New fossils of Tragoportax and Gazella from Padhri, Pakistan, and comments on these genera in the Siwaliks

ABSTRACT

Here, we describe new bovid remains from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene of Padhri in the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan. A comparison with the closely allied genera from the Siwaliks revealed that a maxillary fragment and a hemimandible belong to Tragoportax punjabicus, two isolated teeth can be assigned as cf. Tragoportax sp. and a mandible fragment belongs to Gazella lydekkeri. We suggest that Tragoportax is represented by two valid species and Gazella by three species. The extinction of Tragoportax and Gazella from the Siwaliks during the Early Pliocene could be associated with habitat loss, as these used to live in forest and shrublands respectively which were replaced with the grassland towards the beginning of the Pliocene.

KEYWORDS:

• Mammalia
• Bovidae
• Early Pliocene
• fossils
• Palaeontology

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