First Miocene rodents from Kutch, western India.

Following recent work on the Miocene terrestrial vertebrate fauna of Kutch, we focused on bulk wet screening for microfossils from beds exposed near Tapar (=Tappar) and Pasuda villages in central Kutch (Gujarat), western India. Processing >1500 kg of bulk samples, led to the recovery of diverse rodent remains (nine species, mostly sciurids, rhizomyids, cricetids, and murids) as well as a vespertillionid bat and a possible lorisid for the first time from the Miocene succession of Kutch. This complements the previously described large and megamammal fossils of rhinos, anthracotheres, proboscideans, and ruminants from the same sections. Isolated rodent teeth represent taxa of generally short time ranges and wide distribution that assume considerable biostratigraphic significance. The rodents are similar to contemporaneous species to the north in India and to the west in Pakistan, including the Potwar Plateau. Based on the rodent assemblage, early Late Miocene (>10 Ma) age is assigned to the Tapar and Pasuda localities. The Kutch sample provides a new reference point for detailed comparisons with the better studied Manchar and Siwalik faunas of South Asia but also with broadly contemporaneous faunas from the Murree, Dagshai/Kasauli, and Dharamsala beds of the Outer Himalaya, and the Kargil molasse of Ladakh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]