Fishes from the Baynunah Formation

Abstract

At least ten different fish species were present in the Baynunah River during the late Miocene: one Bagrus, two (possibly three) Clarias, three cyprinids including one Labeobarbus and one probable Capoeta, at least one African cichlid fish, an indeterminate percomorph, a pristid sawfish and a dasyatid stingray. The available material is described in detail, with taxonomic attributions made as precisely as possible within a phylogenetic framework, and used to evaluate species diversity and reconstruct the probable ecology of the fishes and their aquatic environment. The paleobiogeographical implications of the presence on the Arabian plate of each taxon are discussed. A model is proposed to explain the various geographical affinities existing in the Baynunah Formation during the late Miocene and the Neogene evolution of the Arabian ichthyofauna. The Baynunah Formation appears to document the Neogene transition of the Arabian Peninsula from an African, more precisely an Afro-Arabian, biogeographic zone to a Eurasian one. This is consistent with and further supports the previous model proposed for the late Miocene Baynunah hydrographical system.