Hipparionine Fossils From A New Locality Gazlope, Sakhi Sarwar, Sulaiman Range, South Punjab, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Hipparionine fossils from the newly explored Gazlope locality of the Sulaiman Range, Sakhi Sarwar, District Dera Ghazi Khan, South Punjab, are reported and described in detail. The recovered material comprises isolated upper and lower premolars and molars. Taxonomic identification based on morphometric analysis recognized three species of the family Equidae: Sivalhippus nagriensis , Sivalhippus theobaldi and Cremohipparion antelopinum . Stratigraphic analysis indicates that the Gazlope fossil‐bearing beds are equivalent to the Middle Siwalik Subgroup (11.5–3.5 Ma), supporting their Late Miocene–Early Pliocene age. Sivalhippus nagriensis and Sivalhippus theobaldi are the dominant taxa in the Gazlope fossil assemblage. This study provides the first comprehensive record of hipparionine equids from the Gazlope locality, extending the known geographic distribution of hipparionine equids in the western Sulaiman Range beyond the classic Potwar Siwalik localities and improving regional biostratigraphic correlations.