Environmental change during the Quaternary in East Asia and its consequences for mammals

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 9 years ago

Abstract - Environmental changes during the Quaternary in eastern Asia had profound impacts on the distributions of mammals. Critical for many taxa were the southward latitudinal shifts of the tropical and subtropical zones, and decreases in the areal extents of these zones. In this study, a geographic information system (GIS) has been used to examine the spatial responses of mammalian genera to environmental changes of the Pleistocene of China. Conditions of increasing seasonality during the Pleistocene favoured the evolution of large and well-insulated morphs in several mammalian families (e.g., Rhinocerotidae, Tapindae, Elephantidae), but this strategy was not successful (in terms of long-term survival) in many cases.

The spatial responses of members of a single clade, the Catarrhini or Old World higher primates, are of particular interest. The main catarrhine genera of eastern Asia responded individually to conditions of increasing seasonality during the Pleistocene, and these responses reflected the life history parameters of the genera involved. Apes were found to be the most sensitive to conditions of increased seasonality, with large apes (Fongo, Gigantopithecus) retreating in advance of gibbons (Hylobates). Monkeys retreated southward more slowly and to a lesser extent than apes because of their abilities to survive in more highly seasonal environments and to produce offspring on relatively abbreviated reproductive schedules.

These results provide a new basis for predicting the responses of primates and other mammals to future environmental change.