N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. Stuttgart, www.schweizerbart.de E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany DOI: New fossil Carnivora from Thailand: transcontinental paleobiostratigraphic correlations and paleobiogeographical implications Louis de Bonis, Camille Grohé, Yaowalak Chaimanee, Jean-Jacques Jaeger, Chotima Yamee, and Mana Rugbumrung With 6 figures and 2 tables Abstract: The study and reanalysis of late Oligocene and middle Miocene dental material from Thai- land provides evidence for long-distance stratigraphic correlations, and thus sheds new light on past terrestrial connections between Southeastern Asia and Europe. Here we report the oldest occurrence of Ursidae in southern Asia – a late Oligocene fossil from Nong Ya Plong previously referred to Mus- telida but reattributed here to Cephalogale aff. geoffroyi (Ursidae, Hemicyoninae, Cephalogalini). We also describe a new Viverridae, Semigenetta cf. steinheimensis, from the middle Miocene carnivoran- rich locality of Mae Moh. The presence of these two taxa in Western Europe reinforces stratigraphic correlations of the MP29 and MN7–8 fossil sites with Southeast Asian localities. Members of the tribe Cephalogalini may have migrated several times from Asia to Europe, or vice-versa, during the Oligocene and early Miocene via either a northern route across northern China, or a southern route traversing southern Asia and the Middle East. Semigenetta could have dispersed along a corridor through Central Asia or a southern Asian route into Thailand during the middle Miocene. Our study thus indicates that medium- or large-sized carnivorans constitute a useful tool for reconstructing the paleobiogeography of extinct species. Key words: Southeastern Asia, Europe, Ursidae, Viverridae, Late Oligocene, Middle Miocene. 299/3 (2021), 319–332 March 2021 Article © 2021 10.1127/njgpa/2021/0972 0077-7749/2021/0972 $ 3.50 1. Introduction Among the numerous challenges facing vertebrate pa- laeontologists, including inferring anatomical function or building phylogenetic classifcations from fossils, using biostratigraphical and paleogeographical distri- butions of species to establish biostratigraphic correla- tions, especially for mammals, remains particularly complicated. The geographic distribution of herbivo- rous mammals is linked to vegetation coverage, which, in turn, is heavily correlated with climate and there- fore latitudinal temperature gradients. As such, their utility for establishing long-distance biostratigraphic correlations and paleogeographic interpretations is not always evident. On the other hand, the geographic distribution of Carnivora, especially hypercarnivores, is broader because these mammals consume various types of prey. For example, the tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758), currently occurs from Siberia to the south of the Indian sub-continent, whereas the lion, Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758), only disappeared rel- atively recently from Europe, southern Africa, and In- dia. The leopard, Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758), has the widest geographic distribution of all large fe- lids, occupying sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, while the wolf, Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758, currently inhabits the Northern Hemisphere, spread from Sibe- ria to Europe, as well as North America. This wide eschweizerbart_xxx