The Indus Civilization (Cambridge History of India, Supplementary Volume) c16.6

c16.6

That the cat, useful in all societies for preserving grain from rodents, was known in Harappan times is proved by a brick from Chanhu-daro bearing the footprint of a cat slightly overlapped by those of a dog. "The two tracks on the brick must have been impressed when it was freshly laid out to dry in the sun. The one with the mark of the posterior lobe tripartite on the hind margin of the main lobe evenly outlined is that of a dog.... The deep impress of the pads and their spread indicate the speed of both animals."² Other animals are represented only by terra-cotta figurines or lifelike representations on seals. From these we can infer that, in addition to the great humped cattle, there was a short-horned humpless species; and it may be added that in one form or another there is evidence also for monkeys, hares, doves, parrots and other birds,³ and many major wild animals such as Indian bison, rhinoceros, tiger, bear, sambhar, spotted deer, and hog-deer, some of which have vanished from the Indus. As a whole, the fauna is a varied one and implies in part the proximity of jungle or marsh such as no longer varies this arid region.⁴