China News Service, Beijing, January 25 (Reporter Sun Zifa) A major environmental and biological innovation incident that occurred in the European continent about 2 million years ago – the “Short Kiss Hyena Incident” and related research have attracted much attention from the academic community.
As the largest bone-breaking hyena in the history of the earth, the now extinct hyenas that once dominated the animal kingdom, has long been regarded as an indigenous group in Europe. However, the discovery of a huge hyena specimen of a very large individual in Dalian, China, and the latest research on the sample by Chinese and foreign scientists has completely overturned the above tradition and inherent understanding. On this basis, researchers also proposed the “Northeast Asian Origin Theory” of short-smelling hyenas for the first time.
Why do you need to study short-kissed hyenas?
Researcher Liu Jinyi from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) who led this research said that the size of the short-kissed hyenas is much larger than the close species in life, such as the spotted hyenas and the white hyenas, and its weight is comparable to that of the living lioness. Its influence is completely comparable to that of the sabooth tigers and other saber-tooth tigers of the same era. It is even more than that of the Cinema. After all, its individual number is much larger than the latter. In the animal kingdom at that time, it once dominated the country and was the best in the world.
Although the short-kiss hyenas have long been extinct, it was very prosperous and widely distributed in Eurasia during the early and mid-Pleistocene periods. It was a common and typical animal species in mammals at that time, and it was also a focus species that attracted much attention in the succession and innovation research of Pleistocene fauna. Its appearance and extinction usually have a landmark connotation. For example, the “short-kiss hyenas incident” refers to a major environmental and biological innovation event that occurred on the European continent about 2 million years ago.
The short-skinned hyena has a series of unique anatomical morphological characteristics and is eye-catching: the strong skull and mandible, the developed sagittal crest and zygomatic arch, the extremely thick premolar teeth and thick enamel, etc., are all mechanical adaptive manifestations of their unique diet. The gathering and burial of animal bones in many early and mid-Pleistocene fossil sites is largely due to the specific foraging behavior of short-kissed hyenas – transporting and hiding animal bones.
What are the controversies about the research on short-kissed hyenas?
Liu Jinyi pointed out that the short-kiss hyenas that frequently appear in Eurasia have been classified into different species due to different origins or ages, such as the Sang family’s hyenas, the Chinese hyenas or (narrow) short-kiss hyenas. The academic community currently lacks a unified and clear understanding of the true system relationship between these hyenas, and there are many differences and controversies: some people advocate that hyenas in different regions or ages should represent several different effective independent species; some people believe that all hyenas in Eurasia should be the same type, and perhaps include different subspecies (groups); and even more, even the differentiation of subspecies (groups) is also given.Total deny.
This kind of “unification” and denies the division of subspecies (groups) is quite popular in today’s academic circles. Influenced by this, the academic community has long ignored comparative studies of the anatomical morphology of hyenas in these different regions or chronology, and has not been able to well evaluate and explore the developmental significance and connotation of different morphology (although sometimes subtle) between hyenas.
The above disputes and differences have further affected the in-depth development of other relevant academic issues, such as the origin of the short-kissed hyenas and the expansion of intercontinental dispersion and migration paths. There are many different opinions in the academic community about this and there is no consensus.
How does the latest research subvert traditional knowledge? Focusing on controversial academic hot topics that have attracted much attention in the field of the origin and evolution of short-sex hyenas, Liu Jinyi joined forces with relevant experts and scholars from the University of Bristol, the National Museum of Prague, the Czech Republic, Peking University, and the Dalian Natural Museum to form a cooperative team to focus on the V26310, a large individual high-sex hyenas specimen recently collected in Jinyuan Cave, Luotuo Mountain, Dalian, and conducted extensive and systematic comparisons with other related specimens in Eurasia, while also comparing the system of Cinema href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks classification, origin and intercontinental migration and diffusion, and paleoecology related academic issues were conducted in-depth discussions and analysis.
