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In May 2000. the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, the Chinese Academyof Sciences (hereafter IVPP), initiated a cooperative program with the Hezheng Paleozoological Museum

hereafter HPM) to search and extensively collect fossils from the Cenozoic deposits of the Hezheng area Heheng is a county of the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province, well known for its richness

of"dragon bones"(mainly late Cenozoic mammalian fossils )since the late 20"century. The majority of the collected materials are skulls and jaws of large Miocene mammals (various proboscideans, carnivorans,

chilotheres, hipparionine horses, giraffes, pigs, bovids, etc). Small mammal fossils, though highly desired by leontologists for their important role in geologic time calibration, were largely neglected by local"dragon

bone"collectors. In May, 2008 while prospecting the collected materials in HPM, we found considerable number of well-preserved skulls, jaws, and even postcranial bones belonging to Pararhicomys and some closely

related new forms. From 2009 on, the senior author(Wang)of the present monograph started to concentrate on study of this group of animals, Two papers describing the referred specimens to the type species(Pararhizomys

oparionim) and two new Palasiatica in 2011. The editor of the journal, Dr Shi Liqun, while reviewing the a large amount of pararhizomyine specimens were being studied and waiting for publication, kindly advise

the senior author to prepare a monograph to encompass all the pararhizomyine materials so far found from the cheng area rather than publishing them separately. This proposal soon won hearty support from Prof Li

Chuankui, the leading rodent authorit ity of IVPP. This encouraged the senior author to finally make up her mind to prepare such a monograph.

 

 

Preface

I.Introduction

1. Research history of Pararhizomys and significance of the new findings from Linxia Basin

2. Materials

3.Methodology

II. Systematic a of Pararhizomyines of Linxia Basin

III. Phylogeny and Classification of Pararhizomyines

1. Phylogeneic relationships of pararhizomyines at generic and specific levels

2. Phylogenetic relationships between pararhizomyines and some closely related muroid families

IV. Some Biological Aspects of Pararhizomyines

1. Restoraion of some muscles of pararhizomyines

2. Functional analysis of skeleton muscles and behavior of pararhizomyines

V. Stratigraphic and Paleogeographic distributions of Pararhizomyines

VI. Palaeoecologic Environment of Linxia Basin when Pararhizomyines Existed

VII. Conclusion

 

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