Pleistocene Fauna

Bones & Beyond: Introduction to South Asian Pleistocene Fauna 

A lecture series organised jointly through the Down Ancient Trails forum in collaboration with Professor Vijay Sathe, former professor, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune, India. 

January 4-9th, 2021 (6.30-8.30 pm IST) 

Organising Committee

• Professor Shanti Pappu: Professor, Founder/Secretary, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai, India
• Professor Vijay Sathe: Professor, Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India
• Dr. Kumar Akhilesh: Director, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai, India
• Dr. Prachi B. Joshi, Research Assistant, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai, India
• Dr. Prateek Chakraborty,  Scientific Assistant (Palaeontology Laboratory), Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India

Program

Please check our YouTube channel for lectures that have been uploaded. 

Read more about our speakers here (being updated)

4th January 2021: 6.30-6.45 pm (IST): Introduction to the Workshop: Organising Committee

4th January 2021: 6.45-7.25 pm (IST): Prof. Ashok Sahni: Professor Emeritus, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India ,Topic: The New Palaeontology: Extracting Information.

4th January 2021: 7.30-8.10 pm (IST): Dr. Vivesh Kapur: Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Topic: Vertebrate (mammalian) records from the Neogene (Miocene) of the Kutch Basin, Gujarat State, Western India: palaeobiogeographic and allied aspects.

5th January 2021: 6.35-7.15 pm (IST): Dr. Advait Jukar: Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Associate at Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT and Research Associate at Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Topic: The assembly of South Asia's mammalian fauna

5th January 2021: 7.20-8.00 pm (IST): Prof. Rajeev Patnaik: Professor Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, Topic: Diet and Ecology of Neogene and Quaternary mammals of India

6th January 2021: 6.35-7.15 pm (IST): Dr. Varsha Kelkar Mane: Assistant professor, University Department of Biotechnology, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India, Topic: The Biochemistry of Fossilization

6th January 2021: 7.20-8.00 pm (IST): Falguni Katkar: Assistant Archaeologist at Archaeological Survey of India, Mumbai Circle and Research Fellow at Deccan College Post graduate and Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India, Topic: Role of Microbes in Fossil formation Process: an experimental case study

6th January 2021: 11.00-12.00 am (IST): Prof. Vijay Sathe, former Professor, Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India, & Dr. Prateek Chakraborty, Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India: Public Outreach for School Children (access limited to selected High School children). 

7th January 2021: 6.35-7.15 pm (IST): Prof. Thure Edward Cerling: Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah; Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of Utah and Francis H Brown Presidential Chair, University of Utah,Topic: The C3-C4 transition: opportunities and challenges for paleontology.

7th January 2021: 7.20-8.00 pm (IST): Dr. Prateek Chakraborty, Scientific Assistant (Palaeontology Laboratory), Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India. An introduction to new laboratory methods in Palaeontology.

8th January 2021: 11.00-12.00 am (IST): Prof. Vijay Sathe, former Professor, Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India, & Dr. Prateek Chakraborty, Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India: Public Outreach for School Children (access limited to primary school children). 

8th January 2021: 6.35-7.15 pm (IST): Dr. Patrick Roberts:  W2 Research Group Leader, Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany. Topic: Pleistocene mammal extinctions and non-extinctions in South Asia and their relationship to Homo sapiens

8th January 2021: 7.20-8.00 pm (IST): Dr. Noel Amano:Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany. Topic: In Times of Change: Late Pleistocene Paleoenvironment and Subsistence Strategies in Eastern Java, Indonesia

9th January 2021: 6.30-6.45 pm (IST): Prof. Shanti Pappu & Dr. Kumar Akhilesh, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India: Bringing stones and bones alive: Outreach for children and teachers

9th January 2021: 7.00-7.40 pm (IST): Prof. Vijay Sathe, former Professor, Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College PGRI, Pune, India: Taphonomy of fossil assemblages in Peninsular India.    

9th January 2021: 7.40-8.30 pm (IST): Prof. Raman Sukumar,Honorary professor at centre for ecological sciences; Indian institute of science, Bangalore, India: Valedictory Lecture Topic: Is Elephas maximus a grazer or a browser: evolutionary and contemporary perspectives.

The program is currently being updated.