FOSSILS OF SRI LANKA: CHAPTER SABARAGAMUWA BASIN

Abstract

The fossils are preserved remains of body parts or traces of ancient organisms. Sri Lanka is a continental island that evolved via unique geological formations, including fossil remains. This island represents many fossils belonging to three different geological periods, for instance: the Jurassic period, Miocene period, and Pleistocene epoch. Most of the Pleistocene fossils were found in terrestrial deposits (alluvial) from the Sabaragamuwa basin called Ratnapura fauna. Thus, our investigations focused on documenting samples of fossils gathered, under the project called “The Paleo World of Sabaragamuwa Basin - Sri Lanka” conducted by Eco Astronomy Inc (Sri Lanka). Considering the geological time scale, we are looking for reporting samples that approximately belong to the Quaternary period. As we know, the Quaternary period of the Earth’s geographic history includes two geologic epochs viz., which are: the Pleistocene (2.58 Myr to 0.0012 Myr), and the Holocene (0.0012 Myr to Present). Both epochs have changed and divided the fauna’s equilibrium and human’s cultural phases based on climate and sea level fluctuations that took place during these periods. Some of the sections in those epochs has occurred during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and represent the mean sea level was much lower compared with the present records. Therefore, the quaternary period shows the open accessibility to migration of mammalian mega faunal species, that lived during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epoch. Most probably, the terrestrial climate change has impacted them and caused the extinction of those megafaunas. The gathered data details were synchronized via the technical aspect of sampling photography, toy photography, and virtual reality for analyses and reconstruction purposes.