Badenian and Sarmatian s.str. from the Carpathian area: Overview and ongoing research on Hungarian and Romanian small vertebrate evolution

The fossil record from the Carpathian area plays a key role for the understanding of the processes leading to the faunal interchanges between western Europe and Asia Minor during the late part of the Middle Miocene. Important mammal successions are now available from the Central Paratethys, especially Hungary and Romania. Here, we present the current state-of-the-art of the ongoing research concerning these faunas, especially small mammals and herpetofauna. We underscore the relevance of the Middle to earliest Late Miocene fossil record from these countries for chrono(bio)stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental studies at the Eurasian scale.