No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene Lepisosteiform and Siluriform fish remains from Central India: palaeoecological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiogeographical implications
Abstract
Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene geo-climatic events played an important role in the diversification of the modern ichthyofauna. Lepisosteiformes and Siluriformes are two diverse clades of freshwater fishes, poorly known from India in this time interval. Their fossil record documents their early diversification and can be used to reconstruct palaeobiogeographic relationships among the continental masses during the Late Mesozoic. Indeed, the Cretaceous-Palaeocene is an exceptional time span for the Indian plate as it underwent a primary spatial reorganisation and remarkable geologic and climatic changes with extensive outpouring of the Deccan basaltic magma. Field investigation in a Deccan sedimentary sequence at Kisalpuri, Central India has yielded new, rich, and taxonomically important fossil material of Lepisosteiformes (Lepisosteus indicus, Lepisosteidae) and Siluriformes (Siluriformes indet.), which significantly improves their Cretaceous-Palaeocene fossil record from the Indian subcontinent. These fish lived in freshwater environments such as large rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. Their presence along with other aquatic biotic elements suggests that the Kisalpuri was an abundant aquatic ecosystem rich in nutrients, which attracted a diverse range of organisms to live together with fish. Biostratigraphically, these fishes first emerged in the Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene on the Indian subcontinent, and later, they spread to other parts of subcontinent throughout the Cenozoic. Their earliest intra-continental distribution was controlled by the palaeodrainage network influenced by the volcanic flows of the Deccan traps. Their inter-continental palaeobiogeographic distribution was broadly controlled by the sequential break-up of Pangaea. There appear to be close palaeobiogeographic linkages between South America and India during the Cretaceous-Palaeocene era based on the similarity between the Lepisosteiformes and Siluriformes remnants from India and those reported from the Upper Cretaceous of the Bauru Group, Brazil.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Geological education plays a major role in the social, economic, and cultural growth and development of any country. India is a vast diversified country with wide-ranging geological features, consisting of rocks of all geological ages with well-developed physiographic divisions. The Indian lithospheric plate is a storehouse of vast georesources and also serves as a natural field laboratory for developing and testing numerous geological principles. The exploration of Indian georesources began in the past; with the organized exploration began way back in the 1830s. The number of institutions offering geological education is, however, comparatively low. Thus, Geology as a science discipline is less popular in comparison with other science subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, and Environmental science, based on enrolment data of the learners enrolled in academic sessions from 2011-2012 to 2018-2019 of the Master's degree programs. Analysis indicates that teaching-learning resources of foreign origin are dominantly being adopted as learning resources in the teaching-learning pedagogy of degree programs in Geology, and are overriding those of Indian origin. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting geological education in two ways namely, the disruption of conventional (face-to-face) teaching together with not allowing learners of Geology programs to complete their compulsory outdoor geological fieldwork assignments. The analysis of data gathered by an online questionnaire survey shows that the use of indigenous open educational resources in Geology appears as a plausible solution to overcome the learning barriers created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also to enrich teaching-learning resources of Indian origin. This article provides an up-to-date detailed account of the necessity and evolution of geological education, the current popularity of Geology as a science discipline, the nature of available geological teaching-learning resources, the impact of the COVID-19 on geological education, and the role of open educational resources in providing quality and equitable geological education, whilst removing educational barriers created by COVID-19 in India. El escenario de la educación geológica en India y el rol de los recursos pedagógicos abiertos a las luces de la pandemia del covid-19 RESUMEN La educación geológica juega un papel importante en el desarrollo y en el crecimiento social, económico y cultural de cualquier país. La India es un país vasto y diverso y con un amplio rango de características geológicas que consiste en rocas de todas las edades geológicas y divisiones fisiográficas bien desarrolladas. La placa litosférica india es un depósito de grandes georecursos y también sirve como un laboratorio de campo para el desarrollo y evaluación de numerosos principios geológicos. La exploración organizada de los georrecursos indios comenzó en la década de 1830. El número de instituciones que ofrecen educación geológica es, sin embargo, comparativamente bajo. De este modo, la geología es una ciencia disciplinar menos popular en comparación con otras materias de estudio como la física, la química, la zoología, la botánica y la ciencia ambiental, con base en la información de inscripciones de los estudiantes en los programas de maestría para los períodos de 2011-2012 hasta 2018-2019. El análisis indica que los recursos foráneos de enseñanza-aprendizaje son adoptados dominantemente como los recursos de aprendizaje en la pedagogía de los progra-mas de pregrado en Geología y superan aquellas de origen indio. La pandemia del covid-19 está afectando la educación geológica en dos vías especificamente: la disrupción de la enseñanza convencional (presencial) junto con no permitir a los estudiantes de los programas de geología completar sus tareas obligatorias de trabajo de campo. El análisis de la in-formación recopilada por una encuesta digital muestra que el uso de recursos educativos nativos abiertos en geología es una solución posible para superar las barreras de aprendizaje creadas por la pandemia, y también enriquecen los recur-sos de enseñanza-aprendizaje de origen indio. Este artículo provee un recuento detallado y actualizado de la necesidad y evolución de la educación geológica, la actual popularidad de la geología como una ciencia disciplinar, la naturaleza de los recursos disponibles de enseñanza-aprendizaje, el impacto de la pandemia del covid-19 en la educación geológica, y el rol de los recursos pedagógicos para proveer educación geológica equitativa y de calidad mientras se remueven las barreras educativas creadas por la pandemia en India. Palabras clave: Educación geológica; datos de inscripciones; educación superior; recursos educativos abiertos; covid-19; trabajo de campo geológico; India. Record
Charophytes from the continental deposits have been employed for establishing biostratigraphy, dating rock layers and reconstructing ecology, environment, climate and biogeography of the geological past especially from Silurian onwards. Recent field investigations in Upper Cretaceous-Lower Palaeocene intertrappean beds intercalated between the volcanic flows of the Mandla lobe (Deccan Volcanic Province) exposed at two localities (Jhilmili and Ghat Parasia), Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh, Central India led to the discovery of a charophyte assemblage. A total of two taxa belonging to Chara sp. and Platychara sp. have been discovered in these two localities. The presence of a mixed fluvio-lacustrine to shallow marine environment at Jhilmili is supported by the presence of non-marine aquatic freshwater charophytes with planktic foraminifera and benthic chlorophytes, whereas the association of freshwater to lake communities like ostracods and fishes with non-marine aquatic freshwater charophytes reflects the presence of a fluvio-lacustrine depositional environment at the Ghat Parasia locality. Palaeobiogeographically, Platychara is a cosmopolitan charophyte genus with global distribution in the Late Cretaceous. Chara appears to be a Laurasian genus, and its presence in India may suggest a dispersal event from Asia to India during the Cretaceous-Palaeogene transition via the Kohistan-Dras volcanic island-arcs system.
