2. STEGODON BOMBIFRONS FROM THE
PINJOR STAGE, SOAN FORMATION OF JARI
KAS, AZAD KASHMIR, PAKISTAN
SADAF ASLAM, ABDUL MAJID KHAN, MUHAMMAD
AKBAR KHAN*, ABDUL GHAFFAR**, MUHAMMAD
AKHTAR AND KHIZAR SAMIULLAH
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB,
LAHORE
*DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, GC UNIVERSITY, FAISALABAD
** DEPARTMENT OF METEROLOGY, COMSATS ISLAMABAD

3. INTRODUCTION
 Proboscideans were the evolutionary taxa of
elephants that are the largest land animals
now living.
 Two genera of the family Elephantidae:
Elephas and Loxodonta are living today.
 All other species and genera of
Proboscideans are extinct now.
 The Asian and African elephants diverged
from a common ancestor some 7.6 million
years ago.

4. EXTANT GENERA OF ELEPHANTS
 AFRICAN ELEPHANT
Single species with two subspecies.
 AFRICAN SAVANNA / BUSH ELEPHANT(Loxodonta
africana africana).
 AFRICAN FOREST ELEPHANT (Loxodonta africana
cyclotis).

5. AFRICAN FOREST ELEPHANT

6. AFRICAN BUSH ELEPHANT

7. ASIAN ELEPHANT
Three subspecies.
 Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus),
only found on the island of Sri Lanka.
 Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus),found
in India.
 Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus
sumatranus), found only on Sumatra.

8. ASIAN ELEPHANT

9. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AFRICAN AND ASIAN
ELEPHANT
 The African elephant is typically larger than
the Asian elephant and has a concave back.
 African elephants have larger ears.
 In Asian elephants, only males have tusks,
but both males and females of African
elephants have tusks.

10. OBJECTIVES
To study stegodon fossils from 2.6-0.6 million
years old.

11. STUDIED SECTION
THE SIWALIK SEDIMENTS ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF HIMALAYAS.

12. JARI KAS
 An approx. 1km thickness of upper
Siwalik subgroup rocks in the southern
Potwar Plateau and south western Kashmir.

13. MATERIALS AND METHODS
 The specimen was collected from Upper Siwaliks
during geological survey.
 The specimen was thoroughly washed in the
laboratory.
 The specimen was catalogued such as PUPC
(Punjab University Palaeontological Collection)
2010/16. The upper figure denotes the collection
year, while the lower one is the serial number of the
respective year.
 The measurements of the specimen were made by
Metric Vernier Callipers.
 The specimen is housed in paleontological laboratory,
Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab,

14. RESULTS
SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY
PHYLUM CHORDATA
SUB PHYLUM VERTEBRATA
CLASS MAMMALIA Linnaeus, 1758
ORDER PROBOSCIDEA Illeger, 1811
SUB-ORDER ELEPHANTIFORMES Tassy, 1988
SUPER FAMILY ELEPHANTOIDEA Osborn, 1921
FAMILY STEGODONTIDAE Osborn, 1918
SUBFAMILY STEGODONTINAE Osborn, 1918
GENUS STEGODON Falconer, 1857
SPECIES STEGODON BOMBIFRONS Falconer
and Cautley, 1857.

15. STEGODON

16. DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES
 Cranium compressed anteroposteriorly with convex
skull vertex.
 Tusks small.
 Cement gradually increases in the successive teeth.
 Enamel very thick.
 Teeth broad and large.
 Usually a trace of median longitudinal cleft present in
anterior ridges.
 Inner columns of ridge-plates occasionally show
accessory tubercles near the longitudinal cleft.
(Sarwar, 1977).

17. STUDIED SPECIMENS WITH RELEVANT LOCALITY
Taxon Specimen Position Formation/
Locality
Co- ordinates
Stegodon
bombifrons
PUPC No.
2010/16
Skull with
upper
dentition.
Pinjor (Jari
Kas, Mirpur)
33 06 236 N
73 50 012 E

18. DESCRIPTION
 Most part of the cranium is damaged, only
palate is preserved and visible.
 The teeth are characterized by large size, broad
crowned, low ridge.
 Enamel is thick and rugose.
 Teeth are in middle wearing stage.
 Cement gradually increases in the successive
teeth.
 Ridge plates are widely spaced at their summit.

19. CRANIUM SHOWING OCCLUSAL VIEW, SCALE BAR
50MM.
Cement
Palate
Conelets
Dentine
Enamel
Ridge plate
Anterior side
Posterior side

20. RIDGE PLATES FORMULA OF STEGODON TEETH
 DP3 4-4½
 DP4 5 - 6
 M1 6
 M2 6 - 7
 M3 7½-9½
8- 9½
6 ½-8
7-7½
5½-7
4-4 ½

21. DISCUSSION
 In the past, stegodonts were believed to be
the ancestors of the true elephants and
mammoths, but it is currently believed that
they have no modern descendants.
 Stegodon is derived from the genus
Stegolophodon, an extinct genus known from
the Miocene of Asia.
 Stegodon is considered to be a sister group
of the mammoth, as well as the elephants

22. FOSSILS OF STEGODON FROM THE WORLD
Uptil now fossils of Stegodon have been
recovered from
 Indonesia,
 China,
 Thailand,
 Japan
 Africa
 Pakistan

23. DATA SHOWING NUMBER OF RIDGES AND DENTAL
MEASUREMENTS IN DIFFERENT SPECIES OF STEGODON (DATA
UPDATED FROM VAN DEN BERGH 1999).
SPECIES No. of ridge plates L (mm) W (mm) W/L index
S. bombifrons 71/2-91/2 253-282 93-108 37-38
S. pinjorens 141/2-1 360 130 36
Stegodon
dhokawanensis
61/2
183
93 51
S. insignis 81/2-111/2 233-287 86-106 37

24. CONCLUSION
 Stegodons were present in Jari Kas areas of
Azad Jammu and Kashmir during the late
Pliocene (about 2.6 mya) along with crown
elephant group.