Saswati Bandyopadhyay

The ungual phalanges of theropod dinosaurs discovered in the Lameta Formation (Maastrichtian), central India, exhibit distinctive characters unknown in other theropods. Hence, their taxonomic identification remained obscure since their original description in 1933. Recent discoveries of abelisaurid theropods in Patagonia indicate that the phalanges from India belong to the foot of these dinosaurs. New information on the foot skeleton of this group of Cretaceous Gondwanan predators is included herein. KEY WORDS. Theropoda. Abelisauridae. Unguals. Cretaceous. Gondwana.

Background Jainemys pisdurensis comb. nov. is an extinct pleurodiran turtle from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India, previously referred to Carteremys and Shweboemys. The holotype, an eroded skull, had been collected near the village of Pisdura, south of Nagpur, in Maharashtra State, while all referred shell material originates from coeval sediments exposed at the nearby village of Dongargaon. Initial estimates believed this turtle to either be an early representative of Podocnemididae or a basal representative of Pelomedusoides. Methods We here figure and describe all specimens that had previously been referred to Jainemys pisdurensis comb. nov. We furthermore re-evaluate the validity of this fossil turtle and explore its phylogenetic relationships within Pleurodira. Results The holotype of Jainemys pisdurensis comb. nov. displays a morphology that differs substantially from that originally reported. Most notably, the palatines only have a minor contribution to the broad ...

Neogene (Siwalik-aged) deposits from India and Pakistan have yielded many vertebrate fossils, of which most were named during the 19th century, including numerous geoemydid turtles. In contrast to many other faunal components from the Siwaliks, geoemydids have not undergone taxonomic revision for more than a century and most fossils have therefore been believed to correspond to recent taxa. In this study, we conduct a taxonomic revision of all previously described geoemydid material from the Siwalik-age. We propose that all specimens of ‘Clemmys’ from the Siwaliks of Punjab, Pakistan should be identified as Melanochelys sivalensis comb. nov.; that Melanochelys tricarinata var. sivalensis represents a valid species, for which we propose the replacement name Melanochelys tapani to avoid homonymy; that specimens originally identified as Batagur cautleyi and Pangshura flaviventer cannot be identified beyond the generic level; and that many fragmentary palatochelydians cannot be identifi...

Background Indochelys spatulata is an extinct turtle from the Early to Middle Jurassic Kota Formation of the Pranhita–Godavari Gondwana basin, India. The holotype and previously only known specimen is a partially eroded shell that had been collected near Kota village, north of Sironcha, in Maharashtra State. Phylogenetic analyses have consistently suggested placement at the base of the clade Mesochelydia. Methods We here figure and describe the holotype of Indochelys spatulata and two new specimens, which were collected from the Kota Formation near Kistapur village, Telengana State, about 60 km NW from the type locality. We furthermore explore the relationships of this fossil turtle by updating its scoring based on all available material in the most recent analysis of basal turtle relationships. Results The revision of the holotype of Indochelys spatulata provides minor adjustments to the morphology of this specimen, in particular recognition of a transverse break across the carapac...

... RoyChowdhury, TK, Sengupta, DP (2002) Taphonomy of some Gondwana vertebrate assemblages of India. Sed Geol, 147:219–245. Botha, J (2003) Biological aspects of the Permian dicynodont Oudenodon (Therapsida: Dicyno-dontia) deduced from bone histology and cross ...

Wadiasaurus indicus is so far the only kannemeyeriid known for certain from India, from the early Middle Triassic Yerrapalli Formation of the Pranhita- Godavari valley. Recently, a large number of bones have been recovered from a single locality very close to the site from where the type skull of Wadiasaurus had been collected earlier. These new specimens indicate that modification of the skull characters given in previous descriptions is necessary, and also give information about the lower jaw and postcranial skeleton which confirms the familial status as earlier suggested. The parietal crest of the skull is quite specialized, forming a narrow median crest anteriorly but diverging posteriorly, half-way along its total length, to form two long rounded lobe-like bars separated by a bay. Maxillary flanges of the male members are triangular, thick and swollen, with stout cylindrical tusks; those of females are weak, laterally compressed and tuskless. A comparative study of Wadiasaurus and other kannemeyeriid genera indicates that it might have been most closely related to Kannemeyeria erithrea. A taphonomic study of the bone assemblage reveals that a herd of Wadiasaurus, including some juveniles and young animals, was trapped in the soft muds of a floodplain and buried in a small area. The herd was composed only of females, with some juvenile members. Taphonomic and osteological studies tend to indicate that the female individuals of Wadiasaurus lived in herds, whereas the solitary males joined the herds only during the mating seasons.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17(1):114-136, March 1997 © 1997 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology NEW TITANOSAURID (DINOSAURIA: SAUROPODA) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF CENTRAL INDIA SOHAN L. JAIN* and SASWATI BANDYOPADHYAY Geological ...

Abstract:  The sauropod dinosaur, Barapasaurus tagorei, is known from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation (Sinemurian to Pliensbachian) of India. The taxon is represented by c. 300 bones that were found associated with large fossilized tree trunks and were collected from the interface of sandstone and mudstone units covering an area of c. 276 m2. The collection includes one partial skeleton; most of the remainder of the bones were disarticulated, disassociated and dispersed, but taphonomic analysis permits recognition of associated elements comprising several individuals. