Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekotta, Lacertilia, Testudines) from south of Western Siberia, Russia and Northeastern Kazakhstan
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Biodiversity, Biogeography, Paleontology, Taxonomy, Zoology
- Keywords
- Amphibians, Reptiles, Western Siberia, Neogene, Palaeobiogeography, Palaeoclimate
- Copyright
- © 2016 Vasilyan et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2016. Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekotta, Lacertilia, Testudines) from south of Western Siberia, Russia and Northeastern Kazakhstan. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2365v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2365v1
Abstract
Background. Now-a-day territory of Western Siberia has the poorest diversity of amphibians and reptiles within the Palaearctic Realm, influenced by unfavourable climate. Less is known about the origin and emergence of it. Aside from better-explored European Neogene records of amphibians and reptiles, the Neogene herpetofauna of Western Asia is understudied. The few available studies on amphibian and reptile fossil assemblages need critical reviews and new interpretations considering the latest knowledge of the European record. The comparison with European record will provide data on palaeobiogeographic affiliations of the region as well as origin and emergence of the now-a-day fauna of Western Siberia. Beside these, a study providing overview about the earliest occurences of certain amphibian linages, that can be used for the calibration of the molecular clocks, is missing.
Methods and Results. The amphibian and reptile fauna from over 40 Western Siberian, Russia and Northeastern Kazakhian localities ranging from Middle Miocene to Early Pleistocene has been studied. In the study the published data has been considered and critically reviewed and newly interpreted. More then 50 amphibian and reptile taxa has been identified belonging to families Hynobiidae, Cryptobranchidae, Salamandridae, Palaeobatrachidae, Bombinatoridae, Pelobatidae, Hylidae, Bufonidae, Ranidae, Gekkonidae, Lacertidae and Emydidae. Palaeobiogeographic analysis for those group has been done. For 12 localities, palaeoprecipitation values have been estimated using the bioclimatic analysis of herpetofaunal assemblage.
Conclusions. The Neogene assemblage of Westren Sibera is dominated by groups (Palaeobatrachidae, Bombina, Hyla, Bufo bufo) with European affinities. A small part of assemblage includes Eastern Palaearctic taxa (e.g. Hynobiidae, Tylototriton, Bufotes viridis, R. arvalis). For several taxa (e.g. Mioproteus, Hyla, Bombina) the Western Siberian records of represent the most east Eurasian records of these groups. The most divers faunas are found in the Middle Miocene, whereas the poorest towards Early Pleistocene. This tendency could be referred to the progressive global cooling of the climate in Northern Hemisphere. Our results showed higher-amplitude changes of precipitation development in Western Siberia from Early Miocene to Pliocene, than earlier assumed.
Author Comment
This is a submission to PeerJ for review.
Supplemental Information
Overview of the amphibian, reptile and small mammal faunas from the Western Siberian localities studied in this work (in red) and according to published data (in pink)
Asteriks indicate the localities according to the literature data, the material of which was partially studied in this work. The species of small mammal linages are indicated in similar colours. For details on published data see Suppl. 2 and 3. Abbreviatsions: akz – Akzhar, tr – Turme, zs – Zaisan, klm – Kalkaman, ish – Ishim, pv – Pavlodar, sb – Sarybulak, klp –Kalmalpai, kb – Karabulak Svita, kd – Kedey, nst – Novaya Stanitsa, rt – Rytov, is – Isakov, psh – Peshnev, krt – Krutogor, bt – Betekey, liv – Levetin, sel – Seletin, irt – Irtish, kar – Karagash, kc – Kochkov.
Ages, biochronologic, magneto- and lithostratigraphic data of the studied localities from Western Siberia
The numbering of the localities correspond to the locality numeration in the Figs. 1 and 2 and S1 and S4.
List of localities with amphibian and reptiles faunas according to the literature data, accompanied with other vertebrate groups
We provide also available assignments to stratigraphic horizones, ages, svitas, basins and literature sources. The locality numbering corresponds to the locality numeration given in the Figs. 1 and 2, as well as in the Suppl. 1.
Precipitation reconstructions
Western Siberian localities, their ages, estimated palaeoprecipitation values, present-day precipitation near the localities and their reference climate station, precipitation difference to present day values, relative precipitation to present-day values, and faunal content.
Fossil records of the studied groups
European fossil occurences of Hynobiidae, Proteidae, Chelotriton, Tyltotriton, Bombina, Palaeobatrachidae, Pelobatidae, Hyla, Bufo bufo gr., Bufotes viridis gr., Rana, Pelophylax according to Böhme & Ilg (2003) .