New lophiomerycid ruminants from the Oligocene of the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan)

ABSTRACT

A new assemblage of ruminants from Paali in the lower Chitarwata Formation, Bugti Hills, Balochistan, central Pakistan, includes two lophiomerycids, Lophiomeryx, and Nalameryx gen. nov., allowing revision of ruminants previously reported from the Oligocene of the Indian Subcontinent. Two species are referred to Nalameryx: N. savagei (formerly Iberomeryx savagei), and N. sulaimani nov. sp. The middle Oligocene age previously assigned to the lower unit of the Chitarwata Formation in the Bugti area, mostly based on the rodent fauna from Paali, is supported by the composition of the ruminant fauna, which consists of taxa exclusively known in the Oligocene of Eurasia. The new ruminant fauna from Paali is clearly distinct from the early Miocene assemblages known in the Bugti hills, and suggests the existence of densely forested habitat probably mixed with more open areas in central Pakistan during the middle Oligocene.