The Jhilmili intertrappean beds (Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh) of Central India
are studied from a palaeoenvironmental, palaeoecological, and palaeobiogeographical
perspective using fossil charophytes. These beds have yielded a diverse charophyte
assemblage, consisting of Platychara perlata, Platychara raoi, Platychara sahnii, Peckichara cf. varians, Nemegtichara cf. grambasti, and Chara sp. 1. These charophytes were recovered from a 60 cm thick clayey and nodular limestone unit that is underlain by claystone and overlain by laminated claystones deposited on fluvial floodplains. This charophyte assemblage suggests a Late Cretaceous–Early Danian age, which agrees with the previous dating carried out using freshwater to brackish water ostracods and planktic foraminifera found in the same beds, together with dasycladalean and halimedacean
chlorophytes. The Jhilmili intertrappean charophyte assemblage resembles those found
in other infra-and intertrappean sections of western, central, and southern India. The
charophyte assemblage indicates that during the Cretaceous–Palaeogene timespan the
Indian subcontinent mainly experienced interchange with Laurasia (China, Europe, and
North America) but also with Gondwana (North Africa and South America). In the opposite sense, Laurasian species might have dispersed to India by means of a sweepstakes route across the Kohistan–Dras volcanic arcs.
KEYWORDS
Characeae, palaeobiogeography, palaeoecology, palaeoenvironment, sedimentology,
taphonomy, uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Gars (Lepisosteiformes) flourished in epicontinental seas throughout the world during the second half of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic. Cretaceous and Paleogene remains of these fishes are common in Europe while their Jurassic fossils are still relatively scarce. Here we re-describe in detail a series of ganoid scales from the latest Middle Jurassic (Callovian) deposits of Pekari (Cherkasy Region, Ukraine). These fossils were identified by Professor O. S. Rogovich in 1861 as those that belong to Lepidotus mantellii and L. fittoni. The referral of these scales to a certain species should be considered with caution because the described material lacks characters sufficient for identification it even to the genus or family. We consider to identify these fossils as Lepisosteiformes gen. et sp. indet. An overview of currently known Jurassic occurrences of lepisosteiform fishes is also presented in the paper.
Lepisosteiformes, museum collection, morphology, Callovian, Europe.
The Deccan Volcanic Province has been considered as one of the largest magmatic regions, involving an aerial coverage of ca. 500,000 km2. It is subdivided into four sub-provinces, and holds a unique position in global tectonic models for understanding earth’s geodynamics and the impact of voluminous eruptions on the contemporary biosystem and climate system. Published stratigraphic data suggest that volcanic eruption took place from 69 to 64 million years (Ma) ago when the Indian plate passed over the Réunion hotspot. The main phase of volcanic activity consisting of about 80% of total basaltic lava, erupted rapidly, during a short span (< 1 Ma) or even less (two or three hundred thousand years), close to chron 29R, straddling to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Recent high-precision age data show that the main volcanic phase is genetically linked to the Chicxulub impact and plume-head of the hotspot, and largely contributed to the end Cretaceous mass extinction. To assess the links of the province to the K-Pg boundary, Chicxulub impact, Réunion plume, and Late Cretaceous global climate crisis, it is crucial to have a current-state-of-knowledge of the understanding of its stratigraphy. A review of published data shows a surge in the province research that has considerably advanced the understanding of its stratigraphy. This province is intercalated with numerous infra- and intertrappean sedimentary beds that have yielded diverse biota, providing a reliable relative time control for duration of the volcanic activity. This paper presents a review of the stratigraphic developments of the province (lithostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and chronostratigraphy) from the very beginning to the present, and discusses the role of the Réunion plume in its formation.
The Neogene of Kutch, Gujarat, India is well known for its fossil vertebrate remains. However, almost nothing is known about fresh water fishes from these deposits. A fresh water teleost fish fauna from a late Miocene (~11-10 Ma) locality, Tappar is reported. The present study also emphasizes on the palaeoenvironmental implications of these remains. The fish fossils from Tappar include Cypriniformes (Cyprinidae), Siluriformes (Bagridae) and Perciformes. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction indicates the presence of fresh water environment under tropical to temperate humid conditions during the Late Miocene (~11-10 Ma).
