What literature suggests that? According to
the palaeontological sources I have consulted, _E. sivalensis_ and _E.
namadicus_ are usually bracketed into one evolving chronospecies, with the
latter regarded as a _younger_ continuation of the former. The
Siwalik/Narmada horse descends from a pretty archaic lineage -- equids that
migrated from North America in the late Pliocene. Within the genus _Equus_ these
early Indian equids are rather distant relatives of "true horses" (_E. ferus_,
the ancestor of domestic horses, left America some 2.5 million years later than
horses ancestral to _E. sivalensis/namadicus_). I agree that the picture we get
from fossil evidence is inherently incomplete, but I wouldn't define the
present state of things as quicksand. The known fossil equids of the
subcontinent (after hipparions became extinct) were either hemiones of a species
that was contemporary with _Homo erectus_ and died out long before the end
of the Pleistocene.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001 2:33 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: Dravidian in Persia?
VA: While Equus Namadicus died out several 10's of thousand years ago,
it might be possible that the Siwalik horse survived upto 10000BP as some
literature suggests. Anyway, this area is quicksand and there is NO
comprehensive study on the horse varieties for S Asia.