A review of vertebrate body fossils from the Korean Peninsula and perspectives

Abstract

For the first time, a comprehensive review was presented for all Korean vertebrate body fossils reported during last 100 years. At present, Korean vertebrate faunas are characterized by no fossil report in the Paleozoic, various Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrates, and the Late Eocene to Middle Miocene mammals. Except for the old collection of land mammals of North Korea, most fossils have been found and published during the last three decades in South Korea. They are commonly incomplete and fragmentary. Articulated skeletons are rare except for fish fossils. Cretaceous vertebrate faunas include six freshwater fish orders (including Jinjuichthys cheongi), two families of turtles, an anguimorph lizard (Asprosaurus bibongriensis), a crocodyliform (“Hadongsuchus acerdentis”), an anurognathid pterosaur, various theropod remains including three kinds of birds, titanosauriform remains, a basal ornithopod (Koreanosaurus boseongensis), and a basal neoceratopsian (Koreaceratops hwaseongensis). Among them, pterosaur and bird specimens from the Sinuiju Series of North Korea have not been described in detail yet, but their fossil assemblages are very similar to those of Jehol Biota of northeastern China. A possibility of the faunal connection is discussed between two regions. Unfortunately, no additional mammal fossil has been reported from North Korea since two important land mammal localities were discovered in the late Eocene and early Miocene strata before 1943. However, new rodent and cetacean fossils were found in both terrestrial and marine Miocene strata in South Korea. Most of the valid vertebrate taxa appear to be endemic in Korea, but some clades show faunal affinities with Mongolia, China, and Japan. However, detailed faunal comparisons have not been performed among these countries. Vertebrate paleontological data of the Korean Peninsula have been rapidly accumulated and become crucial to understand evolutionary dynamics of vertebrates in East Asia. Vertebrate paleontological studies need to focus more on the Paleozoic strata for primitive fishes and early tetrapods, and Cenozoic terrestrial strata for land mammals in Korea. Further work throughout the geologic column will only improve our understanding of the evolution of life in East Asia.