The Early Pleistocene water buffalo associated with Gigantopithecus from Chongzuo in southern China

Water buffalo materials were unearthed from the cave deposits paleomagnetically dated at 1 Ma during the excavation of Gigantopithecus in Queque Cave in Chongzuo, Guangxi, southern China. The morphological comparison and phylogenetic analyses show that the materials represent a new subspecies, Bubalus brevicornis chowi subsp. nov. It is a water buffalo with relatively short and stout horn core, the proximal and middle core cross sections are nearly equilateral triangular; a short neck or pedicle is present between the frontal and core. The materials represent the earliest record of fossil water buffalo. A consequent review of all fossil water buffaloes from China suggests integrating the previously reported ten species into a proposed six species.