Notes on Asian stegodontids

Evolution of island forms from the mainland ancestral one is best documented in the Japanese islands. The following succession is present in Japan: S. zdanskyi, S. miensis, an intermediate form between S. miensis and S. aurorae, S. aurorae, and S. orientalis. The former three taxa represent a single lineage. The succession from S. zdanskyi to S. miensis may have been present also in the coastal area of China.