New suoid remains (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Late Miocene of Haritalyangar, India

Subjects: Biology >> Zoology submitted time 2023-11-30 Cooperative journals: 《古脊椎动物学报》

Anek R. SANKHYAN Olivier CHAVASSEAU

Abstract： We report here a number of mandibular, maxillary and dental fossil remains of Indian Suoidea from the Middle Siwalik of Haritalyangar area in Bilaspur District of Himachal Pradesh, North India. Haritalyangar is well known for the diversity of the Late Miocene fauna and the hominoids and other primates. The suoid remains were collected by one of the authors (ARS) during different field seasons and their localities were plotted on the map, along with those of the proboscidean reported recently, including the hominoid localities. The fossil localities are spread over the ‘Lower Alternations’ and the ‘Upper Alternations’ from Makkan Khad to Sir Khad. We have assigned the fossils into three genera, Propotamochoerus (P. hysudricus), Hippopotamodon (H. sivalense) and Yunnanochoerus (Y. dangari). Propotamochoerus hysudricus represents the most common suid in the Middle Siwaliks. The new remains of the suoid Yunnanochoerus dangari further documents this rare palaeochoerid only known in the Haritalyangar area by a few fossils. The new suoid remains show clear affinities with the Nagri fauna of the Pakistan Siwaliks. Biochronological correlations with the Potwar Plateau based on suoids indicate an age bracket of ~10–9 Ma for the ‘Lower Alternations’ of Haritalyangar, close to the bracket mostly recently proposed on the basis of magnetic polarity stratigraphy.

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