Scholarly News

Comparisons of diet, tooth wear, and taphonomic analyses are among some of the more modern popular topics concerning research into the lives and history of Sivatherium. These are all interesting topics and, coupled with classic and modern description, makes Sivatherium one of the more comprehensively studied mammals of the fossil record. There are certainly more well studied mammals, but Sivatherium research is not lagging behind the leaders. One of my favorite topics to see a paper on is the more historically aimed paper that asks if the ancient Sumerians were acquainted with Sivatherium. That could be my bias as an historian reaching over my scientific side though. The paper is from 1936, but it is still an interesting question to probe. The comparison is made by Colbert of a Sumerian artifact that bears a vague resemblance to a Sivatherium.

comparison drawing by Margaret Matthew Colbert