Hippopotamidae is a family of stout, naked-skinned, and semiaquatic artiodactyl mammals, possessing three-chambered stomachs and walking on four toes on each foot. While they resemble pigs physiologically, their closest living relatives are the cetaceans. They are formally referred to as hippopotamids.
Sitana is a genus of lizards, collectively known as the fan-throated lizards, from the family Agamidae. They are found in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The genus comprises fourteen species, including several recently discovered species, such as two new species from Sri Lanka. In 2016, a new genus named Sarada was erected, consisting of one former Sitana species and two newly described ones. Sarada is the sister genus of Sitana. Together they form a clade which sister group is Otocryptis.
The honey badger, also known as the ratel, is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Rhinoceros is a genus comprising one-horned rhinoceroses. This scientific name was proposed by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus contains two species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros. Although both members are threatened, the Javan rhinoceros is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world with only 60 individuals surviving in Java (Indonesia). The word 'rhinoceros' is of Greek origin meaning "nose-horn".
Crocuta is a genus of hyena containing the largest living member of the family, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). Several fossil species are known as well.
Sivapithecus is a genus of extinct apes. Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.2 million years old in the Miocene, have been found since the 19th century in the Siwalik Hills of the Indian subcontinent as well as in Kutch. Any one of the species in this genus may have been the ancestor to the modern orangutans.
Mellivora is a genus of mustelids that contains the honey badger or ratel (Mellivora capensis). It is also the sole living representative of the subfamily Mellivorinae. Additionally, two extinct species are known. The honey badger is native to much of Africa and South Asia, while fossil relatives occurred in those areas and Southern Europe.
The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is 10–50 km (6.2–31.1 mi) wide with an average elevation of 1,500–2,000 m (4,900–6,600 ft). Between the Teesta and Raidāk Rivers in Assam is a gap of about 90 km (56 mi). "Sivalik" literally means 'tresses of Shiva'. Sivalik region is home to the Soanian archaeological culture.
The white-necked jacobin is a medium-size hummingbird that ranges from Mexico south through Central America and northern South America into Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. It is also found in Trinidad & Tobago.
Titanosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs, first described by Richard Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian Lameta Formation of India.
Odd toed ungulate, or hoofed mammals, such as horses, rhinos, and tapirs, may have their evolutionary origins in Indian subcontinent. While horse remains and related artifacts have been found in Late Harappan sites, indicating that horses may have been present at Late Harappan times, horses did not play an essential role in the Harappan civilisation, in contrast to the Vedic period. The importance of the horse for the Indo-Aryans is indicated by the Sanskrit word Ashva, "horse," which is often mentioned in the Vedas and Hindu scriptures.
Equus sivalensis is an extinct equid, discovered in the Siwalik hills. Remains date to 2.6 million years ago, and it is assumed that it was extinct during the last ice age, between 75,000 and 10,000 years ago, as part of the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction. Remains have been found in middle to late Pleistocene locations in the Siwaliks and in Tamil Nadu, and recently, as a "Great Indian horse" in Andhra, dated to ca. 75,000 BP.
Hexaprotodon is an extinct genus of hippopotamid known from Asia. The name Hexaprotodon means "six front teeth" as some of the fossil forms have three pairs of incisors.
Crocodylus palaeindicus is an extinct species of crocodile from southern Asia. C. palaeindicus lived from the Miocene to the Pliocene. It may be an ancestor of the living Mugger crocodile.
Sitana sivalensis is a species of agamid lizard endemic to Nepal. Its common name is the Siwalik sitana
Enhydriodon, known as the bear otter, is an extinct genus of typically large otters that lived in what is now Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Chad, South Africa, and India from the late Miocene up to early Pleistocene. The otter is thought to be a relative of modern-day sea otters. E. omoensis and E. dikikae are described as the largest mustelids to have ever existed, though only fragments of the genus have been found such as the skull, femur, and dental remains in Ethiopia. Multiple estimates put them at about 200 kilograms (440 lb) while E. omoensis was described to be lion-sized, making them the largest mustelids described so far. Most species of the Enhydriodon genus are presumed to be semi-aquatic given most of the fossil isotope values being similar to fossilized semi-aquatic animals like hippopotamuses. The largest species, Enhydriodon omoensis, however, was determined to be a terrestrial predator, capable of hunting herbivorous terrestrial prey. Enhydriodon is part of the bunodont otters group, referring to otter genera with non-bladelike carnassials including the extant Enhydra genus and its extinct relatives that lived from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene.
Giraffa sivalensis is an extinct species of giraffe occurring in Asia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Almost perfectly preserved cervical vertebrae have been found, as well as humeri, radii, metacarpals and teeth. The size of G. sivalensis was proposed to be approximately 400 kg, and the neck length was about 147 to 390 cm according to proposals in 2015.
Hypselornis is an extinct genus of fossil reptile, most likely a crocodilian, from the late Pliocene of India. Known only from a single toe bone, Hypselornis was originally mistakenly identified as a ratite bird related to the living cassowary before being re-identified as belonging to a large reptile, probably a crocodilian.
Boselaphus namadicus is an extinct species of bovid that lived in South Asia from the Late Pliocene to the Mid Pleistocene.
Mellivora benfieldi or Benfield's honey badger is an extinct species of mustelid from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of Africa and possibly Europe.
