A History of Agriculture in India v1.c12.s3: Pleistocene Fauna
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c12.s3
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Pleistocene Fauna
v1.c12.s3.1
In the Boulder Conglomerate, the highest horizon of the Siwalik system and referable to the lower Pleistocene, the modern ox, camel and horse make their first appearance, whereas *Stegodon ganesa*, *Rhinoceros*, *Hippopotamas*, *Sivatherium*, *Hyaena* and *Felis* are the survivors from the previous faunas. *Bos acutifrons*, an extinct relative of the buffalo, lived in the Siwaliks of the Punjab during the Pleistocene. A fauna consisting of *Elephas antiquus* and *Equus namadicus*, with extinct species of *Rhinoceros*, *Hippopotamas*, *Cervus*, *Bos*, *Sus*, etc., has been found in the middle Pleistocene alluvium of the Narmada Valley.
v1.c12.s3.2
Bones of vertebrates of the middle Pleistocene age are sometimes found in the Godavari Valley. One of the species identified is the gigantic *Elephas antiquus* (*namadicus*) with thick and long tusks. The circumference of a tusk measured 75 centimetres at its proximal end. The animal must have been about five metres in height.
v1.c12.s3.3
From the upper drainage area of the Krishna, teeth of *Mastodon pandionis* have been found. Portions of the cranium and the mandible of *Rhinoceros deccanensis*, and the remains of an undetermined bovine have been obtained from the bank of the Ghataprabha near the town of Gokak in Karnataka.
v1.c12.s3.4
In the Narmada Valley between Hoshangabad and Narsinghpur, there are old river terraces rising some 36 metres above the stream. Mammalian bones were found from the base of the upper gravel and sand, equivalent to the Potwar silt, whereas pre-historic implements have been discovered abundantly in the layers of gravel. Fossils of the Quaternary fauna were discovered in two distinct beds. In the lower one, which also yielded pebble tools, was found a well-preserved 2.5-metre-long tusk of the *Elephas antiquus*. The upper bed contained the *Hippopotamas*, *Equus*, *Bos*, and *Bubalus*, along with late Acheulian tools made of jasper, chalcedony and fine-grained quartzite. Mammalian fossils include the following:
v1.c12.s3.5
*Ursus* (*Helarctos*) *namadicus* *Bubalus* (? *Buffelus*) *palaeindicus* (allied to the modern Indian buffalo) *Boselaphus namadicus* (related to the modern ‘blue bull’ or nilgai, *B. tragocamelus*), *Bos namadicus* (from the Siwaliks) *Cervus duvanceli* (allied to the modern *barasingha*) *Sus namadicus* *Hippopotamas palaeindicus* (belonging to a subgenus, now only found in Africa) *Hippopotamas namadicus* (probably from an earlier Siwalik ancestor) *Equus namadicus* (from the Siwaliks) *Rhinoceros unicornis* (a living species) *Elephas antiquus* (namadicus) (probably identical with the European *E. antiquus*) *Stegodon insignis* (Siwalik species) *Stegodon ganesa*.