GERBILLIDS FROM THE LATE MIOCENE BAHE FORMATION, LANTIAN, SHAANXI

This paper describes three new species of Gerbillidae in two genera - Myocricetodon lantianensis sp. nov., M. liui sp. nov., and Abudhabia baheensis sp. nov. from the late Miocene Bahe Formation at Lantian, Shaanxi Province. M. lantianensis and M. liui show relative similarity to M. plebius from the middle Miocene of Quantougou, Gansu and M. sivalensis from the middle Miocene Siwaliks, Pakistan in dental pattern, and were closely allied to the two Asian middle Miocene gerbils, respectively. Abudhabia baheensis is the first record of the subfamily Taterillinae in China, and is considered to be the most primitive species of the genus so far known. The Lantian gerbils represent the eastern extension of distribution of the two genera. Their presence not only indicates the close biogeographic affinities of East Asia with North Africa and Southwest Europe during the late Miocene, but also suggests the existence of an open and xeric region between eastern Asia and northwestern Africa, where interchange of small mammals, via the Arabian Peninsula took place.