A collection of Tertiary fishes and molluscs from the Kuksho Formation of the Indus Group near Ny... more A collection of Tertiary fishes and molluscs from the Kuksho Formation of the Indus Group near Nyoma, Ladakh are described, The fish families represented are: Siluridae, Channidae and Cyprinidae. The fishes are associated with dextrally coiled gastropods and unionid pelecypods.
Journal of The Geological Society of India, Sep 1, 2004
The Kasauli Formation represents the initial stage of development of the foreland basin in respon... more The Kasauli Formation represents the initial stage of development of the foreland basin in response to the rising Himalaya. Here we report for the first time, a mammal (Rhinoceratidae, gen. et sp. indet) and some new taxa of fossil flowers from two localities, Shiv Mandir and Water Tank. The Kasauli Formation comprises of a grey/green, sometimes highly carbonaceous shale and massive grey/green sandstone sequence which so far has lacked an age-diagnostic biotic assemblage. The presence of a rhinoceratid, commonly known from other coeval sections of the Lower Murree in Pakistan and the Kalakot region, suggests the potential of finding suitable palaeontological temporal constraints for the fossil-bearing horizons. Two new taxa of fossil flowers, Kasaulipushpam and Trilobanthus are described. The present data suggests the presence of a well-watered landscape during Kasauli times in sharp contrast to more arid condition in the underlying Dagshai Formation which is predominantly red in colour.
Palaeontology tries to answer questions that are basic to our existence: How did life come into b... more Palaeontology tries to answer questions that are basic to our existence: How did life come into being and how did it develop mechanisms to sense the world in which we live and then make living duplicates of ourselves. Some of these phenomenon are preserved in rocks as fossils and it is the palaeontologist’s joy and duty to dig these out from the rock and interpret them in terms of science. Take for example the subject that drew me to this discipline, namely the evolution of sight.
... Teeth with smooth surfaces resemble those of the Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene Takli Forma... more ... Teeth with smooth surfaces resemble those of the Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene Takli Formation of Nagpur (Rana, 1984). Order Saurischia Page 8. 12 GVR PRASAD AND ASHOK SAHNI Family Megalosauridae gen. & sp. indet. ...
The Vastan Lignite Mine, situated about 30 km northeast of Surat in Gujarat, preserves a fairly c... more The Vastan Lignite Mine, situated about 30 km northeast of Surat in Gujarat, preserves a fairly continuous record of near shore lignites interbedded with lagoonal and open marine sediments bearing foraminifera and molluscs. This paper reports a teredo-infested fossil dicotyledonous wood belonging to Family Meliaceae from the carbonaceous shale sequence near the top of the Lower Eocene section. The wood is well preserved and shows resemblance with the extant woods of the genus Aglaia Lour. The presence of wood suggests a fluvial transport from its natural habitat of an inland moist tropical forest to a nearby coastal region. The profuse infestation of the wood by teredos further indicates considerable exposure before burial probably in a near shore lagoon or tidal flat area where it was bored by Teredolites.
Recent field prospecting in the Cretaceous sequences of the lower Narmada valley has led to the d... more Recent field prospecting in the Cretaceous sequences of the lower Narmada valley has led to the discovery of three isolated archosaur teeth from the upper part of marine Cretaceous rocks of the Bagh Group. The specimens were recovered by surface prospecting from an oyster‐bearing green sandstone bed occurring at the top of the Coralline Limestone (Coniacian) from a site near Phutibawri village, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Of the three teeth recovered from this horizon, two are identified with abelisaurid dinosaurs and the third one with an indeterminate crocodile. The abelisaurid teeth conform to the premaxillary and maxillary tooth morphology of Majungasaurus and Indosuchus. Earlier reports of abelisaurid dinosaurs from India are from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Group of Jabalpur, Pisdura (Central India) and Balasinor (Western India) and Upper Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) Kallamedu Formation (South India). As no associated age diagnostic fossils are fou...
