More Than 5 to 8 Million Year Old Elephant Fossil Found (Download PDF)

More Than 5 to 8 Million Year Old Elephant Fossil Found

• Fossil of an elephant was found from the Siwalik sediments exposed in the Badshahi Bagh area of Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh).
• It is a fossil of Stegodon, a variety of the elephant which used to be found at an early age.
• The fossil is from the Dhok Pathan formation of Siwalik.
• The age of specimen is estimated to range from five to eight million years.

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Overview

• The fossil has been discovered by a joint team of forest officials and World Wide Fund for Nature.
• The presence of stegodons shows the existence of dense forests and lots of river channels in the area during that time.
• Other fossils which existed with stegodons’ were of-
  • Giraffe
  • Horses
  • Hippopotamus
• The fossil is of moderately preserved third lower molar with nine developed ridges on its surface.
• The length of the molar is around 24 cm.
• The enamel of the molar is very thick.
• The sandstone embedded on the fossil is
  • Medium grained
  • Salt and pepper in nature
• Middle Shivalik is characterized by this type of lithology.
• Earlier also, fossils of Stegodon had been discovered from other locations of Shivalik groups like-
  • Kala Amb, Himachal Pradesh
  • Saketi, Himachal Pradesh
  • Jammu foothills
  • Chandigarh
• The stegodons existence has also been traced in foothills of Nepal and Pakistan.
• Stegodons existed 11.6 million years ago.
• Until 4,100 years ago, there were unconfirmed records of their regional survival.
• Fossils are found in Asian and African strata dating from late Miocene.
• During the Pleistocene era, they lived across large parts of Asia and Central Africa.

- Published/Last Modified on: October 14, 2020

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