The ""Gigantopithecus" fauna", one of the most important mammalian faunal groups of the Early Pleistocene of southern China, includes tropical or subtropical forest species. This group has been subdivided into three stages spanning 2.6–1.8 million years ago, 1.8–1.2 million years ago, and 1.2–0.8 million years ago. The early stage is characterised by more ancient Neogene animals such as the elephant "Sinomastodon", the chalicothere "Hesperotherium", the pig "Dicoryphochoerus", the mouse-deer "Dorcabune", and the deer "Cervavitus". The middle stage is indicated by the appearance of the panda "Ailuropoda wulingshanensis", the dhole "Cuon antiquus", and the tapir "Tapirus sinensis". The late stage features more typical Middle Pleistocene animals such as the panda "Ailuropoda baconi" and the elephant "Stegodon". Other classic animals typically include orangutans, macaques, rhinos, the extinct pigs "Sus xiaozhu" and "S. peii", muntjac, "Cervus" (a deer), gaur (a cow), the goat-antelope "Megalovis", and more rarely the large saber-toothed cat "Megantereon". Longgudong Cave may have represented a transitional zone between the Palaearctic and Oriental realms, featuring, alongside the typical "Gigantopithecus" fauna, more boreal animals such as hedgehogs, hyenas, horses, the cow "Leptobos", and pikas.