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Siwalik is a highland region between the Mahabharat and Chure mountain ranges in Nepal. The classical work on its stratigraphy and vertebrate fauna was started by 19th century British researchers, with American researchers making significant contributions to Siwalik mammalian biostratigraphy in the 20th century. Though excellent collections were made in the 19th century, there was little emphasis at the time on in situ collections, and precise stratigraphic locations of several key specimens are still not known. Various faunal lists were published in the 1930s which remain in use today, but are in dire need of revision.
In this book, an attempt is made to fill some of these thematic gaps and recent advancements made in the Siwalik fossiliferous areas of the Indian subcontinent are discussed. Recent faunal findings in equivalent fossiliferous beds of Myanmar are also mentioned. Palaeoenvironmental, palaeoeological and palaeoclimatic inputs associated with the Siwalik mammalian faunas are discussed. The Recent (or late Quaternary) mammalian fauna of India probably has its origin within the Siwalik faunas, and an attempt has been made to find out the related elements in the Siwalik faunas. The relationships of the Pinjor Fauna (the youngest fauna of the Siwalik Group) with the younger and Recent mammalian faunas from the Indian subcontinent have been worked out. Generations of Siwalik vertebrates were witness to the gradual uplift of the Himalayan range. The link between the Lower and Middle Siwalik faunas with respect to correlated groups in Europe, Africa and Turkey are discussed to know the impact of this uplift. Standard reference sections of the Siwalik Group are proposed for India, as rnost of the type areas of the Siwalik Group are in the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. The systematic palaeontology of the Upper and Middle Siwalik mammalian fossils, collected by author, is provided.
