First report of microfauna from Siwalik sediments of Nurpur, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

We here report a new assemblage of microvertebrate and arthropod faunas from the Nurpur region of Himachal Pradesh, which erstwhile was known for mega mammalian fauna. The present assemblage consists of rodents such as Karnimata cf. K. darwini and Murinae indet; reptiles such as Crocodylia indet, 'Colubrinae' indet. or 'Natricinae' indet.; fishes such as Cyprinidae indet. and Perciformes indet.; and crab Sartoriana indet. Microvertebrate fauna are well known from the Indian Siwalik deposits but the report here from the Nurpur is the first occurrence. Further, the presence of Karnimata cf. K. darwini from Nurpur has the potential to extend the Last Appearance Datum (LAD) of Karnimata darwini up to 8.2 Ma or younger in the Indian Siwalik. The microfaunal assemblages of this locality indicate freshwater and an open terrestrial environmental condition with tropical to subtropical open grassland separated by woodland forest.