NEW FOSSILS OF SIVATHERIUM GIGANTEUM (GIRAFFIDAE, MAMMALIA) FROM THE UPPER SIWALIKS OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Abstract

Fossil material of Sivatherium giganteum is reported here from the Upper Siwaliks of the Indian Subcontinent. The paper restricts itself only to the systematic description of this fossil material. The material consists of a half right maxillary second molar and a left mandibular fragment with partial M2 and M3 of Sivatherium giganteum collected from the Tatrot Formation of the Upper Siwaliks exposed north of Gobindpur village near Naraingarh Town (Haryana), northwest India. These specimens were found associated with several Pliocene mammalian taxa, which include Stegodon insignis, Hexaprotodon sivalensis, Leptobos falconeri, and yet to be identified Bovini. The mammalian faunal assemblage suggests an Early Pliocene age for the Tatrot deposits of Upper Siwaliks in the area.The present discovery is significant in the sense that records of Sivatherium giganteum are very rare in the Indian Subcontinent. Moreover, it is for the first time that Sivatherium giganteum is being described from the Upper Siwaliks of the study area.