scholarly journals The Miocene fossil lizards from Kutch (Gujarat), India: a rare window to the past diversity of this subcontinent

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Andrej Čerňanský ◽  
Ningthoujam Premjit Singh ◽  
Rajeev Patnaik ◽  
K. Milankumar Sharma ◽  
Raghavendra Prasad Tiwari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspots ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Fossil Lizards

Abstract The 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.

scholarly journals The Karpatian (late early Miocene) flora of the Mecsek area

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilla Hably
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Endemic Species ◽  
Riparian Vegetation ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Climate Analysis ◽  
High Diversity

A rich macroflora has been collected from Karpatian (late early Miocene) layers of the Mecsek Mts during recent decades. The bulk of the fossil assemblage consists of leaves and also fruits of angiosperms. Among the more than a hundred taxa, several endemic species were described: Leguminocarpum mecsekense Andreánszky, Ailanthus mecsekensis Hably, Nyssa gyoergyi sp. nov., Nyssa gergoei sp. nov., Nyssa sp. 1, Clematis csabae sp. nov., Gordonia sp. and Carpolithes gergoei Hably et Erdei sp. nov. Many taxa were last recorded in the Carpathian Basin, e.g. Cedrelospermum, Ziziphus. Other taxa appeared in this flora, e.g. Quercus kubinyii, Podocarpium podocarpum, Liquidambar europaea and Populus populina, and later became dominant in the middle Miocene (Sarmatian) floras or even in the late Miocene (Pannonian) floras. Four main vegetation types were determined. The most significant types are subxerophytic vegetation showing high diversity, swamp vegetation, riparian vegetation, and a vegetation type growing in habitats with higher rainfall. Thermophilous flora elements are dominant in the assemblage, although “arctotertiary” species also appear. The floristic character of the flora supports the results of an earlier quantitative climate analysis of the Magyaregregy flora, according to which mean annual temperature was 15.6–16.6°C and coldest-month and warmest-month temperatures were 5–6.2°C and 24.7–27.9°C, respectively. Generally the assemblage presented in this paper extends those climatological findings to the late early Miocene.

scholarly journals Tooth Marker of Ecological Abnormality: the Interpretation of Stress in Extinct Mega Herbivores (Proboscideans) of the Siwaliks of Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ameen ◽  
Abdul Khan ◽  
Rana Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Ijaz ◽  
Muhammad Imran
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
C3 Plants ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Enamel Hypoplasia ◽  
Grassland Ecology

Climate effects habitat and define species physiology. Climatic regimes were different in past and adaptability of different species varied. Climate change causes certain stress on animal, recorded as Enamel Hypoplasia (EH). Proboscideans, the mega herbivores were extensively represented in the Siwaliks of Pakistan between Middle Miocene to Pleistocene (~15.2 – ~1.0Ma). The study is carried out on 15 species from 9 genera and 4 families using 319 teeth from 266 individual quarries. Our results revealed 20.06% (64/319) teeth infected by EH. Family Deinotheriidae faced higher stress during the terminal of middle Miocene (EH 25%). Dental structure indicate that this family preferred soft vegetation like C3 plants and failed to survive in grassland ecology at the onset of Late Miocene (~10-9 Ma). Gomphotheriids (EH 21.05%) and Stegodontids (EH 23.40%) survived through warm and dry climatic conditions of the Late Miocene, but could not survive the cool and dry climate of Plio-Pleistocene where grasslands were abundant with less browsing activity. Family Elephantidae (EH 8.75%) was successful in drier conditions, and utilized the exclusive C4 diet in open grasslands as efficient grazers, indicated by their tooth morphology. Elephantids were dominant of the proboscideans in open grassland and drier climate during Plio-Pleistocene in Indian subcontinent. We assume that change in the Siwalik climate was governed by microclimate as in the present day Siwaliks grasslands are widely distributed at low altitudes with lower mean annual precipitation and forestlands still persist in Myanmar and Nepal which receives more rainfall and have lower mean annual temperature.

scholarly journals Paleoaltimetry reconstructions of the Tibetan Plateau: progress and contradictions

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Deng ◽  
Lin Ding
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Isotopic Fractionation ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Geodynamic Evolution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Future Work

Abstract Over the last two decades, many quantitative paleoaltimetry reconstructions of the Tibetan Plateau have been published, but they are still preliminary and controversial, although several approaches have been combined paleontology and geochemistry, including vertebrate, plant, and pollen fossils as well as oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen isotopes. The Tibetan Plateau is the youngest and highest plateau on Earth, and its paleoaltimetry reconstructions are crucial to interpret its geodynamic evolution and to understand the climatic changes in Asia. Uplift histories of the Tibetan Plateau based on different proxies differ considerably, and two viewpoints are pointedly opposing on the paleoaltimetry estimations of the Tibetan Plateau. One viewpoint is that the Tibetan Plateau did not strongly uplift to reach its modern elevation until the Late Miocene, but another one, mainly based on stable isotopes, argues that the Tibetan Plateau formed early during the Indo-Asian collision and reached its modern elevation in the Paleogene or by the Middle Miocene. With either a geochemical or paleontological approach, the present is used as the key to the past. However, there are great difficulties because modern processes of isotopic fractionation and species for creature distribution are not easily precisely determined. In addition, the climatic and environmental backgrounds of past geological times have massive differences from the present, and associated adjustments are influenced by many human factors. In the future work, the applications of multidisciplinary comprehensive methods and cross-checks of their results will be productive, and we look forward to achieving more reliable estimates for paleoelevations of the Tibetan Plateau.

