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An Early Eocene Mammalian Fauna from Hengdong, Hunan Province, China Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1995 An Early Eocene Mammalian Fauna From Hengdong, Hunan Province, China. Suyin ting Ding Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Ding, Suyin ting, "An Early Eocene Mammalian Fauna From Hengdong, Hunan Province, China." (1995). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5949. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5949 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 AN EARLY EOCENE MAMMALIAN FAUNA FROM HENGDONG, HUNAN PROVINCE, CHINA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geology and Geophysics by Suyin Ding (Ting) B.S., Peking College of Geology, Peking, China, 1962 May, 1995 UMI Number: 9538729 UMI Microform 9538729 Copyright 1995, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my lather, Ting Tsan, a psychology professor, and my mother, Ting Shu Weiqing, who devoted her life to her husband and children. My memories of their lives during difficult times have encouraged me to bring my years of study to completion. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank Drs. J. A. Schiebout, M. C. McKenna, M. C. Chow, and M. M. Chang for urging me to start my PhD program, and for their continuing support and enthusiasm throughout the course of the program. I also thank the members of my PhD Committee: Drs. M. S. Hafner, J. E. Hazel, J. M. Lorenzo (Minor Advisor), C. L. McCabe (former Minor Advisor), M. C. McKenna, J. A. Schiebout (Chairman), B. K. Sen Gupta, and R. G. Tague (Dean's Representative, Graduate School) for their advice and support. Without their constant encouragement and assistance, I would not have completed this program. I am especially indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Schiebout, for her unselfish support during my association with her in the past seven years, as a visiting scholar and as a PhD student. It is ho- devotion to vertebrate paleontology and her solicitous care of students that encouraged me to surmount all obstacles. Special appreciation goes to my mentor, M. C. McKenna, for his unfailing aid, encouragement, and valuable suggestions. Without their steadying hand, I would not have reached this goal. I am grateful to M. S. Hafher (Director of the Museum of Natural Science) and J. E. Hazel (former Chairman of the Department of Geology and Geophysics) at Louisiana State University for their support. At the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, I express heartfelt thanks to my enlightened professor M. C. Chow, who introduced me to this magical world of vertebrate paleontology. It is his unceasing encouragement that drove me to cross all hurdles. Without his constant support and advice, I would not have reached this point. I thank the late Mrs. Chow, M. C. Chai, my parents' longstanding sincere friend, for her care and help during a most difficult time for my family and for encouraging me to start my PhD program. I also thank M. M. Chang (former Director) and Z. X. Qiu (Director) for their support and timely assistance from the beginning of this program. I appreciate the efforts of C. K. Li for organizing expeditions to Hengdong, Hunan, during five field seasons from 1982 to 1986, and for his cooperation in the study of some of the fossils from this region. My special thanks go to J. L. Li for ho- support, aid, and friendship, especially during a productive field trip in the fall of 1987, which made this research possible. I thank my colleagues, Y. S. Tong and J. W. Wang for their help and timely exchanges of information and discussions, and R. J. Zhai, J. J. Zheng, B. Y. Wang, T. Qi, X. S. Huang, W. P. Huang, H. X. Ji, Y. J. Tang, Z. D. Qiu, A. L. Sun, S. H. Xie, X. H. Zheng, G. Q. Qi, and late Y. P. Zhang for their support and kindness. I express my cordial thanks to the LSU Geoscience Associates and D. Pope (President) for their support. I especially appreciate my good and esteemed teachers and helpful friends, R. B. Hubert and T. Hubert, for their valuable help in my research and generous support. Special thanks go to my esteemed seniors, the late J. Schiebout and J. E. Webb, and their wives H. M. Schiebout and F. W. Webb, for their unfailing encouragement and kindness. I also thank J. S. Mcllhenny for his generous assistance, especially in the early stages of this program. The following individuals and institutions provided use of comparative collections in their care and warm hospitality: M. C. McKenna, M. J. Novacek, R. H. Tedford, X. M. Wang, and J. Meng, The American Museum of Natural History; P. D. Gingerich, G. Gunnel, X. Y. Zhou, and M. Shen, Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan; J. J. Flynn, W. D. Turnbull, L. Grande, and J. R. Bolt, The Field Museum of Natural History; J. A. Hopson and P. C. Sereno, Department of Anatomy, University of Chicago; J. J. Hooker, The British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom; J. L. Franzen and G. Storch, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Frankfurt, Germany; F. Schrenk, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany; D. E. Russell and D. Sigogneau-Russell, Institut de Paleontologie, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; J.-J. Jaeger, J.-L. Hartenberger, and M. Godinot, Universite Montpelliern, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Montpellier, France. K. M. Lyle of Louisiana State University prepared all plates. Fellow students M. Pang, A. C. Dooley, J. Sankey-Georgiev, and B. S. Dooley helped me in computer work and provided suggestions on presentation; and H. Schoenfoss helped in translating Germen literature. Valuable discussions on various aspects of this study were provided by J. A. Schiebout, M. C. McKenna, M. J. Novacek, P. D. Gingerich, J. J. Flynn, M. R. Dawson, K. C. Beard, D. W. Krause, S. G. Lucas, K. D. Rose, J. E. Hazel, J. J. Hooker, J. L. Franzen, G. Storch, D. E. Russell, M. Godinot, J. Meng, X. M. Wang, Z. X. Lou, M. C. Chow, R. J. Zhai, C. K. Li, Y. S. Tong, J. J. Zheng, and J. W. Wang. I thank J. A. Schiebout, M. C. McKenna, and R. B. Hubert for critical reading of the early manuscript, and for their invaluable comments and suggestions. Finally I thank my husband Z. Z. Huang for his support and providing the information on the geology of the Hengyang basin; my brothers, S. Y. Ting and Z. Y. Ting, and sister in-laws, D. Y. Miao and W. L. Sun; and my aunts and uncles, W. Z. Shu, W. J. Shu, S. W. Wang, and Z. G. Deng, for their unending help and encouragement. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication. ii Acknowledgements___________________________________________________iii List of Tables________________________________________________________ viii List of Figures_______________________________________________________ ix List of Plates________________________________________________________ x Abbreviations ________________________________________________________xi Abstract _______________________________________________ xii Chapter I An early Eocene mammalian fauna from Hengdong, Hunan Province, China__________________________________________ 1 Introduction______________________________________________________2 Geographic location_____________________________________________ 2 Previous exploration____________________________________________ 2 Purpose.______________________________________________________ 6 Geological setting_______________________________________________6 Regional geology____________________________________________ 6 Geology
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