First report of rodents from the Miocene Siwalik locality of Dunera, Pathankot District, Punjab, India

Abstract

Although there have been a few reports of macromammals from the Siwalik site of Dunera, no micromammals have yet been described. Recently, a diverse micromammal fossil assemblage represented by isolated teeth has been recovered from Dunera. The specimens are identified as a murine similar to Progonomys hussaini (Progonomys cf. hussaini), the ctenodactylid Sayimys sivalensis, the cricetid Democricetodon fejfari, and a sciurid, cf. Tamias urialis. These rodents are documented for the first time from this region of the Indian Siwaliks. Based on the biostratigraphic ranges of these rodents from well-dated localities in the Siwaliks of Pakistan along with previously collected magnetostratigraphic data, Dunera locality best correlates to between ~11-10 Ma (early Late Miocene), approximately equivalent to the lower half of the Nagri Formation. Previous magneto-stratigraphic data suggests that an age closer to ~11 Ma is more likely, perhaps sampling a temporal gap in the known Siwaliks micromammal record and extending the age ranges of P. hussaini and T. urialis by a few hundred thousand years.