Institut für Biologie der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

 

Date of this Version

2012

Document Type

Article

Citation

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei (2012) band 12: 47-54.

Comments

Copyright 2012, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg, Halle (Saale). Used by permission.

Abstract

Lagomorphs (pikas and hares) are an ancient group of small mammals originated in Asia in the Paleocene-Eocene. The earliest evidence of their presence in Mongolia is dated to the Early Oligocene. The taxa flourished during the Late Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene; at the Late Pliocene they were reduced both in their diversity and in abundance. No data on lagomorph are known from the Pleistocene and Holocene, though there are 7 taxa of lagomorphs present in the modern fauna. Altogether, more than 50 lagomorph species, extinct at present, are known to have existed in Mongolia since the Oligocene through the Late Pliocene.

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