Bio-events and diversity of the Late Miocene-Pliocene mammal faunas of Russia and adjacent areas

The main dispersal events and changes in biodiversity of the mammalian faunas of Eurasia in the Late Miocene and Pliocene are analyzed based on data from the territory of the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia. New evidence provides a better understanding of the dispersal pattern of some dominant groups of mammals and the influence of these events on the evolution and changes in the biodiversity. There were at least four major dispersal waves of large mammals. The first Late Miocene dispersal wave from Northern America at about 10 Ma brought in Eurasia the first hipparionine horses together with odocoileine cervids. In the middle of the Turolian, the first Canidae came into Eurasia. The Eucyon dogs and camelid Paracamelus invaded Eurasia during the Messinian crisis. The horses of the genus Equus and first elks came from America at the end of the Early Pliocene. The main peaks of diversity of carnivores and dominant ungulate groups coincided in time, being within the MN 13 and MN 16 interval when essential changes of environment and climate occurred.