In the last three decades, records of tribosphenidan mammalsfrom India, continental Africa, Madagascar and South Americahave challenged the notion of a strictly Laurasian distributionof the group during the Cretaceous. Here, we describe a lowerpremolar from the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, SãoPaulo State, Brazil. It differs from all known fossil mammals,except for a putative eutherian from the same geologic unityandDeccanolestes hislopi, from the Maastrichtian of India. Theincompleteness of the material precludes narrowing downits taxonomic attribution further than Tribosphenida, butit is larger than most coeval mammals and shows a thinlayer of parallel crystallite enamel. The new taxon helpsfilling two major gaps in the fossil record: the paucity ofMesozoic mammals in more northern parts of South Americaand of tribosphenidans in the Cretaceous of that continent.In addition, high-precision U-Pb geochronology provided apost-Turonian maximal age (≤87.8 Ma) for the type stratum,which is overlain by the dinosaur-bearing Marília Formation, constraining the age of the Adamantina Formation at the site to late Coniacian–late Maastrichtian. This represents the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group, a key stratigraphic unit for the study of Cretaceous tetrapods in Gondwana.
The clade Andinichthyidae includes three poorly known genera of extinct catfishes from Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene beds of Bolivia. These taxa are of uncertain phylogenetic position, and their anatomy is far from being well known. The aim of the present contribution is to describe a new genus and species of andinichthyid catfish. The new taxon is represented by several cranial and postcranial bones collected in Eocene beds from northwestern Argentina. The new taxon constitutes the first nominate andinichthyid outside Bolivia, as well as the youngest record for the family. On the basis of the new specimens, the phylogenetic position and paleobiogeography of andinictyids is briefly discussed. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DCCD2A3C-19A0-4F75-AFE3-DD3856173A07 Citation for this article: Bogan, S., F. L. Agnolin, and A. Scanferla. 2018. A new Andinichthyidae catfish (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes) from the Paleogene of northwestern Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1449117. 2018
Fishes are characterized by their capacity to occupy all aquatic environments and by their amazing range of size and morphology. While it is known that habitat influenced the diversity dynamics of fish clades, studies on environmental colonization events through the evolutionary history of ray-finned fishes have yielded conflicting results as to the origin of modern clades and preferential directions of shifts. The effects of habitat over morphological evolution such as body size remain poorly known in vertebrates. However, body size evolution is more frequently addressed in terms of variation through time and numerous studies have demonstrated that successive taxa within a clade tend to increase in size through time (Cope's or Depéret's rule). We use phylogenetic comparative methods on a genus-level actinopterygian super-tree based on extant and fossil data covering the Late Jurassic-Paleogene interval. Results indicate marine ancestry for freshwater lineages and a dominance of colonizations from marine clades towards other habitats. Similar trends in environment occupancy among different ray-finned clades are explored. Three main trends affecting non-closely-related clades are recognized: (i) the freshwater invaders, (ii) the predominantly marine dwellers and (iii) the environmentally labile fishes. Habitat effects on body size evolution are not statistically supported, but most actinopterygian subclades originate from small-sized ancestors and tend to increase in size in the course of their evolutionary history. This trend is clear for lineages restricted for long periods of time in the same environments, either marine or freshwater, but it is not observed in environmentally labile fish lineages.
Lepisosteoids are known for their evolutionary conservatism, and their body plan can be traced at least as far back as the Early Cretaceous, by which point two families had diverged: Lepisosteidae, known since the Late Cretaceous and including all living species and various fossils from all continents, except Antarctica and Australia, and Obaichthyidae, restricted to the Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil and Morocco. Until now, the oldest known lepisosteoids were the obaichthyids, which show general neopterygian features lost or transformed in lepisosteids. Here we describe the earliest known lepisosteoid (Nhanulepisosteus mexicanus gen. and sp. nov.) from the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian - about 157 Myr), of the Tlaxiaco Basin, Mexico. The new taxon is based on disarticulated cranial pieces, preserved three-dimensionally, as well as on scales. Nhanulepisosteus is recovered as the sister taxon of the rest of the Lepisosteidae. This extends the chronological range of lepisosteoids by about 46 Myr and of the lepisosteids by about 57 Myr, and fills a major morphological gap in current understanding the early diversification of this group.
The anthology and study of literature is an imperative aspect of any scientific research. Indeed, it provides the current status of the research problem and highlights any lacunas or flaws remaining in it. In addition, it also avoids the duplication of research work, increases the understanding of the research problem and provides better ways to address it. While describing a fossil specimen, the collection of literature becomes a serious concern in order to know whether the fossil was previously described. Earlier, the collection of palaeontological literature was not an easy task, but now the recent advent of information and communication technology, including internet browsing, makes the collection of literature much easier and rapid and, thus, extensively facilitates carrying out research in palaeontology rapidly.
