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The Taatsiin Gol Basin in Mongolia is a key area for understanding the evolution and dispersal of Central Asian mammal faunas during the Oligocene and early Miocene. After two decades of intense fieldwork, the area is extraordinarily well sampled and taxonomically well studied, yielding a large dataset of 19,042 specimens from 60 samples. The specimens represent 176 species-level and 99 genus-level taxa comprising 135 small mammal species and 47 large mammals. A detailed lithostratigraphy and new magnetostratigraphic and radiometric datings provide an excellent frame for these biotic data. Therefore, we test and evaluate the informal biozonation scheme that has been traditionally used for biostratigraphic correlations within the basin. Based on the analysis of the huge dataset, a formalised biostratigraphic scheme is proposed. It comprises the Cricetops dormitor Taxon Range Zone (Rupelian), subdivided into the Allosminthus khandae Taxon Range Subzone and the Huangomys frequens Abundance Subzone, the Amphechinus taatsiingolensis Abundance Zone (early Chattian), the Amphechinus major Taxon Range Zone (late Chattian), subdivided into the Yindirtemys deflexus Abundance Subzone and the Upper Amphechinus major T. R. Z., and the Tachyoryctoides kokonorensis Taxon Range Zone (Aquitanian). In statistical analyses, samples attributed to these biozones form distinct clusters, indicating that each biozone was also characterised by a distinct faunal type.

The present publication reports new discoveries of Oligocene and early Miocene aplodontid rodents from the Taatsiin Gol area (Valley of Lakes) in Mongolia. The fossil aplodontids recovered in this area are mainly composed of dental remains, some fragmentary jaws plus one partially preserved skull. Aplodontid rodents have been found from the early Oligocene (local biozone A) to the early middle Miocene (local biozone D). Altogether, eight taxa belonging to five genera have been identified in the investigated deposits: Ninamys arboraptus , Ninamys kazimierzi , Promeniscomys cf. sinensis , Prosciurus ? mongoliensis and Prosciurus ? sp. nov. in the early Oligocene; N. arboraptus , Proansomys badamae sp. nov. and Ansomyinae indet. in the late Oligocene; and Ansomys sp.1 in the early Miocene. In addition, although outside of the topic of the present special issue, one additional taxon, Ansomys sp.2, is reported from the ?middle Miocene. The material of aplodontids is usually relatively scarce in Asian localities. For the first time, with a sample size of 81 specimens, the material from Central Mongolia (mainly from the Oligocene) now allows a more accurate description of the morphological and size variability and resolves some systematic problems. The study of these aplodontids reveals that they are more abundant and diverse in the early Oligocene and that the diversity decreases during the late Oligocene and Miocene. One hypothesis, to explain the opposite diversity trend observed previously for sciurids in the same region, is that both Sciuromorpha families might have competed for the same resources from the early Oligocene to the middle Miocene in Central Mongolia.

We describe the remains of Aralocricetodon Bendukidze, 1993; Bagacricetodon Gomes Rodrigues et al., 2012; Eocricetodon Wang, 2007; Witenia de Bruijn et al., 2003 and Paracricetodon Schaub, 1925 (Cricetidae, Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Taatsiin Gol and Taatsiin Tsagaan Nuur areas (Mongolia). The studied material (comprising 128 teeth) stems from 9 localities and 23 fossil layers spanning a time interval from ∼33 to ∼24 Ma (early to late Oligocene) and covering the biozones from A to C1. The general dental pattern between the species from the early and late Oligocene differed. The occlusal pattern of the molars was more complicated and the crowns were lower during the early versus late Oligocene. This indicates a change in diet towards more abrasive plants. Several of the studied species were common in both Europe and Asia Minor during the early Oligocene. The species collected from the late Oligocene have also been recorded in Kazakhstan and China. This indicates an interesting biogeographical pattern that merits future study.

Cenozoic sediments of the Taatsiin Gol and TaatsiinTsagaan Nuur area are rich in fossils that provide unique evidence of mammal evolution in Mongolia. The strata are intercalated with basalt flows. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar data of the basalts frame the time of sediment deposition and mammal evolution and enable a composite age chronology for the studied area. We investigated 20 geological sections and 6 fossil localities of Oligocene and early Miocene deposits from this region. Seventy fossil beds yielded more than 19,000 mammal fossils. This huge collection encompasses 175 mammal species: 50% Rodentia, 13% Eulipotyphla and Didelphomorphia, and 12% Lagomorpha. The remaining 25% of species are distributed among herbivorous and carnivorous large mammals. The representation of lower vertebrates and gastropods is comparatively poor. Several hundred SEM images illustrate the diversity of Marsupialia, Eulipotyphla, and Rodentia dentition and give insight into small mammal evolution in Mongolia during the Oligocene and early Miocene. This dataset, the radiometric ages of basalt I (∼31.5 Ma) and basalt II (∼27 Ma), and the magnetostratigraphic data provide ages of mammal assemblages and time ranges of the Mongolian biozones: letter zone A ranges from ∼33 to ∼31.5 Ma, letter zone B from ∼31.5 to ∼28 Ma, letter zone C from ∼28 to 25.6 Ma, letter zone C1 from 25.6 to 24 Ma, letter zone C1-D from 24 to ∼23 Ma, and letter zone D from ∼23 to ∼21 Ma.

The Oligocene fossil deposits from Valley of Lakes in Central Mongolia have provided a wealth of rodent fossils. Among these, cricetids are a very important part. To date, only the Miocene genera have been described in detail. Here, we focus on the Oligocene genus Eucricetodon from this region. Eucricetodontinae are the most abundant fossils in the Oligocene Valley of Lakes faunas. The present study consists of the description of five species of cricetid rodents from 43 localities ranging in age from the early Oligocene to the early-late Oligocene. In addition to Eucricetodon asiaticus described in Mongolia in 1923, we have found Eucricetodon bagus and Eucricetodon jilantaiensis that were described from Nei Mongol and Eucricetodon occidentalis discovered in Kazakhstan. This taxonomical study provides new information regarding the evolution of the Cricetidae in Central and Eastern Asia during the Oligocene and, more particularly, regarding their phylogenetic relationships and the evolutionary trends.