Ancient species reveals Tibetan origins of ice age mountain sheep
Ancient species reveals Tibetan origins of ice age mountain sheep
"We thus offer another example of our previous out-of-Tibet hypothesis," said researcher Wang Xiaoming.
By Brooks Hays | May 11, 2016 at 11:50 AM
[font size=1]
A newly unearthed fossil suggests the ancestors of modern wild sheep, like North America's bighorn sheep, originated
in Tibet. Photo by Menno Schaefer/Shutterstock
[/font]
BEIJING, May 11 (UPI) -- Researchers believe a new fossil -- and the new species it represents -- proves mountain sheep originated in the highlands of Tibet.
Scientists have long argued that the last ice age's megaherbivores originated in Tibet and spread out across the regions neighboring the Tibetan Plateau as glaciation proliferated.
The only problem: until now, researchers weren't able to uncover the fossils of any ancient mountain sheep on the Tibetan Plateau.
The newly unearthed sheep fossil was discovered in a Pliocene layer of the Zanda Basin in Tibet. It belongs to a new extinct species, Protovis himalayensis. Scientists say the species is an ancestor of modern wild sheep, which are organized under the genus Ovis and found in the mountains of North America, Eurasia and Europe.
More:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/05/11/Ancient-species-reveals-Tibetan-origins-of-ice-age-mountain-sheep/6991462976116/?spt=sec&or=sn
