Gastroliths (stomach stones) are known from many extant and extinct vertebrates, including dinosaurs. Reported here is the first unambiguous record of gastroliths in an ornithopod dinosaur. Clusters of small stones found in the abdominal region of three articulated skeletons of Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis were identified as gastroliths on the basis of taphonomic and sedimentologic evidence. The large number of stones found in each individual, their size, and the fact that Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis was herbivorous, all suggest that they were ingested as a result of lithophagy rather than accidental swallowing.
Didelphimorph marsupials were widely distributed in Asia during the Cenozoic, but their occurrence in the Indian subcontinent has not so far been demonstrated. Here, we describe a new herpetotheriid marsupial Asiadidelphis akbarbugtiisp. nov. from the early Oligocene Bugti Member of the Chitarwata Formation, Bugti Hills, Pakistan. The discovery of the herpetotheriids in the Oligocene of Pakistan represents the most southern occurrence of the family, which was thought to have occurred only to the north of the Alpine−Himalayan Suture. Our data suggest that episodic faunal exchanges occurred between the Asian mainland and the Indian subcontinent during the late Paleogene, and that the southern Asian faunas were not as completely isolated by the Himalayan chain as formerly believed.