Abstract
AbstractThe Miocene beds of Kutch in India are well known for their mammalian assemblages, including the extinct ape Sivapithecus, but far less is known about the fossil squamates from this area. Although India with its over 800 reptile species is recognized as one of the global biodiversity hotspots, knowledge of past diversity and paleobiogeography of squamates on this subcontinent is very limited. We here report on new lizard finds, which have been recovered from two stratigraphic levels: the older Palasava locality (dated to the middle Miocene, ca. 14 Ma) and the younger Tapar site (late Miocene, ca. 11–10 Ma). Although fragmentarily preserved, the material described here sheds important light on the composition and paleobiogeography of squamates during the Miocene in South Asia. The older Palasava locality contains cf. Uromastyx s.l. and Varanus sp., the latter representing the oldest record of this taxon in the region of India south of the Himalayas and its occurrence here suggests a mean annual temperature not less than 15°C. The material from the younger Tapar locality consists of an unidentified acrodontan lizard, here questionably placed in agamids, and a skink. The latter shows a resemblance to mabuyines, however, the fragmentary nature of the material does not allow a precise allocation without doubts. The cosmopolitan mabuyines have been suggested to have their origin in Asia, so the potential presence of mabuyines in the Tapar locality might represent the first, but putative, Asian evidence of the occurrence of this group in the Miocene.
Highlights
We here describe lizard assemblages, which recently have been collected from the middle Miocene Palasava and the late Miocene Tapar localities of Kutch, Gujarat
This region is well known for its fossil mammals and other vertebrate fauna (Wynne, 1872; Lydekker, 1876, 1880; Prasad, 1962, 1964, 1967; Sahni and Mishra, 1975; Thewissen and Bajpai, 2009; Bajpai et al, 2010; Bhandari et al, 2010, 2015, 2018; Patnaik et al, 2014; Singh et al, 2019, 2020; Kapur et al, 2021; Sharma et al, 2021), very little is known about the fossil squamates of the region—only several fossil snakes have been reported previously (Head et al, 2007; Rage et al, 2008; Kapur et al, 2021)
India has an immense diversity of herpetofauna today, with 801 reptile species contributing to its recognition as a mega-diverse country and one of the global biodiversity hotspots
Summary
We here describe lizard assemblages, which recently have been collected from the middle Miocene Palasava and the late Miocene Tapar localities of Kutch, Gujarat. The new lizard assemblages described in the present paper provide the opportunity to document additional crucial data about the herpetofaunal diversity in India during the Miocene, which should prove useful for future analyses of past squamate diversity and faunal biogeography The distribution of these previously unknown lineages in the fossil record from this area are discussed here as well. The Tapar section comprises massive sandstone, siltstone, and clay beds alternating with intermittent conglomerate beds composed of calcareous nodules, agate pebbles, very coarse-grained sand, and mud clasts (Fig. 1) This conglomerate bed is richly fossiliferous and yields a variety of vertebrates, including the hominoid Sivapithecus, fragmented teeth of proboscideans (Deinotherium, Gomphotherium), rhinos, giraffids, equids, bovid, suids, rodents, turtles, crocodiles, teleosts, sharks, and batoids (Bhandari et al, 2010, 2015, 2021; Singh et al, 2019, 2020; Sharma et al, 2021). The Palasava section, dated as middle Miocene (Kapur et al, 2021), has yielded a diverse mammalian fauna, including Sanitherium, Sivameryx, Brachypotherium, Zygolophodon, Gomphotherium, and Deinotherium, along with teleosts, sharks, batoids, turtles, crocodiles, snakes, and birds
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