| Abstract: |
The first field collection of the so-called Stegodon-Ailuropoda fauna of south China and Southeast Asia was made from the Yanjinggou fissure fills of Sichuan Province, China, by Walter Granger in 1922. Before then, knowledge of the fauna was based on collections made from Chinese apothecaries' shops throughout China and Southeast Asia. In 1989 a joint American-Vietnamese team began excavations at Lang Trang Caves, western Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam. That first field season yielded 36 mammalian species of the so-called Stegodon-Ailuropoda fauna. Excavations were resumed at the caves in March 1993. Due to the complexities encountered in interpreting the geology and tephonomy of the site during the first field season, a team of six specialists in karst geology, geomorphology, sedimentary petrology, geochronology, vertebrate palaeontology, geoarchaeology and palaeoanthropology was assembled for this research. The purpose of this paper is to compare the fauna recovered from a single sedimentary unit, known as B5, in Cave II at Lang Trang Caves with similar faunas in south China, Indonesia and Malaysia and to discuss the palaeogeographical implications of these.
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