An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c20.s1.t3.32

v1.c20.s1.t3.32

The mammals which were shared by the contemporary fauna of Europe were the sabre-toothed cats, hyenas, wolves, rhinoceroses, horses of the genus *Equus*, various deer, antelopes and hippopotamuses. To migratory routes lay e. and w. of the Himalayas (Pilgrim, 1925) and most of the larger animals migrated from Egypt, Arabia, e. Asia and n. America through passes across Alaska, Siberia and Mongolia. Hippopotamuses and elephants had their early origin in c. Africa from where they radiated out and entered India during the tertiary period through Arabia and Iran. The rhinoceros, horse and camel, all originating in n. America, evolved in some countries of C. and W. Asia before they migrated to India. The elephant and horse have been a world traveller and peopled almost every country of the world except Australia.