Discovery of Parapelomys (Murinae) from the Siwalik Group of Mohand, NW Himalaya: Palaeobiogeography implications

Abstract

An isolated rodent lower molar is being reported from Mohand II locality (gastropod/otolith locality) of the Siwalik Group exposed in the Mohand area, along the Saharanpur–Dehradun road. The fossils yielding mudstone units from the Siwalik Group exposed in the Doon Valley, Mohand, in the western Himalayan region. The occurrence of this murine mouse lineage, Parapelomys, is consistent with the late Miocene age based on palaeomagnetic reversal stratigraphy. The fossil represents a species apparently more primitive and older than the type species of the genus Parapelomys robertsi. The find documents the geographic range of this mouse lineage 500 km southeast of the type area for the species in the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. The associated fauna comprises gastropods, ostracods, cyprinid fish and crocodiles in our collection.