Hypercarnivorous teeth and healed injuries to Canis chihliensis from Early Pleistocene Nihewan beds, China, support social hunting for ancestral wolves

PeerJ

article

Haowen Tong¹  Xi Chen⁴  Bei Zhang¹  Bruce Rothschild⁵  Stuart White⁶  Mairin Balisi⁷  Xiaoming Wang¹ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences;CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences;Nanjing Normal University;Department of Vertebrate Paleontology;School of Dentistry, University of California;Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

关键词: Canis chihliensis;    Dental injury;    Limb fracture;    Bone cracking;    Pack hunting;    Early Pleistocene;    Nihewan Basin;    China;    Bone cracking;    Pack hunting;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.9858

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

1.2 Ma), Canis chihliensis from the Nihewan Basin of northern China is one of the earliest canines to feature a large body size and hypercarnivorous dentition. We present the first known record of dental infection in C. chihliensis, likely inflicted by processing hard food, such as bone. Another individual also suffered a displaced fracture of its tibia and, despite such an incapacitating injury, survived the trauma to heal. The long period required for healing the compound fracture is consistent with social hunting and family care (food-sharing) although alternative explanations exist. Comparison with abundant paleopathological records of the putatively pack-hunting Late Pleistocene dire wolf, Canis dirus, at the Rancho La Brea asphalt seeps in southern California, U.S.A., suggests similarity in feeding behavior and sociality between Chinese and American Canis across space and time. Pack hunting in Canis may be traced back to the Early Pleistocene, well before the appearance of modern wolves, but additional evidence is needed for confirmation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY