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1. Early Evidences of family Cervidae
from the Siwaliks of Pakisatn
PRESENTED BY,
Dr. ABDUL GHAFFAR, Meteorology Department
CIIT, Islamabad
2. Abstract
The early history of family Cervidae is obscure and very
little known. Although they have been described from
Asia, mainly from the Upper Siwaliks but their record is
fragmentary and scanty especially during the
Early/Middle Pliocene of Siwalik continental deposits of
Indo-Pakistan. The present paper is an effort to describe
this rare fauna from the Early/Middle Pliocene and to
evaluate the Cervinae material collected from the Siwalik
continental deposits hitherto.
Key Words: Early history, Cervinae, Pliocene, Upper
Siwaliks, Asia
3. Family Cervidae
Family Cervidae is poorly known and even contradicted in the fossil
forms or extinct forms with bovid and giraffid fauna
In extant forms it is represented by seventeen genera and 44 species
These are characterized by the presence of antlers and prominent
lachrymal depressions anterior to the eyes
From the Siwaliks only 6-8 species have been described so far
These are mainly described from the Upper Siwaliks
From the different parts of the World, fossil record of cervoid is
known from Oligocene - Recent
4. Historical Review
Earlier studies of the Siwalik cervids based on dentition and antlers
have recognized 6-8 species. There are 6-8 species in South Asia (Indo-
Pak subcontinent). These cervids also show the similar diversity in the
fossil record.
These fossils are known from the Siwaliks of Kohat-Potwar basin and
the adjoining basins of Jammu-Kashmir and the Indian Punjab.
Cervids appeared in Oligocene with small size and without antlers
Eumeryx and Iberomeryx appeared in the Middle Oligocene sediments
of Central Asia from where they dispersed to Europe and North
America, most probably, in the early Miocene (Savage and Russel,
1983).
Siwalik cervids have been studied by Lydekker (1876, 1880, 1884);
Pilgrim, 1910; Brown (1926); Matthew, 1929; Colbert 1935; Azzaroli
(1954); Arif, Shah and Vos 1991; Arif et al., (1991); Akhtar, (1998);
Akhtar et al., (1999); Ghaffar, 2005 and Ghaffar et al., 2004, 2010, 2011.
5. Family Cervidae
Family Cervidae is poorly known and even disputed in the fossil forms
or extinct forms because of lack of fossilized skulls with antlers as the
earlier studies were based on isolated teeth only and the taxic work
based on isolated dentitions is not 100% reliable.
They appeared in the Siwalik sequence of Indo - Pakistan during Plio -
Pleistocene times
The number of species, taxonomy as well as the stratigraphic range of
these species from the Siwaliks have been considered as exaggerated
The main focus of this paper is to describe the new fossil remains
from Early Pliocene (Middle Siwaliks) as the earlier studies are
restricted to Upper Pliocene - Pleistocene (Upper Siwaliks)
The fossils described here present the older stratigraphic range (5.3-
1.8Ma) contrary to previous workers (3.5-1.8Ma)
6. Systematic Paleontology
Order Artiodactyla Owen, 1848
Family Cervidae Goldfuss, 1820
Subfamily Cervinae Goldfuss, 1820
Tribe Cervini Webber, 1928
Genera
Rucervus Hodgson, 1838
Cervus Linnaeus, 1758
Axis Smith and Pedgeon, 1827
8. Diagnostic Features
Cervid taxa are differentiated from bovids and giraffids as
Folded enamel in the upper molars
Less developed styles
Less developed median ribs
Less rugosity
All the above observation are applied if there are the isolated
teeth or only the teeth are available but if there are the skulls
with antlers than the taxonomic details are much more easier
The available fossil record from the Siwaliks consists of only
fragments of maxillae, mandibles, isolated teeth and fragments of
antlers not the skulls so far
9. Diagnostic Features
Different cervid species are differentiated from each other
In R. simplicidens molar crowns are square, entostyle is
weak and the teeth are brachydont while in C. triplidens
and C. sivalensis teeth are hypsodont. Moreover the basal
cingulum is absent , the median valley is deep and the
enamel is slightly rugose in R. simplicidens. C. triplidens
is characterized by hypsodont teeth with slight traces of
cingulum, strong internal column while in C. sivalensis
basal cingulum is well developed. C. rewati is
characterized by brachydont teeth and small size as
compare to C. sivalensis. While the presence of strong
ectostylid and pronounced anterior folds differentiate C.
reawti from A. punjabiensis. Similarly in C. sivalensis
basal cingulum is well developed and the median valley is
deep with strong ectostylid. The major diagnostic features
of A. punjabiensis is that it has no entostyle and the
median valley is not much deep as is the case with other
different Cervus species.
