. Bonner zoologische Beiträge : Herausgeber: Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Biology; Zoology. African and Asian Tatera 285. Fig. 16: Approximate geographical range of the genus Tatera (after Ellerman, 1941). Scale = 2000 km. It is here proposed that Tatera originated in Africa sometime during the Early Pliocene. It is known from the fossil record of the Middle Pliocene of East Africa, having been recovered, according to Wesselman (1984) from two sites in Tanzania, Laetolil ( million years b. p.) and Olduvai (Beds 1 & 2) and from Omo in Ethiopia (
. Bonner zoologische Beiträge : Herausgeber: Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Biology; Zoology. African and Asian Tatera 285. Fig. 16: Approximate geographical range of the genus Tatera (after Ellerman, 1941). Scale = 2000 km. It is here proposed that Tatera originated in Africa sometime during the Early Pliocene. It is known from the fossil record of the Middle Pliocene of East Africa, having been recovered, according to Wesselman (1984) from two sites in Tanzania, Laetolil ( million years b. p.) and Olduvai (Beds 1 & 2) and from Omo in Ethiopia ( — m. y. b. p.). By the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene the genus was evidently widespread within the continent, with specimens found not only in East but also in South Africa, (Lavocat, 1957; De Graaf, 1960; Davis, 1962). There is no well substantiated evidence of fossil Tatera in Asia. The greater diversity of Tatera and Tatera like gerbils in Africa also points to an African origin of the animal. For, whilst the genus is monospecific in Asia there are at least nine extant African species. Additionally, there are two genera, Taterillus and Gerbillurus, which are considered by Chaline, Mein & Petter (1977), Pavlinov (1982) and Qumsiyeh (1986) to be close phylogenetically to Tatera and which have never been found outside Africa. Both Taterillus and Gerbillurus have relatively broad geographical ranges, are polyspecific and in the case of Gerbillurus at least, are known to date from the Pliocene, (Jaeger, 1979). In contrast, in Asia there are no genera which have close affinities to Tatera. It is not known when Tatera first appeared in Asia. However, the fact that T. indica is a distinct, polytypic species suggests that the dispersal and subsequent isolation is not a recent phenomenon. This view is supported by two characters. First, the vast majority of T. indica have the apparently derived character of the inflated superior, posterior mastoid chamber of the tympanic
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