Fig. 14From: Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part III: tales from the cradle of the Ponto-Caspian gobiesPaleogeographic event chart of the Paratethys and adjacent seas during the Middle Miocene based on Rögl (1999) and Popov et al. (2004), and development of the gobiid faunal composition, primarily based on otoliths, in the Mediterranean (light blue) and Paratethyan (dark blue) paleobioprovinces. Light green denotes a putative Indian Ocean paleobioprovince (no otoliths known from this time interval); dark pink represents evaporitic sedimentation in secluded basins of the Central Paratethys during middle Badenian (Karaganian equivalent). Alternative sea connections during Konkian and early Sarmatian are annotated with a ‘?’ and are briefly discussed in the textBack to article page