A mongoose remain (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Upper Irrawaddy sediments, Myanmar and its significance in evolutionary history of Asian herpestids Naoko Egi a,⇑ , Thaung-Htike b , Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein c , Maung-Maung d , Yuichiro Nishioka a , Takehisa Tsubamoto e , Shintaro Ogino a , Masanaru Takai a a Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan b Department of Geology, Shwebo Degree College, Shwebo, Myanmar c Department of Geology, University of Mandalay, Mandalay, Myanmar d Department of Geology, Hinthada University, Hinthada, Myanmar e Center for Paleobiological Research, Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories, Inc., Okayama 700-0907, Japan article info Article history: Received 27 January 2011 Received in revised form 27 June 2011 Accepted 1 July 2011 Available online 23 July 2011 Keywords: Herpestidae Asia Paleobiogeography Divergence dating Pliocene abstract A tooth of a mongoose (Mammalia: Carnivora: Herpestidae) was discovered from the Upper Irrawaddy sediments in central Myanmar. The age of the fauna is not older than the mid-Pliocene. It is identified as a right first upper molar of a small species of Urva (formally included in the genus Herpestes) based on its size and shape. The present specimen is the first carnivoran from the Upper Irrawaddy sediments and is the first record of mongooses in the Pliocene and early Pleistocene of Asia. It confirms that mon- gooses had already dispersed into Southeast Asia by the late Pliocene, being consistent with the previous molecular phylogenetic analyses. The fossil may belong to one of the extant species, but an assignment to a specific species is difficult due to the fragmentary nature of the specimen and the small interspecific differences in dental shape among the Asian mongooses. The size of the tooth suggests that the Irrawaddy specimen is within or close to the clade of Urva auropunctata + javanica + edwardsii, and this taxonomic assignment agrees with the geographical distribution. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Mongooses or herpestids are an extant group of the order Carnivora (Wozencraft, 2005; Patou et al., 2009). The family in- cludes 16 extant genera, and all except one are restricted to Africa. The genus Urva (formally included in Herpestes) is known from southern part of Asia, and some species are also introduced in Europe, islands in Pacific and the Caribbean, and North America. Mongooses are small carnivorans, weighing approximately 350 g–4.2 kg (Nowak, 1991; Kingdon, 1997). Although fossil records of herpestids have been improved in Africa (Werdelin and Peigné, 2010), they are still poor in Asia (Hunt, 1996; Peigné et al., 2005). Seven to ten species of herpestids inhabit in Asia (Nowak, 1991; MacDonald, 2001; Wozencraft, 2005). In contrast to this present day diversity, only several fossil records are known for herpestids in Asia. A maxillary fragment from 9.5 Ma Siwalik sediments has been assigned to Herpestes (Barry, 1983), and this material has been regarded as the oldest unequivocal herpestid (Hunt, 1996; Peigné et al., 2005). Herpestinae gen. et sp. indet. has been listed in the mammal species list of the late middle Miocene Bahe fauna in Shaanxi Province, China (9–10 Ma, MN 10; Qiu, 1990); however, this undescribed material is originally reported as a viverrid, and its taxonomic identity is still unclear. Two younger fossil records, Herpestes sp. from 8 Ma and ? Herpestes sp. from 7 Ma, have been reported from the late Miocene Siwalik sediments (Barry, 1983). Two fossil records are known from China, one from the middle or late Pleistocene Xiashan Cave deposits, Guandong Province (Huang et al., 1988), and the other from the late Pleistocene Huanglong Cave deposits, Hubei Province (Liu et al., 2010); these younger fossil records from China are assigned to an extant species, Herpestes urva. Another fossil record of Herpestes was reported from the Billa Surgam Cave, which is geologically young deposits in India (Matthew, 1929; Pilgrim, 1932; Barry, 1983). Fossil evidences have been too rare to search for evolution of Herpestes in Asia. In contrast to the poor fossil records of Asian herpestids, recent molecular studies provided phylogenetic relationships and divergence date estimates among herpestid genera and among ‘‘Herpestes’’ species (Veron et al., 2004, 2007; Patou et al., 2009). The analyses by Patou et al. (2009) showed that the genus ‘‘Herpestes’’ is polyphyletic. The extant Asian ‘‘Herpestes’’ species form a monophyletic group. One of the African ‘‘Herpestes’’ species, Xenogale naso, and the genus Atilax are the sister taxa for the Asian 1367-9120/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.07.003 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, 41-2 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan. Tel.: +81 568 63 0531. E-mail address: egi@pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp (N. Egi). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 42 (2011) 1204–1209 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Asian Earth Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jseaes