Science Academy 15 years Years of field investigation and research have used fossil evidence to show that the Arctic fox originated from the Tibetan Plateau 5 million years ago. The research results were published online in the latest British "Royal Society Report B: Biological Sciences".
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has the largest area of frozen soil and glaciers on Earth outside the Arctic and Antarctic circles. Mammals living in the alpine zones of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau also have thick fur adapted to low temperatures like animals in the Antarctic and Antarctic circles. In the past, it was generally believed that living Arctic mammals originated from the vast Holarctic region, that is, most of the Northern Hemisphere north of the Tropic of Cancer. However, after 15 years of field investigation and research, Wang Xiaoming and others have revealed the appearance of ice age animals on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Pliocene Epoch, and revealed the relationship between these animals and Arctic fauna.
Scientists discovered a new species of canid in the Pliocene sediments of the Zanda Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 5 million to 3 million years ago: Qiu's fox. The lower cleft teeth of Chiu's fox have the same developed cutting function as those of living Arctic foxes, but are different from other living fox species that are more omnivorous. In addition, Qiu's fox is larger than the Arctic fox and is more adapted to cold climates.
The discovery of Qiu's fox shows that the fossil group on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau not only includes woolly rhinos, blue sheep, and relatives of snow leopards, but also representatives of Arctic animals more than 2,000 kilometers away from the Himalayas - early types of Arctic foxes. This discovery proves that the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau not only has a major impact on the global climate, but the ancient fauna on the plateau is also inseparable from the global geographical distribution of living animals.
animal tags： fox
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