A new fossiliferous intertrappean section is found 92 km southwest of the extensively studied intertrappean beds of Mohgaonkalan and Jhilmili in Chhindwara District, Central India. Application of the bulk screen-washing method led to the recovery of a rich microvertebrate fauna represented by fish, amphibians, crocodiles, snakes and dinosaurs. In this paper, the ichthyofauna recovered from the new intertrappean section consisting of Igdabatis indicus Prasad and Cappetta, 1993, Lepisosteus indicus Woodward, 1908, Osteoglossidae gen. et sp. indet., Pycnodontidae gen. et sp. indet. and Siluriformes indet. is described. The ichthyofauna dominantly represented by the teeth of Igdabatis indicus is suggestive of a nearshore, deltaic or estuarine palaeoenvironment and Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age for the intertrappean beds. The remarkable similarity of the new intertrappean fauna to that of Asifabad and the infratrappean beds of Marepalli also is suggestive of coastal-plain conditions all along the Godavari lineament in the Late Cretaceous. Although the presence of planktonic foraminifera in the intertrappean beds of Jhilmili in the Mandla Lobe of Deccan volcanic province has been inferred in terms of a short term marine incursion from the west coast along the Narmada lineament in the Early Palaeocene, currently there is no definitive evidence for the prevalence of marine or coastal-plain conditions along the Narmada lineament at least in the latest Cretaceous.
A very significant part of the world’s freshwater ichthyofauna is represented by ancient, exceptionally diverse and cosmopolitan ray-finned teleosts of the order Siluriformes. Over the years, catfish have been established as an exemplary model for probing historical biogeography at various scales. Yet, several tantalizing gaps still exist in their phylogenetic history, timeline and mode of diversification. Here, we re-examine the phylogeny of catfish by assembling and analyzing almost all publicly available mitogenome data. We constructed an ingroup matrix of 62 full-length mitogenome sequences from 20 catfish families together with four cypriniform outgroups, spanning 15,557 positions in total. Partitioned maximum likelihood analyses and Bayesian relaxed clock dating using fossil age constraints provide some useful and novel insights into the evolutionary history of this group. Loricarioidei are recovered as the first siluriform group to diversify, rendering Neotropics the cradle of the order. The next deepest clade is the South American Diplomystoidei placed as a sister group to all the remaining Siluroidei. The two multifamilial clades of “Big Asia” and “Big Africa” are also recovered, albeit nodal support for the latter is poor. Within “Big Asia”, Bagridae are clearly polyphyletic. Other interfamilial relationships, including Clariidae + Heteropneustidae, Doradidae + Auchenipteridae and Ictaluridae + Cranoglanididae are robustly resolved. Our chronogram shows that siluriforms have a Pangaean origin, at least as far back as the Early Cretaceous. The inferred timeline of the basal splits corroborates the “Out-of-South America” hypothesis and accords well with the fossil record. The divergence of Siluroidei most likely postdated the final separation of Africa and South America. An appealing case of phylogenetic affinity elaborated by biogeographic dispersal is exemplified by the Early Paleogene split between the Southeast Asian Cranoglanididae and Ictaluridae, with the latter radiating into North America’s freshwater realm by Eocene. The end of Cretaceous probably concludes the major bout of diversification at the family level while with the dawn of the Cenozoic a prolific radiation is evident at the generic level.
The Cretaceous was a special time for the Indian plate as it was separated from Gondwana landmasses
and started its northward journey across the Tethys Sea towards the Equator. The northward movement of this
plate implied shifting latitudes and climate belts, until it finally collided with Asia during the early Cenozoic.
Geophysical data and plate tectonic models show that after splitting from Gondwana, the Indian plate remained as
an isolated continent for more than 45 Ma during the Cretaceous; thus, it predicts a remarkable biotic endemism for the continent. Paleontological data on the Cretaceous vertebrates of India is best known for Maastrichtian time; in turn, the pre-Maastrichtian record is very poor—it contains very few fossils of fishes and marine reptiles. The Maastrichtian fossil record comprises vertebrates of Gondwana and Laurasian affinities and some endemic, ancient lineages as well. In order to explain the presence of vertebrates of multiple affinities in the Late Cretaceous of India, various biogeographic models have been proposed. The latter include extinctions, endemism, vicariance, dispersal (sweepstakes, filters and corridors), “Noah’s Ark,” “Docked Noah’s Ark,” “Viking Funeral Ship” and “land spans,” thus accounting for the biotic implications of the Cretaceous northward drifting of the Indian plate. The current paleontological data suggest the existence of both southern and northern biotic dispersals/connections,however, geophysical data instead favor a biotic endemism for the Indian plate during the Late Cretaceous. Here, an attempt has been made to document the consistencies between geophysical and paleontological data, in order to understand the biogeography of the Late Cretaceous vertebrates of India.
Flow-by-flow palaeomagnetic measurements of 37 lava flows in the 900 m-thick, isolated lava pile around Mandla in the eastern Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) reveals multiple magnetic polarity events: implying C29n–C28r–C28n magnetostratigraphy. Magnetic polarity results when traced out from section to section, maintaining the order of superposition, show juxtaposition of lava packages with distinct characters near Deori (e.g. flows 1–4 abated against flows 5–14) and the Dindori areas. At Dindori and towards its south, the distinct lava packages (e.g. flows 15–27 and flows 28–37) are juxtaposed along the course of Narmada river. It is explained by the presence of four normal post-Deccan faults in the Nagapahar, Kundam–Deori, Dindori and Badargarh–Amarkantak sectors: thus, signifying structural complexity with vertical shifts or offset of 150–300 m. Magnetic chron reversals in conjunction with field and chemical data support these findings. Further, these lavas are compositionally akin to Bushe, Poladpur, Ambenali and Mahableshwar Formational lavas, and follow the same stratigraphic order as in the Western Ghats. Alternating field (AFD) and thermal demagnetizations (THD) isolate the normal mean direction of the Mandla lobe: D=344.5° and I=−30°, where D and I are the mean declination and inclination of the each lava flow (α95=8.2; K=72.6; N=17, where α95 is the half-angle of the cone of 95% confidence about the mean direction, K is the precision parameter and N is the number of flows). The Virtual Geomagnetic Pole (VGP) position determined for these lavas, when compared with the Deccan Super Pole, indicates concordance with the main Deccan volcanic province, thus assigning a shorter period of eruption close to the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary (K/PB) for the eastern and western Deccan Traps.
