Search

Present research was conducted to assess the anthropogenic impacts on wild mammalian diversity around river Chenab in Sialkot, Gujrat and Gujranwala districts, Punjab, Pakistan. The mammalian diversity was recorded from May, 2013 through April, 2014 along forested landscapes, cultivated plantations, semi-urban and urban areas. The data on diversity and distribution of various mammalian species of the study area were collected through linear count method viz., direct observation (personal count and record voices) and indirect observation (presences of carcasses, fecal pellets, pug marks and meeting with local communities). The habitat preferences of large, medium and small mammals varied significantly. A decrease in mammalian diversity was observed from forest habitat to urban landscapes. Indian wild boar, Asiatic jackal, Indian fox, jungle cat, Indian pangolin and long-eared desert hedgehog preferred forested areas as well as slightly modified habitats while northern palm squirrel, house mouse, house shrew and rat species preferred human habitations. Similarly, a few species like small Indian mongoose, soft-furred field rat, short tailed mole rat, Asiatic jackal and Indian gerbil preferred cultivated areas. It can be concluded from present study that many of the mammalian species area habitat specific and corridors and connections among different landscapes are important for the conservation of mammalian diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population estimation survey of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus G. (Baron) Cuvier, 1823) was conducted in Kaghan and Siran Valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. The different surveys (questionnaire, sighting, and sign survey) were conducted in all sites of the forests from June to November 2018. Thirteen different types of signs were observed during the field survey. Potential site selection was based on sign observation (Encounter Rate; ER). Four black bears were observed from three different spots. Two mature male bears were seen in Kaghan Valley (Kamal Bann and Malakandi Reserve Forest) and a mother with a single cub was observed in Siran Valley during dusk. Population estimation was carried out by transect method, with 18 transects were in Kaghan and 15 transects in Siran Valley. A total of 1858 signs were recorded during the field survey; among these 1213 dig marks, 186 plants uprooting and two setting places. An average of 49.95 signs/km2 was recorded; this is a very high encounter rate. According to BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Science and Nature, the home range size of Asiatic black bears is 10 to 20 km2, so we concluded that more than 24 black bear were present in both valleys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The middle Miocene rocks of the Chinji Formation, Siwaliks Hills, Pakistan are well known for their rich and diverse vertebrate fossil assemblages. Here new suid fossil remains of the extinct species Hyotherium pilgrimi described. The known stratigraphic range of Hyotherium is about 14 to 11 million years. This species is closer to its smaller European relative H. soemmeringi. The studied material includes isolated premolars and molars. This paper provides new insights of morphology of an extinct species of the suid, Hyotherium pilgrimi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is the first ever report on occurrence of enamel hypoplasia in extinct tragulids. The dental defect, enamel hypoplasia is caused by suppressed function of enamel forming cells called ameloblasts. It is used as a reliable stress marker in different extinct mammalian taxa to trace out the level of ecological stress faced by these animals during their life histories. We have studied this defect in three extinct Siwalik tragulid species including; Dorcabune anthracotherioides, Dorcatherium majus and Dorcatherium minus. To assess habitat stability for the Neogene tragulids, dental remains from the middle Miocene-early Pliocene, ca. 13.5-4.0 Ma outcrops of the Siwalik of Pakistan were analyzed for the occurrence of linear enamel hypoplasia. According to our results there was a lower occurrence of enamel hypoplasia (13%) in the tragulid fossils from the middle Miocene outcrops (13.5-11.2 Ma) as compared to the late Miocene to the early Pliocene (11.2-4.0 Ma) tragulid remains (48%) which is statistically significant (p<0.05). The middle Miocene in the Siwaliks is hypothesized to have had warm and humid climatic conditions with dominance of dense forests whereas in the late Miocene to the early Pliocene there was a shift in the ecological conditions, with grasslands expanding at the expense of forests and woodlands and the climate gradually becoming less warm and humid. The current enamel hypoplasia results indicate that warm and humid dense forests were the preferred habitats for extinct tragulids present during the middle Miocene in the Siwaliks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New dental remains discovered from three different localities of the Upper Siwaliks of northern Pakistan are described in this paper. The fossil localities for the present collection include the fluvial sediments exposed near the Tatrot village (district Jhelum), Pabbi Hills near the Sardhok village (district Gujrat), and Jari Kas (district Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan). Stratigraphically the fossil locality in the vicinity of Tatrot village belongs to the Tatrot Stage (~3.5-~2.58 Ma) of the Soan Formation, whereas the Sardhok and the Jari Kas belong to the Pinjor Stage (~2.58-~0.9 Ma) of the same Formation. The studied specimens are determinated as Rhinoceros sp. and Rhinoceros aff. R. sondaicus. The fossils of Rhinocero sp. are previously known from the Upper Siwaliks of Pakistan and India. However there is no previous record of Rhinoceros aff. R. sondaicus in the Upper Siwaliks of Pakistan. The fossil remains of Rhinoceros aff. R. sondaicus are reported for the first time from the Pinjor stage of the Soan Formation in Pakistan, hence increasing the geographic range of this taxon into Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giraffa fossils constitute rare findings in the Dhok Pathan Formation of the Middle Siwaliks. The described remains comprise two maxillar fragments of Giraffa punjabiensis. This paper deals with the study of the upper dentition of G. punjabiensis, recovered from the Padhri outcrops of the Pakistani Middle Siwaliks (Late Miocene). The giraffid suggests a woodland habitat with swamps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giraffokeryx is represented in the middle Miocene vertebrate assemblage from the Chni|i Formation by 13 remains. The material comprises predominantly isolated teeth, and a few fragments of maxilla and mandible. The well preserved upper and lower dentition allows recognizing the presence of Giraffokeryx cf. punjabiensis in the Chinji Formation of the Lower Siwaliks. A detailed description of the fossils and their taxonomic classification is being provided. The validity of the new species Giraffokeryx chmjiensis Sarwar. 1990 is discussed and the synonymy with Giraffa priscilla is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the systematic implications of the Chilotherium intermedium from the Siwaliks of Pakistan. The researchers observed available material of Chilotherium from the Nagri and the Chinji formations, which comprise a part of the left and right mandibular ramii with p2-m3 and the right maxilla with P3-M3. They likened Subchilotherium with Chilotherium and considered Chilotherium as a valid taxon for the Siwalik chilotheres. They found that the record of C. intermedium in Pakistan lasted from the Middle Miocene until the Late Miocene, which agreed with the past concepts.

The article discusses a study of some new vertebrate fossil material from the discovered locality of the village Lava in Rawalpindi, Northern Pakistan collected in 2007-2009. It also described the mammalian assemblage originating from this locality. The faunal association that were discovered in the fossil locality consists of rhinocerotids Gaindatherium browni and Brachypotherium fatehjangense, suid Listriodon pentapotamiae, a caprine Kubanotragus sp., a bovid Helicoportax cf. tragelaphoides, a tragulid Dorcatherium, a giraffid Giraffokeryx punjabiensis and a proboscidean Deinotherium cf. pentapotamiae. The asemblage indicates that the fossil locality is middle Miocene in age.