KUALA LUMPUR, 9 Oct 2020:
Universiti Malaya (UM) palaeontologists have discovered the first ‘Stegodon’ elephant fossil in Malaysia, believed to be between 30,000 and 80,000 years old, in a limestone cave in Gopeng, Perak.
UM said in a statement today the fossil was found by a team of researchers led by UM’s Geology Department scientist Dr Ros Fatihah Muhammad together with vertebrate palaeontologist and zoo archaeologist Lim Tze Tshen from the Palaeontological Society of Malaysia.
Dr Ros Fatihah said the discovery was also following the information received from the cave settlers group, Kinta Valley Watch, as well as her team’s survey and research.
She said the Stegodon elephant was one of the ‘Proboscidea’ genus from the long-extinct family of ‘Stegodontidae’ – in contrast to the modern Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) which still exists in the country in terms of morphology, ecology and taxonomy.
“Studies so far show that the remains of this Stegodon is not associated with ancient humans. However, this study is still very important as it is related to the history of the migration of ancient fauna and also environmental changes in the Southeast Asian region.”
Dr Ros Fatihah said the imaging process performed by Assoc Prof Dr Norliza Ibrahim and Dr Mohd Azmi Abdul Razak from UM’s Faculty of Dentistry found that the fossil was most likely a Stegodon of less than two years old.
Thus, she said the site should be gazetted to be protected from encroachment, apart from being able to be used as a new geosite of the Kinta Valley Geopark.
Meanwhile, UM vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim said the discovery of the fossil was a milestone in the field of quaternary paleontological studies in Malaysia.
“Well done and congratulations to Dr Ros Fatihah and her team who have successfully opened a new chapter in this field of study.”
– Bernama