Please visit the authors' website for this book: https://sites.google.com/view/fishes-of-the-world-5/welcome.
Fishes of the World, Fifth Edition is the only modern, phylogenetically based classification of the world’s fishes. The updated text offers new phylogenetic diagrams that clarify the relationships among fish groups, as well as cutting-edge global knowledge that brings this classic reference up to date. With this resource, you can classify orders, families, and genera of fishes, understand the connections among fish groups, organize fishes in their evolutionary context, and imagine new areas of research. To further assist your work, this text provides representative drawings, many of them new, for most families of fishes, allowing you to make visual connections to the information as you read. It also contains many references to the classical as well as the most up-to-date literature on fish relationships, based on both morphology and molecular biology.
The study of fishes is one that certainly requires dedication—and access to reliable, accurate information. With more than 30,000 known species of sharks, rays, and bony fishes, both lobe-finned and ray-finned, you will need to master your area of study with the assistance of the best reference materials available. This text will help you bring your knowledge of fishes to the next level.
- Explore the anatomical characteristics, distribution, common and scientific names, and phylogenetic relationships of fishes
- Access biological and anatomical information on more than 515 families of living fishes
- Better appreciate the complexities and controversies behind the modern view of fish relationships
- Refer to an extensive bibliography, which points you in the direction of additional, valuable, and up-to-date information, much of it published within the last few years.
711 pages, Index, Bibliography
Bulk sampling from Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Deccan volcano-sedimentary sequences at Kisalpuri (District Dindori, Madhya Pradesh) and Pisdura–Dongargaon (Chandrapur District, Maharashtra) in Peninsular India has yielded the dental remains of myliobatid and pycnodont fish. This fish fauna comprises Igdabatis indicus, Pycnodontoidea indet. and Pycnodontidae indet., and resembles assemblages known from Upper Cretaceous deposits in Africa and Europe. While paleobiogeographically speaking, the presence of Igdabatis suggests a series of shallow marine dispersals that may have occurred between Africa and India, possibly along the margins of the Kohistan–Ladakh island arc during the latest Cretaceous; the record of pycnodont fish favours instead a Gondwanan dispersal event.
The northernmost Deccan Trap-associated sedimentary sequence occurring as infratrappean is known as Papro Formation and is located near Papro village of Lalitpur District, Uttar Pradesh. The 10- to 15-m thick Papro Formation unconformably overlies the Vindhyan Supergroup (Kaimur sandstone). It comprises 5- to 6-m thick unconsolidated conglomerate, 3- to 4-m-thick soft, fine grained sandstones, 1-m thick marlite and 1- to 2-m thick chert in this order of superposition and is in turn overlain by Deccan Traps. The Papro Formation is rich in fossils such as gastropods, charophytes and micro-vertebrate remains. In the present work, eleven species of gastropod belonging to five genera (Viviparus, Valvata, Melania, Platyphysa and Lymnaea), four genera of charophytes (Stephanochara, Chara, Nemegtichara and Microchara) and four genera of fish teeth and scales (Lepisosteus, Pycnodus, Phareodus and Eomuraena) are described. Besides, few bone fragments and isolated vertebrae of amphibians were also recorded. The Papro Formation is correlatable with the Upper Cretaceous infratrappean beds of Pisdura, Maharashtra, intertrappean beds of Naskal and Asifabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Gurmatkal (Karnataka). The Infratrappean beds were deposited in a freshwater lacustrine domain.
Journal of the Paleontological Society of India, Vol. 45, 2000, pp. 57-78
LATE CRETACEOUS (MAASTRICHTIAN) OSTRACODS FROM THE LAMETA FORMATION, JABALPUR CANTONMENT AREA, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA
ASHU KHOSLA and ASHOK SAHNI
CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY IN GEOLOGY, PANJAB UNIVERSITY, SECTOR-14, CHANDIGARH - 160014, INDIA
ABSTRACT
Here we report the occurrence of an ostracod assemblage from the classic localities of the Lameta Formation (Maastrichtian) of Chui Hill and Bara Simla Hill, Jabalpur Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh, India. The assemblage comprising several thousand specimens includes several gigantic individuals measuring up to 4.1 mm in size. The present assemblage is large and taxonomically diverse comprising 10 genera and 15 species including one indeterminable form. In terms of diversity, the subfamily Cypridinae (Family Cyprididae) is dominant, represented as it is by 4 genera and 6 species (Altanicypris bhatiai n. sp., Eucypris cf. E. bajshintsavica, Mongolianella palmosa, Mongolianella khamariniensis, Mongolianella sp., and Mongolocypris cf. M. gigantea,). The subfamily Cypridopsinae (Family Cyprididae) is represented by ?Cypridopsis bugintsavicus and ? Cypridopsis sp. The Family Candonidae is represented by 3 species Candona altanulaensis, Candona (Candona) cf. C. (C). hubeiensis and Paracandona jabalpurensis. The subfamily Cyclocypridinae (Family Candonidae) is represented by single species Cyclocypris transitoria. The Family Cyprideidae is represented by Cypridea (Pseudocypridina) sp. The Family Darwinulidae is represented by Darwinula sp. 1 and 2 indet.
