We examine the timing of deformation and exhumation of the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh massif in the western syntaxis of the Himalaya. This study presents geochronologic and thermochronologic data obtained from basement, shear zone, and intrusive units within the massif to reveal the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the massif and to document the extent of the Plio-Pleistocene tectonic activity. These ...

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,...

Background: We developed a method to estimate precipitation using mammalian ecomorphology, specifically the relative height of the molars of herbivores (see companion paper, this issue). Question: If we apply the new method to paleoenvironments, do the results agree with previous results from fossil mammals and paleobotanical proxies? Data: Large herbivorous fossil mammals of Eurasia. Data from...

The late Miocene was an important time to understand the geological, climatic, and biotic evolution of the ancient New World tropics and the context for the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). Despite this importance, upper Miocene deposits containing diverse faunas and floras and their associated geological context are rare in Central America. We present an integrated study of the geolog...

The modern walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, is specialized and only extant member of the family Odobenidae. They were much more diversified in the past, and at least 16 genera and 20 species of fossil walruses have been known. Although their diversity increased in the late Miocene and Pliocene (around 8-2 Million years ago), older records are poorly known. A new genus and species of archaic odobenid,...

Nakali is an early Late Miocene fossil locality in north-central Kenya, where the Kenya– Japan Joint Expedition team has carried out fieldwork since 2002. Previously, a large hominoid Nakalipithecus nakayamai was reported from site NA39 of this locality. In addition to Nakalipithecus, the hominoid material collected from Nakali includes an isolated P3, which shows a considerably different morph...

Eastern Asia (EA) is a key region for the diversification of flowering plants in the Northern Hemisphere, but few studies have focused on the biogeographic history within EA in the context of the other northern continents. Polygonatum is an important medicinal genus widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere with its highest species richness in EA, and it represents an excellent model for st...

The palynological analysis in the Karpatian–Sarmatian (late Early-Middle Miocene) interval of the cores Tengelic-2 and Hidas53 (Hungary) reveals the existence of a forest organized in altitudinal belts, developed in a subtropical–warm temperate humid climate, reflecting the so-called Miocene climatic optimum. Pollen changes from the late early Miocene to the late middle Miocene have been observ...

remains of fossil herbivorous mammal from families like elephantidae, rhinocerotidae, giraffidae, bovidae and equidae have been studied systematically from a new fossiliferous horizon from the ilkhchi area in the southeastern high foothills of sahand. genera such as hipparion, gazella, samotherium, chilotherium and choerolophodon and some undetermined specimens are identified and reported. base...

The Late Miocene development of faunas and environments in western Eurasia is well known, but the climatic and environmental processes that controlled its details are incompletely understood. Here we map the rise and fall of the classic Pikermian fossil mammal chronofauna between 12 and 4.2 Ma, using genus-level faunal similarity between localities. To directly relate land mammal community evol...