Paul E. P. Deraniyagala
Encyclopedia
Dr. Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala (1900 - 1976) was a paleontologist, zoologist, and also an artist from Sri Lanka
. He specialised in fauna and human fossils of the Indian subcontinent
. Between 1939 - 1963 he was the Director of the National Museum of Ceylon, and between 1961 - 64 he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Vidyodaya University. He was married to Prini Molamure. Their son Siran Upendra Deraniyagala is also a famous scientist, specialising in archeology.
Among the fossils and species he described, there are:
He also described an alleged Africa
n subspecies of tiger
Panthera tigris sudanensis
in 1951.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. He specialised in fauna and human fossils of the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
. Between 1939 - 1963 he was the Director of the National Museum of Ceylon, and between 1961 - 64 he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Vidyodaya University. He was married to Prini Molamure. Their son Siran Upendra Deraniyagala is also a famous scientist, specialising in archeology.
Among the fossils and species he described, there are:
- The cannibalistic Balangoda Man, Homo sapiens balangodensis
- The extinct Sri Lanka LionSri Lanka lionThe Sri Lanka Lion , also known as the Ceylon Lion, was a prehistoric subspecies of lion, endemic to Sri Lanka. It appears to have become extinct prior to the arrival of culturally modern humans, c. 37,000 years BC....
(Leo leo sinhaleyus 1939) - The extinct Sri Lankan GaurGaurThe gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
(Bibos sinhaleyus 1962) - The extinct Sri Lankan hippopotamusHippopotamusThe hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
(Hexaprotodon sinhaleyus 1937) - The extinct Sri Lankan rhinocerosRhinocerosRhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
(Rhinoceros sinhaleyus 1936) - The extinct Sri Lankan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros kagavena 1956)
He also described an alleged Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n subspecies of tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
Panthera tigris sudanensis
Panthera tigris sudanensis
The Panthera tigris sudanensis is a claimed subspecies of tiger, not scientifically recognised, allegedly living in Africa. It was described in 1951 by Paul E. P. Deraniyagala, based on a fur he saw on a Cairo bazaar. When he asked the seller for information, Deraniyagala was told that the animal...
in 1951.