This ostracod assemblage exhibits considerable resemblance to other infratrappean assemblages of the Nand, Dhamni-Pavna sections (Maharashtra) and other intertrappean assemblages of Nagpur in central India, Mamoni in Rajasthan, Asifabad in Andhra Pradesh and Gurmatkal in south India. On the whole, the Jabalpur assemblage has distinct Mongolian and Chinese affinities (even down to species level). Important taxa include (Altanicypris- Cypridea- Candona- Cypridopsis- Darwinula- Mongolianella) which are characteristic of the non-marine, uppermost Cretaceous of Mongolia and China.
Key words : Ostracodes, Lameta Formation, Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), Jabalpur, India.
The charophyte assemblages of the Jhilmili and Ghat Parasia area in Central India exhibit strong relationships or affinities with Late Cretaceous charophyte assemblages from different continents, for instance, Asia, Americas, Europe and Africa, both generically and specifically, and support some palaeobiogeographic inferences. Chara is a rare Asian-affinity charophyte genus, and its presence in India favours dispersal events from Asia to India near the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary. According to the Jhilmili charophytes, the genera Chara, Nemegtichara, Peckichara and Platychara disseminated from Laurasia to India through a sweepstakes dispersal route via the Kohistan-Dras volcanic island-arc system. Cypridopsis, Eucypris and Gomphocythere are thought to be Indian dominant ostracod genera. Gomphocythere is thought to have migrated “Out-of-India” to North China, Africa and Alaska with nine species previously known from India. There are eleven species of Eucypris known from Indian Upper Cretaceous deposits, which may have originated in India and then spread to Mongolia, China and Europe. The presence of planktic foraminiferans and two brackish water ostracod genera Buntonia and Neocyprideis in Jhilmili suggests that during the Cretaceous-Palaeogene interval, shallow marine waters from the Bay of Bengal penetrated into the continental interior region of Central India via the Pranhita-Godavari rift systems or the Narmada-Tapti rift systems from the Arabian Sea.
The charophytes recovered from the intertrappean beds of Jhilmili and Ghat Parasia point to a shallow, alkaline, freshwater/lacustrine environment over a shallow marine environment during low tide intervals in Jhilmili and a freshwater environment in Ghat Parasia. The ostracod assemblage recovered from the four localities, namely, Jhilmili, Ghat Parasia, Shriwas (=Shiraj) well and Government well of the Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh, includes both passive swimmers (Darwinula, Frambocythere Gomphocythere and Limnocythere) and active swimmers (Cypridopsis, Mongolianella, Paracypretta and Zonocypris). The vast majority of the ostracod fauna suggests a freshwater, lacustrine low-energy depositional environment. The presence of two brackish water ostracod species (Buntonia whittakerensis sp. nov. and Neocyprideis raoi) and planktic foraminiferans fuels speculation about a marine seaway in central India from Maastrichtian-Early Palaeocene along the Narmada and Tapti rift zones by seasonal offshore currents (short lived transgressive phase). Deposition at Jhilmili locality in central India took place in mainly terrestrial semi-humid to dry environments, followed by a brief aquatic interval (60 ka) of fresh water lakes, which resulted in low coastal marine and estuarine conditions with early Danian Pla planktic foraminiferans and brackish water ostracods. The presence of fish remains containing myliobats, osteoglossids and lepisosteids has led to the conclusion that a freshwater environment prevailed during the deposition of fish-bearing units of the Ghat Parasia, Shriwas (= Shiraj) well and Government well, and Jhilmili intertrappean beds. Furthermore, their occurrences show the occurrence of a near-shore or coastal-plain environment.
Four stratigraphic sections (Jhilmili, Ghat Parasia, Shriwas (= Shiraj) well and, Government well) in the Chhindwara area, Madhya Pradesh, were chosen as part of the field investigations for this study. The basement rocks in the Chhindwara region are Archaean and Gondwana, which are unconformably overlain by the 1–14-m-thick, microbiota-rich intertrappean beds. The sections surrounding Chhindwara are made up of shale, clays, claystones, clayey limestones, cherts, marl, mudstones and siltstones. In terms of taxonomic diversity, intertrappean beds of Jhilmili and Ghat Parasia have yielded 10 taxa of charophytes, 3 of which are new; 34 taxa of ostracods, 3 of which are new (recovered from all of the four above-mentioned localities); and 10 taxa of planktic foraminiferans, from the sole locality of Jhilmili. In all of the four investigated stratigraphic sections, the intertrappean beds are overlain by the Deccan Traps.KeywordsGeologyChhindwara areaIntertrappeansGhat ParasiaGovernment wellJhilmiliShriwas (=Shiraj) wellMicrobiotaNarmada River region
French zoologist and naturalist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), one of the most eminent scientific figures of the early nineteenth century, is best known for laying the foundations of comparative anatomy and palaeontology. He spent his lifetime studying the anatomy of animals, and broke new ground by comparing living and fossil specimens - many he uncovered himself. However, Cuvier always opposed evolutionary theories and was during his day the foremost proponent of catastrophism, a doctrine contending that geological changes were caused by sudden cataclysms. He received universal acclaim when he published his monumental Le règne animal, which made significant advances over the Linnaean taxonomic system of classification and arranged animals into four large groups. The sixteen-volume English translation and expansion, The Animal Kingdom (1827–35), is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. First published in 1817, Volume 4 of the original version covers zoophytes and concludes with several beautiful plates.
The Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Akrabou Formation at Asfla in south east Morocco is a marine carbonate succession well-known for its exceptionally preserved, often three-dimensional marine vertebrate fossils. It is perhaps best known for its diverse ichthyological assemblage comprising both cartilaginous and bony fishes, notably teleosts and pycnodonts. However, holostean fishes (Holostei), particularly gars (Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) are previously unreported from the formation. Described here is a partial specimen consisting the articulated squamation of a notably large marine lepisosteiform (Gar). Fossil and extant gars are predominantly recorded in freshwater environments and therefore the occurrence of the new specimens in an outer shelf marine deposit is unusual. The Asfla specimen is confidently assigned to Lepisosteidae based on its characteristic squamation which differentiates it from all other gar families. Specimen biostratinomy and taphonomy is discussed with revision of the lepisosteiform fossil record of Morocco.
The superfamily Lepisosteoidea, popularly known as gars, is the only group of extant ginglymodian fishes that has its history traced back to the Mesozoic. The extant diversity of the superfamily comprises one family, two genera and seven species. The oldest fossils of Lepisosteoidea are known from Upper Jurassic deposits in Mexico. From the Early Cretaceous onwards, lepisosteoids diversified into two major lineages: Lepisosteidae, that encompasses modern gars, and the currently extinct family Obaichthyidae. In this paper, we report new lepisosteid remains, attributed for the first time to Atractosteus sp., from the Turonian–Santonian Adamantina Formation, Bauru Group, Brazil. The anatomical description and assessment of taxonomically relevant characters was employed with the support of data from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and histological analyses. The presence of plicidentine tooth structure and lepidosteoid-type scales, without an intercalated dentine layer, allows the assignment of these remains to Lepisosteidae. The size and density of the microornamentations of the scales of the new remains were also compared to measurements of other lepisosteoids, which allowed their assignment to Atractosteus. These new fossils allow biogeographical inferences regarding Lepisosteoidea origins and their distributions along the Mesozoic. The origin of Lepisosteoidea may have occurred in the Sinemurian-Toarcian of Tethys, whereas the origin of Lepisosteidae can be explained by a cladogenetic event associated with the break-up of the Pangaea supercontinent. Both vicariance or dispersal events could explain the presence of lepisosteids, originally from Africa or North America, in South American.
The Maastrichtian intertrappean beds of Kisalpuri and Kelapur, India, have yielded new amphibian and squamate reptile fossils that increase our knowledge of these groups. In addition to focusing on these two localities, we review the faunas of amphibians and squamates from other Maastrichtian intertrappean beds. In the Maastrichtian sites of India, aside from a possible salamander, amphibians are all anurans. Costata (formerly Discoglossidae) and Gobiatidae may be present and Neobatrachia are represented by four or five morphotypes. Importantly, one of the anurans (?Gobiatidae) appears identical to a form from the Late Cretaceous of Central Asia. Squamates are represented by lizards and snakes. Lizards comprise an Anguidae and five or six indeterminate taxa, including possible scincomorphs. Snakes include a primitive (possible stem) form, three Madtsoiidae, one Nigerophiidae, perhaps a booid, and a peculiar, unnamed taxon. These assemblages from Maastrichtian sites in India include taxa of both Laurasian and Gondwanan origins, but most taxa are still unidentifiable at the familial level and below.
Lepidotes bernissartensis is a species of holostean ray-finned fish from the Barremian-Aptian of Bernissart, Belgium, described by Traquair in 1911. We provide here a revision of its anatomy, which led us to include this species in the genus Scheenstia, and to consider L. brevifulcratus and L. arcuatus, both from the same site, synonymous with S. bernissartensis. We performed two cladistic analyses in order to assess the phylogenetic position of S. bernissartensis and to do an updated appraisal of the evolutionary history of the ginglymodians. Scheenstia is included in the Lepidotidae, and placed in a pectinated position between the basal genus Lepidotes and the more derived members of the family (other species of Scheenstia, Isanichthys and Camerichthys). The nodes within the lepidotids are weakly supported. Although S. bernissartensis is not directly related to S. mantelli from the Wealden of Europe, the two species have similar palaeoenvironments and stratigraphical ranges. Taken as a whole, the ginglymodians experienced several episodes of diversification that are spatially and temporally restricted. The oldest episode involved basal ginglymodians and occurred in the Middle Triassic, in marine environments along the northern margin of the Tethys. A second episode affected the Semionotidae and occurred in freshwater environments of North America and Europe in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The remaining Semionotiformes, Macrosemiidae and Callipurbeckidae, ranged from the Triassic to the Early Cretaceous and were mostly marine. Among the Lepisosteiformes, two clades, the Lepidotidae and the Lepisosteoidi, show episodes of diversification, first in marine and then in freshwater environments.
