Paraceratherium is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotoids belonging to the family Paraceratheriidae. It is one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed and lived from the early to late Oligocene epoch. The first fossils were discovered in what is now Pakistan, and remains have been found across Eurasia between China and the Balkans. Paraceratherium means "near the hornless beast", in reference to Aceratherium, the genus in which the type species P. bugtiense was originally placed.
The Chitarwata Formation is a geological formation in western Pakistan, made up of Oligocene and early Miocene terrestrial fluvial facies. The sediments were deposited in coastal depositional environments when Pakistan was partly covered by the Tethys Ocean.
Dera Bugti is a district within the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It was established as a separate district in 1983.
The Chief Commissioner's Province of British Baluchistan was a province of British India established in 1876. Upon the creation of Pakistan it acceded to the newly formed state. It was part of the Baluchistan Agency. It was dissolved to form a united province of West Pakistan in 1955 upon the creation of One Unit Scheme.
Diatomyidae is a family of hystricomorph rodents. It is represented by a single living species, Laonastes aenigmamus, native to Laos in Southeast Asia. Fossil species are known from the Oligocene and Miocene of Asia and eastern Europe.
Metamynodon is an extinct genus of amynodont that lived in North America and Asia from the late Eocene until early Oligocene, although the questionable inclusion of M. mckinneyi could extend their range to the Middle Eocene. The various species were large, displaying a suit of semiaquatic adaptations more similar to those of the modern hippopotamus, despite their closer affinities with rhinoceroses.
Hemimastodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean from the Late Miocene deposits of the Dera Bugti Beds in Pakistan.
Sir Clive Forster-Cooper, FRS was an English palaeontologist and director of the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology and Natural History Museum in London. He was the first to describe Paraceratherium, also commonly known as Indricotherium or Baluchitherium, the largest known land mammal.
Marri-Bugti Country was a tribal region during the period of British colonial rule in Baluchistan. Marris and Bugtis are the strongest Baloch tribes in the Balochistan. The Marris occupied 8,460 square kilometres (3,268 sq mi) in the north, while the Bugtis occupied 10,000 square kilometres (3,861 sq mi) in the south. Today, the region is divided into three districts: Kohlu, Dera Bugti and Sibi.
Paraentelodon is an extinct entelodont from the Late Oligocene and Oligocene-Miocene boundary of Asia. The fossils of the type species P. intermedium were found in Georgia, Kazakhstan and China. An indeterminate species represents in Bugti Hills which is the late Oligocene of Pakistan.
Asiavorator is an extinct genus of civet-like carnivoran belonging in the family Stenoplesictidae. It was endemic to Asia and lived during the Eocene and Oligocene epochs.
Nalameryx is an extinct genus of tragulid which existed in lower Chitarwata Formation, Pakistan during the middle Oligocene. It was first named by Grégoire Métais, Jean-Loup Welcomme and Stéphane Ducrocq in 2009 and the type species is Nalameryx savagei. Nalameryx savagei is one of the rare mammals found during the Oligocene. Five dental remains composed the originally found material, described in 1990.
Dermotherium is a genus of fossil mammals closely related to the living colugos, a small group of gliding mammals from Southeast Asia. Two species are recognized: D. major from the Late Eocene of Thailand, based on a single fragment of the lower jaw, and D. chimaera from the Late Oligocene of Thailand, known from three fragments of the lower jaw and two isolated upper molars. In addition, a single isolated upper molar from the Early Oligocene of Pakistan has been tentatively assigned to D. chimaera. All sites where fossils of Dermotherium have been found were probably forested environments and the fossil species were probably forest dwellers like living colugos, but whether they had the gliding adaptations of the living species is unknown.
Brontochelys is an extinct genus of podocnemidid from the Miocene of Pakistan. The only species known, B. gaffneyi was classified before in the genus Shweboemys, which is known from the Pliocene of Burma. Brontochelys is represented only by its type specimen BMNH R.8570, a nearly complete skull, which exact locality is unknown but probably comes from the Lower Miocene sediments in the Bugti Hills, in Baluchistan, Pakistan. This skull is different from its relatives like Shweboemys, Lemurchelys and Stereogenys by its large, forward-faced orbits, a large frontal bone that composes most of the dorsal orbit margin and a palatal curved. The name of Brontochelys is formed by the Greek words bronte, "thunder" and chelys, "turtle", in reference to the large size of the skull.
Urtinotherium is an extinct genus of paracerathere mammals. It was a large animal that was closely related to Paraceratherium, and found in rocks dating from the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene period. The remains were first discovered in the Urtyn Obo region in Inner Mongolia, which the name Urtinotherium is based upon. Other referred specimens are from northern China.
Astorgosuchus is an extinct monospecific genus of crocodilian, closely related to true crocodiles, that lived in Pakistan during the late Oligocene period. This crocodile may have reached lengths of up to 7–8 m (23–26 ft) and is known to have preyed on many of the large mammals found in its environment. Bite marks of a large crocodile have been found on the bones of juvenile Paraceratherium, however if these were left by Astorgosuchus cannot be said with certainty. The genus contains a single species, Astorgosuchus bugtiensis, which was originally named as a species of Crocodylus in 1908 and was moved to its own genus in 2019.
The Amphipithecidae were simian primates that lived in Late Eocene and Early Oligocene. Fossils have been found in Myanmar, Thailand, and Pakistan. The limited fossil evidence is consistent with, but not exclusive to, arboreal quadrupedalism. In other words, the species may have moved about in trees on four legs, but not with regular leaping as seen in later simians.
Phileosimias is an extinct genus of primates with two species, P. kamli and P. bahuiorum, that are believed to be amongst the early simians.
Aralotherium is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotoids closely related to Paraceratherium, one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed. It lived in China and Kazakhstan during the late Oligocene epoch. It is classified as a member of the Paraceratheriidae subfamily Paraceratheriinae.
