TIlASsiACTIONS OF SECTION C 



695 



rrscES. 



Jiaffariux, 1. 



'Sow, until wiiliiii llio last few yoars, this ruuim was classod ns Miopono by 

 Kiii'opi'au i)aliooiitol()j,'i.-<t.s ii.siiiili('sittilini.'ly ivs tlio PilviTini i'liuim still in, and in tlia 

 aiiijuritv of Eiiro]H'an (,'eoloijical works, (li'.-<Iiit(> tins uniuiinidus oiunioii of all th« 

 cooloi^ists will) avo acqiiaintfd willi tlu' .snb-IIiiiialiiyau h'<U, tho .Siwalili fauna id 

 ..till called jNIiocenc. 'J'lio f."'iilo^n>l.H of tlio Indian Survey, liowever, class the 

 I'ossilifi'roiis Siwaliks ns Pliocene, on both ^reolop^'t^'il ""d l)i()Ioi.'ical grounds. With 

 regai'il Id the latttT not only does the fauna comprise a hu-jxe number of existing,' 

 I'enera of mammals, .such as ]\/(i('(iciis, Scmniqntkvnin, (frsi/.i, l-'lepliui (Juic/rp/ias), 

 HquHf, IlippopottunuK, Qniirlupdrda/is, Jio.i, J/t/sfn'.r, Mux, and esjiei-ially Mvlli- 

 rura. Mch't^, Vapra, Oli,-:, Vauulufi, and llhizonij/.t, but three out of six or seven 

 cliarly determiued species of reptiles, viz. — Cntri,(/iliis pa/it-ifri-^, (Htdriidistjiniyvticus, 

 mil '(til i/!^h lira f.ccfinu — are living' forms now inhabiting Northern India, wiiiLst, all 

 the known land and' fresh-water mollusea, with one possible exception, are recent 

 species. 



These (bita, liowever, although very Important an<l very cDgClit* lidong'to a 

 class of facts that have led, I believe, in other cases to erroueou.s conclusions. The 

 ypdlogical evidence is far more satisfactory, and it is not lialdo to tho .same 

 objection. 



Tho whole Siwalik fauna, as given above, has been obtained fnnn the upper 

 bi'dsof a great .sequence or sy.steni. IJeneath the fossiliferous strata at tiio ba.se of 

 the North- West Himalaya there is an immense thiclcness, amounting in places to 

 many thousands of feet, of sandstones, clays, and other beds, from none of which 

 recognisable fossils have been ])roeured. 'J'he first beds of known age that are 

 met with below the niammaliferous Siwaliks are marine rocks belonging to the 

 Eocene system. 



l?ut as wo pass from the Himalayas to tho south-west, along tho western 

 frontier of India in the Punjab, and onwards to the south in Sind, the .same Siwahic 

 system can be traced almost without interruption, and in the last-named country 

 tlie lower unfos.siliferous strata become intercalated with fossiliferous beds. In Sind 

 the upper Siwaliks no longer yield any vertebrate remains that can be identilled, but 

 far below the horizon of the Siwalik fauna a few bones have been found, and tho 

 following mammals have been identified : — ' 



Carnivor.V. — Amphicyon pnlcrindi('H'<. 



Proboscidea. — Mastodon latidcns, M. perimenitk, M. falconeri, M, pandionia, 

 M. angustidens, Dinotherium indiciun, 1). sindien.se, I), penfepof.amue. 



Ungulata. — Ithinoceros sivah'usin, rnr, iufennediux, Acerotherium perimense, 

 A, blanfordi, Sus hysudricus, HyotJwrium sindiense, Anthracotherium 

 silistrense, A. hyopotamoides, Ilyopotumus pnlfpindicus, Jf. ijiyanteus, Ilemi- 

 meryx blanfordi, Sivameryx sindiensis, Ayriovhvcrus sp., Dorcatherium majus, 

 I), minus. 



Edentata. — Manis (?) sindie7{si,s; 



Although about one-third of the species above named have been found also in 

 the upper Siwalik beds of the Punjab, it is unnecessary to point out in detail why 

 the lower Siwalik fauna is clearly by far the older of the two. The absence of 

 such living genera as Elcphas, lias, 1-^quus, Sec, and the presence of so many 

 typically INIiddle Tertiary forms, such as Dinotherium, Anthracotherium, and 

 Hyopotamus, shows a great change. The mollusea tell the same tale. All the 

 forms known from the upper Siwalik.s, 'with one exception, are recent .species of 

 land and fresh-water shells now living in the area. Of seven fresh-water 

 mollusea - found a.ssociated with the lower Siwaliks none appears to bo identical 

 with any living species, and only two are allied, one closely, the other mora 

 remotely, to forms now met with-in Burma 30° of '^ngitude further east. 



' Pal. Ind. ser. r. ; Bee. Gvol. Siirr. ^„.... 1883. pp. 82, &c, 

 * Mem. Geol. Surr. Ind. vol. xx. pt. 2, p. 129. 



