New Materials of Tetraconodon malensis (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Suidae) from the Middle Miocene of Central Myanmar

Abstract

In this study, we report the additional dental specimens of Tetraconodon malensis (Artiodactyla, Suidae) discovered near Nwegwe Village, Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Division, central Myanmar. The well preserved maxillary and mandibular fragments of T. malensis, firstly recorded from the basal part of the Khabo Formation (Middle Miocene) provide new dental characteristics of this species: large P3 with salient buccal and lingual walls; longer and wider P3 relative to P4; extremely large P3 and P4 ; longer but not wider P3 relative to P4 ; minute M3 with indistinct talon; well developed buccal cingulum in upper molars. The additional dental characteristics of T. malensis elucidates the taxonomic status of this species among tetraconodont suids, suggesting that T. malensis may have originated in Myanmar and was derived from Conohyus sindiensis of Indian Subcontinent during the Early Miocene.