title: Early Eocene lagomorph (Mammalia) from Western India and the early diversification of Lagomorpha.
abstract: We report the oldest known record of Lagomorpha, based on distinctive, small ankle bones (calcaneus and talus) from Early Eocene deposits (Middle Ypresian equivalent, ca 53 Myr ago) of Gujarat, west-central India. The fossils predate the oldest previously known crown lagomorphs by several million years and extend the record of lagomorphs on the Indian subcontinent by 35 Myr. The bones show a mosaic of derived cursorial adaptations found in gracile Leporidae (rabbits and hares) and primitive traits characteristic of extant Ochotonidae (pikas) and more robust leporids. Together with gracile and robust calcanei from the Middle Eocene of Shanghuang, China, also reported here, the Indian fossils suggest that diversification within crown Lagomorpha and possibly divergence of the family Leporidae were already underway in the Early Eocene.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. kdrose@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Kenneth D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Valerie Burke
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: DeLeon
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Missiaen
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Rana
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahni
authors.forename: Lachham
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005580:Fossils; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007194:India; D007793:Lagomorpha / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics*