The microstructural features of the tissue of long bones subjected to different biomechanical stresses could be a helpful tool for a better understanding of locomotor behavior in extant and extinct mammals, including equids. However, few researches have attempted to describe the bone tissue of extinct horses. In our study, we analyze and compare the histomorphometric features of the bone tissue in extant modern horses, Equus caballus, and Equus namadicus, a Pleistocene Indian extinct wild horse. The number, position, and size of the osteons and Haversian canals of the bone tissue, classifiable as dense Haversian tissue, were considered for the comparison. The results obtained highlight some differences between the analyzed species, E. caballus having fewer and bigger osteons than E. namadicus. The microstructural differences may depend on the different lifestyles and environmental conditions characterizing the two species. The results obtained suggest that comparing the biomechanical properties of extinct and modern horse species may provide indirect information on their paleoenvironment.

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The present paper is an announcement of first absolute age dating directly on fossilized bones and teeth of the Pleistocene mammalian fauna from the Manjra valley, District Latur, Maharashtra, India. The fossilized samples were measured using the AMS facility at Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. The results gave the time frame of 21,423 BP to 24,335 BP that correspond close to and the threshold of LGM and sheds important light on the palaeoecology of the area that supported diverse megafaunal species in the Upper Manjra valley. These calendar dates not only have wider significance in terms of first ever approximate chronological frame for the Pleistocene fauna in Peninsular India but also offer methodological innovations especially when the adequate bioapatite is absent in the fossilized bones and teeth from the fossil record.