First fossil of Varanus Merrem, 1820 (Squamata: Varanidae) from the Miocene Siwaliks of Pakistan

In the ‘50s of the XX century, a German expedition lead by Richard Dehm collected a large amount of fossil remains from northern Pakistan. Among these was an isolated trunk vertebra of a lizard, which is here referred to Varanus sp. The collecting site of this specimen is not precisely known, but it most likely comes from middle to early late Miocene Siwalik sediments of the Chinji Formation. This is the first published record of a fossil lizard from the Neogene of Pakistan and adds to the very patchy record of Varanus Merrem, 1820 in Asia. It further supports previous reconstructions of a warm climate for the middle to early late Miocene of the Siwaliks.