A collection of Tertiary fishes and molluscs from the Kuksho Formation of the Indus Group near Ny... more A collection of Tertiary fishes and molluscs from the Kuksho Formation of the Indus Group near Nyoma, Ladakh are described, The fish families represented are: Siluridae, Channidae and Cyprinidae. The fishes are associated with dextrally coiled gastropods and unionid pelecypods.
Journal of The Geological Society of India, Sep 1, 2004
The Kasauli Formation represents the initial stage of development of the foreland basin in respon... more The Kasauli Formation represents the initial stage of development of the foreland basin in response to the rising Himalaya. Here we report for the first time, a mammal (Rhinoceratidae, gen. et sp. indet) and some new taxa of fossil flowers from two localities, Shiv Mandir and Water Tank. The Kasauli Formation comprises of a grey/green, sometimes highly carbonaceous shale and massive grey/green sandstone sequence which so far has lacked an age-diagnostic biotic assemblage. The presence of a rhinoceratid, commonly known from other coeval sections of the Lower Murree in Pakistan and the Kalakot region, suggests the potential of finding suitable palaeontological temporal constraints for the fossil-bearing horizons. Two new taxa of fossil flowers, Kasaulipushpam and Trilobanthus are described. The present data suggests the presence of a well-watered landscape during Kasauli times in sharp contrast to more arid condition in the underlying Dagshai Formation which is predominantly red in colour.
Palaeontology tries to answer questions that are basic to our existence: How did life come into b... more Palaeontology tries to answer questions that are basic to our existence: How did life come into being and how did it develop mechanisms to sense the world in which we live and then make living duplicates of ourselves. Some of these phenomenon are preserved in rocks as fossils and it is the palaeontologist’s joy and duty to dig these out from the rock and interpret them in terms of science. Take for example the subject that drew me to this discipline, namely the evolution of sight.
... Teeth with smooth surfaces resemble those of the Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene Takli Forma... more ... Teeth with smooth surfaces resemble those of the Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeocene Takli Formation of Nagpur (Rana, 1984). Order Saurischia Page 8. 12 GVR PRASAD AND ASHOK SAHNI Family Megalosauridae gen. & sp. indet. ...
The Vastan Lignite Mine, situated about 30 km northeast of Surat in Gujarat, preserves a fairly c... more The Vastan Lignite Mine, situated about 30 km northeast of Surat in Gujarat, preserves a fairly continuous record of near shore lignites interbedded with lagoonal and open marine sediments bearing foraminifera and molluscs. This paper reports a teredo-infested fossil dicotyledonous wood belonging to Family Meliaceae from the carbonaceous shale sequence near the top of the Lower Eocene section. The wood is well preserved and shows resemblance with the extant woods of the genus Aglaia Lour. The presence of wood suggests a fluvial transport from its natural habitat of an inland moist tropical forest to a nearby coastal region. The profuse infestation of the wood by teredos further indicates considerable exposure before burial probably in a near shore lagoon or tidal flat area where it was bored by Teredolites.
Recent field prospecting in the Cretaceous sequences of the lower Narmada valley has led to the d... more Recent field prospecting in the Cretaceous sequences of the lower Narmada valley has led to the discovery of three isolated archosaur teeth from the upper part of marine Cretaceous rocks of the Bagh Group. The specimens were recovered by surface prospecting from an oyster‐bearing green sandstone bed occurring at the top of the Coralline Limestone (Coniacian) from a site near Phutibawri village, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Of the three teeth recovered from this horizon, two are identified with abelisaurid dinosaurs and the third one with an indeterminate crocodile. The abelisaurid teeth conform to the premaxillary and maxillary tooth morphology of Majungasaurus and Indosuchus. Earlier reports of abelisaurid dinosaurs from India are from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Group of Jabalpur, Pisdura (Central India) and Balasinor (Western India) and Upper Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) Kallamedu Formation (South India). As no associated age diagnostic fossils are fou...
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