Middle to Late Pleistocene fossil femur of Zalophus, dredged from the Taiwan Strait. The dataset includes the first pinniped fossil discovered in Taiwan and represents the southernmost record of Zalophus in the western North Pacific. It was authored by Cheng-Han Sun and published on figshare in 2026.
Use Cases
- Analyzing pinniped extinction events in the Pleistocene based on fossil evidence
- Studying historical biogeography of Zalophus in the western North Pacific based on the southernmost fossil record
- Comparing Pleistocene and Holocene extinction timelines based on the described population dynamics
- Conducting morphological analysis of pinniped femurs based on described diagnostic features
Strengths
- Includes a 181.1 MB dataset with STL and XLSX files, likely containing detailed 3D models and tabular data
- Provides the first and southernmost fossil record of Zalophus from Taiwan, a novel data point
- Offers a specific temporal context (Middle to Late Pleistocene) for the fossil
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
- The fossil's provenance is limited to a dredged sea bottom location with broad dating
Provenance
- Source
- figshare
- Collection Method
- Fossil specimen dredged from the sea bottom of the Taiwan Strait.
- Time Range
- Middle to Late Pleistocene
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05 12:30:47; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Taiwan Strait, Taiwan