The antiquity of Asian chameleons—first potential Chamaeleonidae and associated squamate fauna from the Lower and Middle Miocene of Anatolia

Abstract

ABSTRACT We here describe fossil remains from three Lower and Middle Miocene localities of Anatolia, which we tentatively refer to chamaeleonids. The material comprises isolated tooth-bearing bones from the Early Miocene (MN 3) of Sabuncubeli (western Anatolia), the Early Miocene (MN 4) of Dededağ (western Anatolia), and the Middle Miocene (MN 5) of the world-renowned hominoid locality of Paşalar (northwestern Anatolia). If our identifications are correct, these specimens would represent the only fossil record of this group from Anatolia as well as the oldest occurrences of chameleons from Asia. Moreover, the recovery of these specimens across different Lower and Middle Miocene localities, suggest that these animals were a typical element of the Anatolian herpetofaunas of the early Neogene. Differences among the specimens from the three localities point to a higher taxonomic diversity of Miocene Anatolian chamaeleonids, however, based on such limited material, intraspecific or ontogenetic variation cannot be ruled out. The oldest among these occurrences, the Sabuncubeli material, coincides chronologically with the oldest chameleons, which had been previously described from Central Europe (MN 3). As such, this supports the recently suggested biogeographic scenario, according to which chamaeleonids dispersed from Afro-Arabia to Europe during the Burdigalian, via the “Gomphotherium Landbridge,” through Anatolia and the Balkans. Finally, a few additional lizard and snake remains from the locality of Dededağ are described, adding to the poorly known fossil herpetofaunas of Anatolia.