New proboscidean material from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan with remarks on some species

Abstract

Over the years a diverse assemblage of proboscidean remains has been recovered from the Lower to Upper Siwalik Subgroups of Pakistan and India. This article reports newly discovered dental material of tri- and tetralophodont proboscideans that includes cf. Paratetralophodon hasnotensis and Choerolophodon sp., and a Gomphothere gen. et sp. indet., recently collected from late middle to late Miocene localities of the Pakistani Siwalik Group, with a brief history of these species. The partial premolar of cf. Pa. hasnotensis is described for the first time from the Siwalik Group, recovered from the Dhok Pathan Formation, and the specimens reported herein are the latest to be described after a 38-year gap from previously described material for this species. A preliminary survey of the literature and previously described material of Siwalik species suggests a revision of Siwalik Group proboscideans is much needed.