The Late Cretaceous (Santonian) fish fauna of the Iharkút vertebrate site (Bakony Mountains, Hungary) is described here. The ichthyofauna includes the lepisosteid Atractosteus sp., the pycnodontid cf. Coelodus sp., Vidalamiinae indet., a non-vidalamiin Amiidae indet., Elopiformes indet., two indeterminate ellimmichthyiforms, cf. Salmoniformes indet., Acanthomorpha indet., at least one indeterminate teleostean, and numerous indeterminate actinopterygians (represented by teeth). Among these taxa, the Iharkút remains of Vidalamiinae and the suggested indeterminate Salmoniformes represent their first occurrence in the Late Cretaceous of Europe. The unidentifiable specimens may suggest the presence of further fish taxa. The gar remains described here further support the Atractosteus sp. affinity of the Iharkút form. Most of the Iharkút fishes are carnivorous, but durophagous taxa are also represented. Although chondrichthyan remains have not been identified in the Iharkút vertebrate material up to now, the ecological distribution of some local fish taxa presumes the possible vicinity of a marine-deltaic environment. Several Iharkút fish taxa are known from North American localities as well, suggesting that the Late Cretaceous European continental fish might have been more diverse and similar to that of North America than previously thought. The necessity of more intensive screen-washing at other European Late Cretaceous vertebrate sites is also emphasized.
With more than 15,000 species, nearly a quarter of the total number of vertebrate species on Earth, freshwater fishes are extremely varied. They include the largest fish species, the beluga at over 7 meters long, and the smallest, the Paedocypris at just 8 millimeters, as well as the carnivorous, such as the piranha, and the calm, such as the Chinese algae eater. Certain species evolve rapidly, cichlids for example, while others transform very slowly, like lungfish. The fossils of these animals are very diverse in nature, sometimes just small scattered bones where sites correspond to ancient river beds or magnificent fossils of entire fish where there was once a lake. This book covers the history of these fishes over the last 250 million years by exploring the links between their biological evolution and the paleogeographic and environmental transformations of our planet, whether these be gradual or sudden. Gathers and synthetizes data from a vast number of publications regarding past freshwater assemblages and several fish lineages that invaded freshwaters Describes the work of the author's own team, concerning fauna from the Cretaceous of France, Morocco, and Thailand Presents the recent results of the tempo of diversification in freshwater environments and the evolutionary histories of clades and gar lineages.
A collection of fossil material from Eocene deposits of Pakistan includes remains belonging to various taxa of actinopterygian fishes. The material comes from predominantly freshwater deposits, as well as a few marine deposits, in the Kuldana Formation in the Kala Chitta Hills, and from the Chorgali Formation near Gali Jaghir, in Attock District of Punjab Province. The Kuldana and Chorgali formations are early to middle Eocene in age. Isolated bones and teeth are identified as belonging to Eotrigonodontidae, Pycnodontiformes, Amiidae, Osteoglossidae, Siluriformes (cf. Bagridae), and Perciformes, as well as unidentified Teleostei. Some of the fossils are skulls of a channiform fish, which is here described as a new genus and species, Anchichanna kuldanensis. The faunal affinities of the Indo-Pakistan area during the Eocene are not clear, with previous studies suggesting it is faunally more similar to other parts of modern Asia, others as it representing a region of endemism, or even as being similar to northern Africa. The fish material reported here indicates a relationship between the Pakistan fauna in the Eocene with that of northern Africa.
Siluriformes constitute an important monophyletic group of mainly freshwater fishes (Fink and Fink, 1996). Presently, there are about 35 families with over 2,000 species in all continents except Antarctica (Lundberg, 1993; Nelson, 1994); however, at least in the Eocene, they also inhabited Antarctica as well (Grande and Eastman, 1986). A small number of catfishes (most of the ariids and many of the plotosids) are marine and some species of other families can enter brackish waters (Nelson, 1994). Pre-Cenozoic catfishes are extremely rare outside of South America.
Lepisosteid fishes are well known from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe, but only by fragmentary remains from some Cenomanian and Campanian-Maastrichtian deposits. Here we report various cranial and postcranial remains of gars, discovered in the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation of Iharkút (Bakony Mountains, Hungary). These remains represent one of the most diverse assemblages of lepisosteid fish material from Upper Cretaceous continental deposits of Europe. Based on tooth morphology, scale-microstructure and the features of the supracleithrum we refer these remains to the genus Atractosteus. Besides some uncertain remains from the Cenomanian of France and Spain, the Santonian aged fossils from Iharkút represent the oldest undisputable occurrence of the family Lepisosteidae in the European continental Cretaceous. Using tooth crown morphology, the surface microstructure of the ganoid scales and the anatomy of the supracleithrum a review of the Late Cretaceous lepisosteid record suggests the occurrence of both Atractosteus and Lepisosteus in the European archipelago.
This paper presents a microvertebrate assemblage for the first time from the Fatehgarh Formation exposed in district Barmer, western Rajasthan. The vertebrate fauna represented by well preserved isolated bones, teeth and other skeletal materials, is associated stratigraphically with multiple layers of bedded phosphate and a diverse assemblage of marine benthic gastropods. The vertebrate assemblage comprises cf. Igdabatis sp., Semionotiformes indet., Lepisosteus indicus., ?Enchodontidae indet., Albuloidei indet. and ?Stephanodus sp. Besides, fragmentary pectoral and dorsal spines of Siluriformes indet. are also present. A Late Cretaceous age is suggested from close faunistic affinities of Fatehgarh vertebrates with those from Lameta and Intertrappean sequences. A nearshore marine palaeoenvironment is reconstructed from close stratigraphic and taphonomic association of microvertebrate assemblage with phosphorite and sand complex.