studying fossil mammal and the lithological characters of fossil-bearing beds. Evolutionary tendency and distribution of the mammals demonstrate that the uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang region, onset of the Asian monsoon and differentiation of the mammalian distribution probably initiated in Oligocene. The elevation of the Plateau seems to be a gradual and relatively stable process, and the uplift not only has resulted in significant environmental changes in Asia, but also caused distinct regional differentiation of mammals in China since the middle Miocene, and as a consequence the modern zoogeographic provinces gradually took shape.