Paleosols are an important tool in the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental interpretation of continental deposits and can provide a high-resolution proxy for paleoclimate. Results from geochemical climofunctions applied to Early Miocene strata exposed in the Ebro Basin, Spain, demonstrate that mean annual precipitation was the dominant control on paleosol type and indicate that the paleoclimat...

The subsurface and surface structural geometries of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fold-and-thrust belt (FTB) foreland basins are interpreted from seismic, well data, geology. Twelve horizons ranging in age Miocene to Lower Jurassic were mapped. Additionally, we outlined extent Sumeini Hawasina allochthonous nappes. tectonic subsidence curves suggest that final major passive margin rifting even...

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...

Drilling offshore from Cape Roberts, Antarctica, has enabled recovery of a 1472-m cumulative record of late Eocene–early Miocene history of sedimentary basin development and climate change in the Western Ross Sea. In this paper, we synthesize the results of palaeomagnetic analyses carried out on the CRP-1, CRP-2 and CRP-3 sediment cores, and present a chronology for the recovered Eocene–Miocene...

During the Oligo-Miocene, major phases of phosphogenesis occurred in the Earth's oceans. However, most phosphate deposits represent condensed or allochthonous hemipelagic deposits, formed by complex physical and chemical enrichment processes, limiting their applicability for the study regarding the temporal pacing of Miocene phosphogenesis. The Oligo-Miocene Decontra section located on the Maie...

Over the past century, a wide variety of poorly dated sediments that unconformably overlie pre-Neogene rocks in Sulawesi have been assigned to Celebes Molasse and interpreted as post-orogenic deposited after major collision. New data from fieldwork laboratory studies, including mineralogical, palaeontological zircon geochronological analyses, provide basis for new Neogene stratigraphy show sign...

We describe a new species of gundi (Rodentia: Ctenodactylidae: Ctenodactylinae), Sayimys negevensis, on the basis of cheek teeth from the Early Miocene of the Rotem Basin, southern Israel. The Rotem ctenodactylid differs from all known ctenodactylid species, including Sayimys intermedius, which was first described from the Middle Miocene of Saudi Arabia. Instead, it most resembles Sayimys baski...

The Asian interior arid zone is the largest desert landform system in the Northern Hemisphere, and has high biodiversity. Little is currently known about the evolutionary history of its biota. In this study, we used Zygophyllum, an important and characteristic component of the Asian interior arid zone, to provide new insights into the evolution of this biota. By greatly enlarged taxon sampling,...

A new gastropod fauna of Burdigalian (early Miocene) age is described from the Iranian part of Makran. The fauna comprises 19 species and represents three distinct assemblages from turbid water coral reef, shallow subtidal soft-bottom and mangrove-fringed mudflat environments in the northern Indian Ocean. Especially the reef-associated assemblage comprises largely new species. This is explained...