The latest achievement paper completed by the cooperative team that completely subverts the traditional cognition of the evolution of the hyenas, was recently published online by the well-known international professional academic journal “The Quaternary of the International”. Liu Jinyi said that the research results of the cooperative team show that among all the comparable Cinema specimens, regardless of size or shape, the Chinese V26310 specimen is closest to the Sainzelles short-kissed squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squid squidDog pattern specimens. In addition, KomiksV26310 is different from the common Chinese Sang Horny Hyena and Chinese Horny Hyena in terms of morphological characteristics such as upper and lower fissures and promolars. Therefore, the V26310 specimen can be clearly identified as a short-snit Horny Hyena, which is the first report in China and even East Asia. He said that the short-kiss hyenas were created based on specimens from France’s Sainzelles, and the existing fossil records are mainly limited to the European continent, so they have long been regarded as an indigenous group of Europe. The discovery of the short-kiss hyenas V26310 specimen in Jinyuan Cave in Dalian completely overturned this tradition and inherent knowledge.
BabaylanWhat is the basis for the “Northeast Asia Origin Theory”?
When comparing and studying short-kissed hyenas in different regions or ages, the cooperative team found that there are indeed several subtle differences in size and morphology of these hyenas, and they may have a closer connection with each other. According to this analysis by researchers, short-kissed hyenas in Eurasia should be classified as the same species, but they need to be further divided into different subspecies (groups). These subspecies (groups) almost form a branch with ancestral evolutionary relationships to each other, but they are not caused by geographical isolation and differentiation, but are actually manifestations of the branch of the hyena hyena at different evolutionary stages.
Liu Jinyi pointed out that the first appearance of short-kissed hyenas in the European continent once aroused great attention and interest from people. People generally believe that short-kissed hyenas should have migrated from areas outside Europe, and it is believed that the first appearance of the hyeenas in many places such as Italy, Greece and Spain about 2 million years ago, deeply reflecting the “short-kissed hyenas incident” experienced by Cinema on the European continent. However, people have vaguely described the exact origin of the European continent, and have always lacked reliable and convincing fossil evidence. </p"The discovery of the short-kissed hyenas in Jinyuan Cave in Dalian brought light to the solution of this puzzle and provided credible empirical information for the first time." Liu Jinyi said that although the geological age of the V26310 specimen is estimated to be only 1.86 million years ago, there is evidence that the emergence of the short-kissed hyenas in Jinyuan Cave in Dalian can be traced back to 2 million years or even earlier. Therefore, it is very likely that the short-kissed hyenas were first born in Northeast Asia, and then spread to other parts of Asia and finally arrived in Europe. On this basis, the cooperative team proposed the "Northeast Asian Origin Theory" of the short-kissed hyenas for the first time.
V26Cinema310 specimen discovery is of significance?
As the largest hyena in the history of the earth, the weight and size of the hyena with short kisses have always been a topic of concern in the academic community. Almost every research paper involving hyena with short kisses has repeatedly mentioned the eye-catching feature of oversized body size. Previously, the most reliable body size record of the short-kissed hyena came from the French model specimen of SainzeBabaylanlles, whose cranial base is 32 mm long, and it is very close to the largest individual of the current African lion.
Liu Jinyi said that the newly discovered short-skinned hyena V26310 specimen found in Dalian, China, is larger than the French model specimen, both in the length of the teeth and the thickness of the jaw. It is estimated that its cranial base length reaches 332 mm, which not only surpasses the largest male lion in Africa today, but is even comparable to the largest feline American lion in history.
He believes that the V26310 specimen produced in Jinyuan Cave in Dalian is likely to represent the largest individual specimen of the short-sex hyena discovered so far. Today’s research shows that the size or weight of mammals, especially carnivorous animals, directly affects the ecological behavior, energy and physiological needs of individual animals, as well as predation strategies.
“So, as the largest discovered so farKOmiks, the emergence of V26310 specimens will surely help people better understand and correctly evaluate the biological characteristics of hyenas, such as ecological habits, foraging behaviors and predation strategies. “Liu Jinyi concluded. (End)