Comparison of Neogene low-crowned Hystrix species (Mammalia, Porcupines, Rodentia) from Europe, West and Southeast Asia

The low-crowned Hystrix species known of the Neogene from Europe and Asia and some new finds from Shihuiba near Lufeng, South China, are compared on the basis of numerical data. The taxonomical allocation of the seven species recognised thus far is maintained. The occurrences of two coeval Eurasian late Turolian species is discussed. The material from Lufeng is described and allocated to Hystrix primigenia (Wagner, 1848), implicating an area of distribution of this species from S.E. Europe to S.E. Asia in the Turolian. In the northern Chinese Hystricidae the increase of the cheek tooth height is more advanced than in the the West Asiatic and European representatives. The difference in ecological environment of Hystrix gansuensis Wang & Qiu, 2002 (North China) and Hystrix primigenia from Lufeng (South China), both of Baodean age, is discussed.