10. Materials studied
PUPC no. and
Dental position
Place of collection Assigned to
83/104, rm1-2 Hasnot R. sipmlicidens
84/115, lM2-3 Dhok Pathan R . sipmlicidens
85/97, lm2-3 Hasnot R . sipmlicidens
69/146, lm1-3 Dhok Gaal C. triplidens
2003/34,(l&r M1-3) Dhok Pathan C. triplidens
83/286, lm2-3 Dhok Pathan C. sivalensis
84/119, lm2-3 Dhok Pathan C. sivalensis
2002/6, lp2-4 Dhok Pathan A. punjabiensis
83/105,rm2-3 Hasnot C. rewati
85/96,rp4-m1 Hasnot C. rewati
13. References
Akhtar, M., 1998. Cervus triplidens Lydekker from type
locality Dhok Pathan, Chakwal district, Punjab, Pakistan.
Punjab Univ. J. Zool., 13: 27-31.
Akhtar, M., Ghaffar, A. and Qureshi, M.A., 1999. On
Cervus punjabiensis Brown from the Siwalik Hills of
Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Punjab Univ. J. Zool., 14:
93-96.
Arif, M., Shah, S. M. I., and Vos, J. D. 1991b. Cervus
triplidens (Mammalia, Cervidae) from the Upper Siwaliks
of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoirs, 17,
pt.11.
Arif, M., Shah, S.M.I. and De, Vos, J., 1991.
Cervus rewati sp. Nov. (Mammalia, Cervidae) from
the Upper Siwaliks of Pakistan. Geological Survey of
Pakistan memoirs, 17: pt. 11.
Azzaroli, A., 1954. Critical observations upon Siwalik
deer. Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of London,
165, 75-87.
Brown, B. 1926. A new deer from the Siwalik. American
Mus. Novitates, 242: 6p.
14. Cont.
Colbert, E.H., 1935. Siwalik Mammals in the American
Museum of Natural History. Transactions of the
American Philosophical Society, New Series, 26, 1-401.
Ghaffar, A., 2005. Studies on equids, cervids and
Carnivora from the Siwalik Hills of Pakistan. PhD
thesis (unpublished), University of the Punjab, Lahore,
Pakistan, pp.1-379.
Ghaffar, A., Akhtar, M., Khan, M.A., and Nazir, M.,
2004. Report on Cervus sivalensis from the Upper
Siwaliks of Pakistan. Punjab Univ. J. Zool., 19: 83-88.
Ghaffar, A., Akhtar, M. and Khan, M. A. 2010. Early
Pliocene cervids (Artiodactyla- Mammalia) from the
Siwaliks of Pakistan. Journal of Earth sciences, Turkey,
Yerbilimleri, 31(3): 217-231.
Ghaffar, A., Akhtar, M., Khan, M.A., Samiullah, K. and
Khan, A. M.; Cervus rewati (Cervidae) from Dhok Pathan
Formation (Middle Siwaliks), Pakistan. Austrian Journal
of Earth Sciences, 104/1(In press).
15. Cont.
Lydekker, R., 1876. Molar teeth and other remains of
Mammalia from the Indian Tertiaries. Paleontologica
Indica, 16 (1), 2-19.
Lydekker, R., 1880. “Preface” to volume 1 of
Paleontologica Indica. Paleontologica Indica (X), 1, pp.
vii-xix.
Lydekker, R., 1884. Rodents and New Ruminants from
the Siwalik and synopsis of Mammalia. Paleontologica
Indica, 10 (3), 1-5.
Matthew, W.D., 1929. Critical observations upon Siwalik
Mammals. Bulletin American Museum of Natural History,
56, 437-560.
Pilgrim, G. E., 1910. Notices of new Mammalian genera
and species from the Tertieries of India-Calcutta.
Records of Geological Survey of India, 40, 63-71
Savage, D. E. and Russell, D.E., 1983. Mammalian
paleofaunas of the World, London: Addison-Wesley.
432pp.
