Remains of fossil lizards and snakes have been discovered recently from a late Miocene hominid locality of India (dated 9.1 Million Years) in Haritalyangar, Himachal Pradesh.
Key points
- The discoveries indicate a seasonally wet sub-humid to semi-arid climate in the area with mean annual temperature of around 15–18.6°C during that period. It was similar to condition in the area today.
- Lizards and snakes are cold-blooded squamates whose distribution, richness, and diversity of are highly dependent on temperature and climatic conditions.
- For this reason, squamates are widely regarded as excellent indicators of past climates, particularly ambient temperatures.
- Researchers from various institutes documented the taxa —–Varanus, Python, a colubrid and a natricid from this region for the first time.
- The occurrence of taxa Varanus in Haritalyangar is important in regard to its past biodiversity because varanids have a limited fossil record in Asia.
- Also, the fossil Python from South Asia remains poor except for the earliest record from Pakistan (dated ca. 18 Ma) and Kutch, Gujarat (dated ca. 14-10 Ma).
- A co-existence of Varanus and Python, two iconic squamates, revealed a wider distribution of the clade in this southern Asian territory.
