Presence of Cernictis and Lutravus (Ictonychinae, Mustelidae, Carnivora) in eastern Asia and the dispersal of Ictonychinae during the Late Miocene

Abstract

Cernictis and Lutravus are two early members of Ictonychinae (Mustelidae) from North America, but their origin and phylogenetic position are unclear. In this study, we describe a rich Late Miocene assemblage of mustelids from Baode in northern China and from Shuitangba, Zhaotong and Shihuiba, Lufeng, in southern China. We recognize Cernictis baskini sp. nov. from Baode, Cernictis lufengensis from Shihuiba and Shuitangba, Lutravus dianensis sp. nov. from Shihuiba, and Shansictis xinzhouensis gen. et sp. nov. from Baode. Our systematic phylogenetic analyses of this group using total-evidence tip-dating place both Lutravus and Shansictis within Lyncodontini, with the former in a more basal position, and Cernictis as a basal member of Ictonychini. Even though the within-genera relationships of the Late Miocene Ictonychinae are still not fully understood, the divergence of the two tribes is likely to have occurred in the Late Miocene of eastern Asia, with the subfamily undergoing rapid intercontinental dispersals after its initial diversification. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5F10058A-42CC-4C47-BA90-43B114ACD1A4

Keywords:

• Neogene
• China
• Lyncodontini
• Ictonychini
• total evidence
• tip dating

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Second Comprehensive Scientific Expedition on the Tibetan Plateau for financial and logistical support in the fieldwork. We thank J. Meng, R. O’Leary and J. Galkin for their help in accessing the AMNH fossil mammal collections; M. Surovy, E. Hoeger and S. Ketelsen for their help in accessing the AMNH modern mammal collections; X. Wang and S. McLeod in their help in accessing the LACM fossil collection; P. Holroyd for her help in accessing UCMP fossil collections; A. Millhouse, D. Lunde and J. J. Ososky for their help in accessing the USNM fossil and modern mammal collections; B. Didier for help accessing the CCEC fossil mammal collection; D. Nagel for accessing the IPUW fossil collection; and Z. Qiu and J. Chen, W. He and S. Chen for help in accessing fossil collections of the IVPP and HMV. We thank J. Kelley for help improving the language and valuable suggestions. We thank J. Kelley and N. G. Jablonski for participating in fieldwork in Shuitangba. The current work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2023YFF0804501) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42102001). The field excavations at Shuitangba were supported by the United States National Science Foundation (BCS-1035897 to DFS and NGJ, BCS-0321893 to F. C. Howell and T. White, BCS-1227964 to DFS, BCS-1227927 to NGJ, BCS-1227838 to JK); the Yunnan Natural Science Foundation and Government of Zhaotong (2010CC010 to XPJ); the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (No. 223113); the governments of Zhaotong and Zhaoyang; China Scholarship Council; and Frick Fund, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, AMNH.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

 

Associate Editor: Jérémy Tissier