Abstract
Discovery of upper premolar dentitions of Deperetella birmanica (Mammalia : Perissodactyla : Deperetellidae) from the Eocene Pondaung Formation, central Myanmar (=Burma) throws a new light on previously confused species-and genus-level systematics of Deperetella and its related genus Diplolophodon. Clarification of the relationship among the Deperetella species is particularly important for correlation of Eocene mammal faunas in Asia. The newly discovered material show the characteristics of the previously unknown upper premolar dentition of D. birmanica, demonstrating that Deperetella similis (the type species of the genus Diplolophodon) from China is a junior synonym of Deperetella birmanica and that D. birmanica is clearly distinguishable from all other species of Deperetella. The genus Diplolophodon, to which D. birmanica has often been allocated, is regarded conventionally as a junior synonym of Deperetella because this genus is not sufficiently distinct from Deperetella to warrant generic separation. The presence of D. birmanica and its comparable species in several Eocene deposits of Myanmar, China and Mongolia suggests that these deposits are roughly contemporaneous.
