Preliminary report on vertebrate fossils from Cistern and Swamp Caves at Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

Many mammalian fossil teeth and bone fragments have been recovered from remnants of calcite cemented sediments attached to the walls and floors of two small caves, named as Cistern Cave and Swamp Cave, at the foot of Bukit Batu, Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur. Most of the material are disarticulated and found in isolated groups within the sediments. No complete skeletons have been found. They appeared to have been washed in by streams after disarticulation by decay or scattered by scavengers. Their presence in middens of prehistoric humans is a further possibility but this is still in question as no associated charring or distinct tool marks have been found on them. The material found to date includes: common wild pig (Sus scrofa), bearded pig (Sus barbatus), bear (Ursidae- gen. et sp. indet.), macaque (Macaca sp.), Primates (non-human hominoid), tiger (Panthera tigris), southern serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), red muntjac/barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), Asian tapir (Tapirus indicus), rhinoceros (gen. et sp. indet.) and bat teeth. Comparative studies with equivalent cave fossil fauna across South-east Asia will be carried out to interpret the paleoenvironment and paleoclimatic changes by studying the vertebrate fossils in different levels of cave deposits from the area.