The first Fossil soriculus (Tribe Soriculini) in the Indian Subcontinent from the Karewas of Kashmir, India

The first as well as the earliest fossil Soriculus (Insectivoia , Mammalia) In the Indian subcontinent is described from the Pliocene fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Karewa Intermontane basin in the northwestern Himalaya The new species, Soriculus kashmiriensis sp nov, is morphologically close to all the Asian forms of the Tribe Soriculus and comparatively closer to the present day S leucops and S (E ) caudatus Based on the careful examination of avariable fossil as well as Recent material, we propose to merge fossial and living soriculus of Asia into a single genus Soriculus We also choose to include the Indian Episoriculus in Soriculus for taxonomic reasons.