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The Ages of the Hippopotamus and Elephas maximus Fossils in the Gem Sand of Ceylon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

P. E. P. Deraniyagala
P. E. P. Deraniyagala
Affiliation:
Colombo National Museum, Colombo, Ceylon.
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Abstract

The extinct Ratnapura fauna of Ceylon is a radiation from the Indian Shivalik. In it occur a hexaprotodont hippopotamus and a race of Elephas maximus which is the most recent member of the Proboscidea. Since such an association is unknown elsewhere, it has given rise to many explanatory theories. A uranium test of associated fossils of both animals now establishes that this has resulted from redeposition and that the animals were not contemporaneous. This makes less vague the hitherto conjectural views regarding the earth movements, and the ages of the gem deposits and of the early human lithic artefacts in them.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 92 , Issue 1 , February 1955 , pp. 50 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1955

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References

REFERENCES

Deraniyagala, P. E. P., 1936. Some Vertebrate Fossils from Ceylon. Geol. Mag., lxxiii, 316–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deraniyagala, P. E. P. 1944. Some Mammals of the Extinct Ratnapura Fauna of Ceylon (part 1). Spolia Zeylanica, xxiv, 19–56. Colombo Museum.Google Scholar
Deraniyagala, P. E. P. 1946. idem(pt.2). Spolia Zeylanica, xxiv, 161–171.Google Scholar
Deraniyagala, P. E. P. 1951 a. idem (pt. 3). Spolia Zeylanica, xxvi, 117–124.Google Scholar
Deraniyagala, P. E. P. 1951 b. Elephas maximus the Elephant of Ceylon, pt. i. Colombo Museum publication.Google Scholar
Hooijer, D. A., 1950. The Fossil Hippopotamidae of Asia. Zool. Verhande-lingen No. 8.Google Scholar