 Cautley was actively involved in Dr Hugh Falconer's fossil expeditions in the Siwalik Hills.He presented a large collection of mammalian fossils, including hippopotamus and crocodile fossils indicating that the area had once been a swampland.Other animal remains that he found here included the sabre-toothed tiger, "Elephis ganesa" (an elephant with a trunk length of about 10 feet), the bones of a fossil ostrich and the remains of giant cranes and tortoises.