SIRENIA FOSSILS FROM QOM FORMATION (BURDIGALIAN) OF THE KABUDAR AHANG AREA, NORTHWEST IRAN

Fossil remains of sirenians (Mammalia; Dugongidae) are reported from the late early Miocene (Burdigalian) Qom Formation near the town of Shirin Su, northwest Kabudar Ahang region, west of Tehran, Iran. The fossils consist of partial postcranial skeletons preserved mostly as natural molds in limestone. In the absence of skulls or other diagnostic elements, it is not evident which dugongid subfamily these specimens represent: Halitheriinae or Dugonginae. Both subfamilies were present in contemporaneous Western Tethys (Mediterranean) deposits, but so far only dugongines have been found in Neogene rocks of Eastern Tethys. Since the Iranian deposits are located between these two parts of the former Tethys Seaway, it will be interesting to see which group(s) the Iranian sirenians prove to represent, once their taxonomic identity has been determined through future discoveries

Extensive vertebrate tracksite from the Upper Red Formation (middle–late Miocene), west Zanjan, northwestern Iran

An extensive vertebrate tracksite from the middle–lateMiocene Upper Red Formation in western Zanjan Province, northwestern Iran,provides new records of paleobiogeographical significance. These are recordsof common footprints of felids referred to as Felipeda lynxi Panin and Avram, canidsreferred to as Canipeda longigriffa Panin and Avram and less common bird footprints referred to asIranipeda abeli Lambrecht. The Canipeda record establishes the late Miocene presence of canids onthe Iranian Plateau as part of the Eurasia-wide “Eucyon event”. TheFelipeda footprints are consistent with body fossil and footprint records elsewherein Eurasia that indicate a widespread distribution of felids by late Miocenetime. An unusual trace associated with the footprints is a large, shallowgrazing or locomotion trace similar to Megaplanolites in some features but distinctive invarious features and its occurrence in nonmarine facies, and it will be thesubject of further study