Preliminary report on vertebrate fossils from Cistern and Swamp Caves at Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur Yasamin Kh ibrahim 1 , Lee Chai Peng 1 , earL of CranbrooK 2 , Lim Tze Tshen 3 1 Department of Geology, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Glemham House, Great Glemham, SAXMUNDHAM 1P17 ILP, UK 3 Resource Stewardship Consultants S/B, PSS Kolam Ayer Lama Ampang, Lot 36904, Jalan Kolam Ayer Lama, 68000 Ampang, Selangor Abstract: Many mammalian fossil teeth and bone fragments have been recovered from remnants of calcite cemented sediments attached to the walls and loors of two small caves, named as Cistern Cave and Swamp Cave, at the foot of Bukit Batu, Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur. Most of the material are disarticulated and found in isolated groups within the sediments. No complete skeletons have been found. They appeared to have been washed in by streams after disarticulation by decay or scattered by scavengers. Their presence in middens of prehistoric humans is a further possibility but this is still in question as no associated charring or distinct tool marks have been found on them. The material found to date includes: common wild pig (Sus scrofa), bearded pig (Sus barbatus), bear (Ursidae- gen. et sp. indet.), macaque (Macaca sp.), Primates (non-human hominoid), tiger (Panthera tigris), southern serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), red muntjac/barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), Asian tapir (Tapirus indicus), rhinoceros (gen. et sp. indet.) and bat teeth. Comparative studies with equivalent cave fossil fauna across South-east Asia will be carried out to interpret the paleoenvironment and paleoclimatic changes by studying the vertebrate fossils in different levels of cave deposits from the area. Keywords: vertebrate fossils, Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur, INTRODUCTION Very little research on vertebrate palaeontology has been published on Peninsular Malaysia. Most of them have been conined to mammalian remains found in alluvial tin-mines or in cave deposits associated with past human activities. Andrews (1905) found a tooth belonging to the extinct Elephas namadicus in Salak but the species identiication of this specimen has been disputed by Peacock and Dunn (1968). Savage (1937) and Ingham and Bradford (1960) reported on the discovery of Elephas maximus teeth in Chemor within the alluvial sediments in the Kinta Valley. Hooijer (1962) reported the most signiicant collection of Middle Pleistocene palaeontological material found in a cave in the Tambun area which included an extinct antelope (Duboisia santeng) and hippopotamus, indicating a habitat of grassland interspersed with swampy patches. Davison (1994) had reported on remains of vertebrate bones and teeth of bats, primates, porcupine, bamboo rat, civet, wild dog, bear, tiger, wild boar, mouse deer, tapir, barking deer, sambar deer and seladang found in Gua Gunung Runtuh and nearby Gua Kelawar in Lenggong, Perak during the excavation of the roughly 10,000 years old Perak Man. He postulated that these remains were mainly from parts of animals used for food. The existence of a well-preserved skeleton of a large vertebrate exposed on the travertine ceiling of a small cave at about 38 m above the Kinta Valley plain at Gua Naga Mas,Gunung Lanno, near Kepayang Village just south of Ipoh was reported by some members of the Malaysian Nature Society in 1992. Its identity has still not been established with certainty. Tjia (2000) has suggested it could be a small tiger, a bear or a wild dog. Muhammad and Yeap (2000) reported on an exceptionally rich deposit of fossilized teeth and bones of mammals including Bos gaurus (gaur or seladang), Rusa unicolor (sambar deer), Muntiacus muntjak (barking deer) and Paradoxurus sp. (civet) in Gua Badak C in the Lenggong valley about 5 km from the Perak Man site. One of the earliest reports on mammals in the Batu Caves area was by Ridley (1899) who reported that large wild animals including tiger, bear, wild ox, pig, muntjac, deer, and elephant were all found in the forest around Bukit Batu during that time but he also noted the general absence of any bones of these animals in the caves. Roe (1953) reported the discovery of the third upper molar of Indian elephant tooth (Elephas maximus) under about 20 ft. of tin-bearing alluvium resting on the granite bed rock in in the Batu Valley near the Batu Caves. Williams-Hunts (1952) focused on human artifacts in his publication on Batu Caves with no mention of fossils. Wycherley (1972) recorded Ridley’s exploration in several caves like the Quarry Cave, Fallen Cave and Sakai Cave in Bukit Batu. Some of these caves were completely destroyed even before Ridley left Malaya. Yussof (1977) remarked that the trogloxenes such as bears, leopards, porcupines, and wild pigs, have not been recorded in and around Batu Caves recently. This is not unexpected as the surrounding forest around Batu caves has been cleared for development in the rapid urbanization of Kuala Lumpur. Stauffer (1979) recovered a fossilized honeybee hive from a quarry face on the north side of the Bukit Batu. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, Volume 58, December 2012, pp. 1 – 8