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Issue: Vol. 8 No. 6: (In progress) November 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-11-10
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.6.2
Page range: 609-617
Abstract views: 25
PDF downloaded: 1

Marine ostracods found in lacustrine deposits of the Qaidam Basin suggest long-distance dispersal during the Pleistocene

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, Petro China Qinghai Oilfield Company, Dunhuang 736202, China
School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK and Earth Sciences Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Bicornucythere bisanensis s.l. Pistocythereis bradyformis East Asian Flyway Qaidam palaeo-lake China

Abstract

The marine ostracod species Bicornucythere bisanensis s.l. (Okubo, 1975) and Pistocythereis bradyformis (Ishizaki, 1968) have been identified in Pleistocene lacustrine deposits within the Qaidam Basin. These were previously misclassified as the freshwater species Cytherissa qaidamensis Yang & Lu (in Yang et al., 2020). Typically, both fossil and modern occurrences of these marine ostracod species are limited to coastal regions of the West Pacific Ocean, spanning roughly from 20°N to 43°N. The presence of B. bisanensis s.l. and P. bradyformis fossils in the Qaidam Basin suggests the possibility of long-distance dispersal of these marine ostracods by migrating water birds from the West Pacific coastal areas to the Qaidam palaeo-lake during the Pleistocene, a distance of over 2,000 kilometers and crossing a vast continental stretch. Furthermore, this discovery may also suggest that the East Asian Flyway or East Asia/Australasia Flyway was already in existence by the Pleistocene.

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