Hotspots of land-use change in global biodiversity hotspots

2021 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 105770
Author(s):  
Xuesong Kong ◽  
Zhengzi Zhou ◽  
Limin Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspots ◽  
Global Biodiversity

Middle Miocene (∼14 Ma) and Late Miocene (∼6 Ma) Paleogeographic Boundary Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhilin He ◽  
Zhongshi Zhang ◽  
Zhengtang Guo ◽  
Christopher R. Scotese ◽  
Chenglong Deng
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Middle Miocene

A new argyrolagoid (Mammalia: Marsupialia) from the middle Miocene of Bolivia

1988 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Villarroel A. Carlos ◽  
Larry G. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Northwest Argentina ◽  
The Family ◽  
Size And Structure

A new argyrolagoid marsupial, Hondalagus altiplanensis n. gen., n. sp., from the middle Miocene (Santacrucian–Friasian) age locality of Quebrada Honda in southernmost Bolivia represents the smallest and most specialized member of the family Argyrolagidae known. The lower molars are hypselodont and lack vertical grooves labially and lingually, and M4 is greatly reduced relative to M3. In overall size and structure, H. altiplanensis compares best with Microtragulus catamarcensis (Kraglievich, 1931) from rocks of late Miocene (Huayquerian) age in northwest Argentina. Hondalagus altiplanensis demonstrates that the adaptive radiation of argyrolagoids was much greater than previously envisioned, and that generic differentiation of known taxa occurred no later than early–middle Miocene time in South America.

scholarly journals The Value of Citizen Science in Increasing Our Knowledge of Under-Sampled Biodiversity: An Overview of Public Documentation of Auchenorrhyncha and the Hoppers of North Carolina

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle D. Kittelberger ◽  
Solomon V. Hendrix ◽  
Çağan Hakkı Şekercioğlu
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undescribed Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Due to the increasing popularity of websites specializing in nature documentation, there has been a surge in the number of people enthusiastic about observing and documenting nature over the past 2 decades. These citizen scientists are recording biodiversity on unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, rendering data of tremendous value to the scientific community. In this study, we investigate the role of citizen science in increasing knowledge of global biodiversity through the examination of notable contributions to the understanding of the insect suborder Auchenorrhyncha, also known as true hoppers, in North America. We have compiled a comprehensive summary of citizen science contributions—published and unpublished—to the understanding of hopper diversity, finding over fifty previously unpublished country and state records as well as dozens of undescribed and potentially undescribed species. We compare citizen science contributions to those published in the literature as well as specimen records in collections in the United States and Canada, illuminating the fact that the copious data afforded by citizen science contributions are underutilized. We also introduce the website Hoppers of North Carolina, a revolutionary new benchmark for tracking hopper diversity, disseminating knowledge from the literature, and incorporating citizen science. Finally, we provide a series of recommendations for both the entomological community and citizen science platforms on how best to approach, utilize, and increase the quality of sightings from the general public.

scholarly journals Peranan Kontrol Struktural dan Hidrologis dalam Perkembangan Lorong Gua Bagus-Jebrot di Malang-Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ainul Labib ◽  
Agung Suprianto ◽  
Devi Prasetyo ◽  
Aan Seftian Hardianto ◽  
Alfi Sahrina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Frequency Analysis ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Structural Control ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Underground Water ◽  
And Control

Bagus-Jebrot Cave is located in Donomulyo District, Malang Regency which is in the Wonosari Formation which was formed in the Middle Miocene and Late Miocene. The purpose of this study is related to the developmental control that affects the cave passageways. The approach used is a geomorphological approach by conducting field measurements and documentation. The analysis used is frequency analysis and cross-section of the passage. Bagus-Jebrot Cave is a type of Epigenic Cave which is formed from surface water flowing into doline/sinkhole. It can be seen from the planview map that has a curvilinear passage pattern. The existence of groundwater flow also forms a physiographic cave passage with ellipse passage formation, asymmetrical ellipse, potholes, callops, solution notches, cups, solution pockets. Besides underground water flow, the development of the Bagus-Jebrot Cave aisle is related to the process of structural lifting and control. The lifting process is marked by the formation of 4 levels of the cave passage. While the formation of the canyon, joint passage, rectangular passage and keyhole is the result of structural control

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document