Neogene continental faunas of India: recent advances

Tectonics, climate and ecology played a major role in shaping the Neogene faunal composition and overall biodiversity of south Asia today. This article presents an overview of the research work done during 2020–2023 on the continental vertebrate fauna of India. In the last four years new findings of mammals, particularly primates, insectivores and rodents from Siwaliks, Ladakh and Kutch have thrown new light on our understanding of their evolution and diversity, beside providing precise biostratigraphic ages to the localities. Besides mammals new discoveries of snakes, lizards, frogs and birds have been made during this period, providing new insights into the overall vertebrate biodiversity, extinctions and dispersals. New research on dental enamel microstructure of elephants, rodents and sharks have contributed towards their taxonomic and biomechanical interpretations. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis on enamel carbonate of Late Miocene large mammals indicate a dominantly C3 diet, while combined XRD and enamel phosphate isotope results indicate no or negligible amount of diagenesis in fossilised dental enamel samples ranging from Eocene to Pleistocene. New biomolecular studies on fossil fish scales reveal preservation of ancient proteins in them, opening a new window into future research directions in paleoproteomics in India.