Middle and Late Pleistocene mammalian faunas in Japan

Abstract

In the middle Middle Pleistocene, the fauna contained a considerable number of taxa which are extant today in the area (c50%). It was also characterized by a high proportion of endemic species and the predominance of temperate forest elements. From this time to the late Middle Pleistocene, several species disappeared from the fauna; immigrants from the continent were scarce. In the early Late Pleistocene, no mammal immigrated from the neighboring continent. The elements of this fauna generally persisted in the late Late Pleistocene. Immigration from the N part of the continent in the late Late Pleistocene was restricted to a few large herbivore forms. -from English summary