204 



FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALENSIS. 



General RemarJcs. — In a former communication to the So- 

 ciety (Geol. Trans. 2nd ser. vol. v. p. 603) the authors no- 

 ticed the remarkable mixture of extract and recent forms 

 which constituted the ancient fauna of Northern India. An 

 extinct testudinate form, Colossochelys Atlas, as enormous in 

 reference to other kuown Chelonians as the Saurians of the 

 lias and the oolite are to their existing analogues, is there 

 associated with one or more of the same species of crocodile 

 that now inhabit the rivers of India. The evidence respect- 

 ing one of these species of crocodile, resting as it does on 

 numerous remains of individuals of all ages, is considered bj 

 the authors as nearly conclusive of the identity of the fossil 

 with its recent analogue. These reptiles occui* together with 

 extinct species of such very modern types as the monkey, the 

 camel, the antelope, and (as has now been shown) the giraffe ; 

 and these are met by species o'f the extinct genera Siva- 

 therium and Anoplotherium. As regards the geograj)hical 

 distribution of the true Anoplotheria, those hitherto dis- 

 covered have been confined, as the authors beheve, to Europe ; 

 and as regards their geological distribution, to the older and 

 middle tertiaries. In India this genus continued down to 

 the period when existing Indian crocodiles and probably 

 some other recent forms had become inhabitants of that 

 region. 



It might be expected that in a deposit contauiing Anoplo- 

 therium, Palseotherian remains also would sooner or later be 

 discovered. However, among the very large collection of 

 fossil bones from the tertiary sub-Himalayan range, made by 

 the authors during ten years in that part of India, they have 

 never found a single fragment of a head or tooth which they 

 were able to refer to Palseotherium. This is merely a 

 negative result, and only proves the rarity of that form.' 



Although there occur among the Sewalik fossils abundant 

 remains of almost every large pachydermatous genus, such 

 as the elephant, mastodon, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, sus, 



' Mr. M'Clelland, in his paper on 

 Hexaprotodon (Journ. Asiatic Society of 

 Bengal, vol. vii. p. 1046) casually men- 

 tions a species of Palseotherium as oc- 

 curring among the Sewalik fossils. But 

 he does not describe or figure the speci- 

 men. Messrs. Baker and Durand in 

 their remarks appended to their cata- 

 logue of the Dadoopoor collection {Idem, 

 vol. V. p. 8.36), mention four specimens 

 containing teeth of the upper and lower 

 jaws belonging to what they provi- 

 sionally designate ' Cuvierian genera : ' 

 in regard to one of which, having the 



upper and lower jaws in contact, they 

 state that, ' although it affords some 

 analogies both to the Palseotherium 

 and Anoplotherium, its essential pecu- 

 liarities are sufficiently remarkable to 

 cause it to be separated from either 

 genus.' Till these specimens are either 

 figured or described, the point must 

 remain undecided in regard to Palaeo- 

 therium being represented in the Sewa- 

 lik fauna. [These specimens are de- 

 scribed in the subsequent paper on 

 ' Chalicothcrium.' — Ed.] 



