The geology of the Darien province of eastern Panama is presented through a new geologic map and detailed biostratigraphic and paleobathymetric analysis of its Upper Cretaceous to upper Miocene sediments. The sequence of events inferred from the stratigraphie record includes the collision of the Panama arc (the southwestern margin of the Caribbean plate) and South American continent. Three tect...

a total of 12 species of marine gastropods, among which two taxa are new, is reported for the first time from the miocene deposits of khavich section, south of sirjan, kerman. gastropods assemblage in khavich area indicates deposition in shallow, warm ramp-type carbonate platform. the miocene and even oligocene gastropod assemblages, relatively similar to khavich section, reported from the othe...

BACKGROUND Caviidae is a diverse group of caviomorph rodents that is broadly distributed in South America and is divided into three highly divergent extant lineages: Caviinae (cavies), Dolichotinae (maras), and Hydrochoerinae (capybaras). The fossil record of Caviidae is only abundant and diverse since the late Miocene. Caviids belongs to Cavioidea sensu stricto (Cavioidea s.s.) that also inclu...

We reconstructed the phylogeny of the subfamily Viverrinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Viverridae) using a approximately 3kb data set in order to reassess timing and patterns of faunal exchanges between Asia and Africa. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses of separated and combined matrices (cytochrome b, transthyretin intron I and IRBP exon 1 [IRBP1]) recovered all the well-s...

Although species within Lagomorpha are derived from a common ancestor, the distribution range and body size of its two extant groups, ochotonids and leporids, are quite differentiated. It is unclear what has driven their disparate evolutionary history. In this study, we compile and update all fossil records of Lagomorpha for the first time, to trace the evolutionary processes and infer their ev...

A shortage of Cenozoic vertebrate fossils in the Tibetan Plateau has been an obstacle in our understanding of biological evolution in response to changes in tectonism, topography, and environment. This is especially true for Paleogene records, so far known by only two sites along the northern rim of the Plateau. We report a Hongyazi Basin in northern Tibetan Plateau that produces at least three...

A total 7 species and 13 genera of marine gastropod assemblages are reported for the first time from the Varehh Zard section (Asmari Formation), north of Pole Dokhtar, Lorestan Basin. The section under study, the Asmari Formation, lies between the Shahbazam Formation at the base and Gachsaran Formation at the top. According to the distribution of index foraminifera, the Asmari Formation is Earl...

Over the last two decades, the study of new fossil material has yielded major insights into the evolution of Australia's marsupial carnivores. This material includes the first complete or nearcomplete crania for Tertiary representatives of Dasyuridae, Thylacinidae and Propleopinae (Hypsiprymnodontidae), as well as the first skulls known for the thylacoleonid genera, Priscileo and Wakaleo. Also ...

The area and elevation of the Tibetan Plateau over time has directly affected Asia's topography, the characteristics of the Asian monsoon, and modified global climate, but in ways that are poorly understood. Charting the uplift history is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that link elevation and climate irrespective of time and place. While some palaeoelevation data are available for sou...

Fossils from a large-bodied hominoid from early Miocene sediments of Uganda, along with material recovered in the 1960s, show features of the shoulder and vertebral column that are significantly similar to those of living apes and humans. The large-bodied hominoid from Uganda dates to at least 20.6 million years ago and thus represents the oldest known hominoid sharing these derived characters ...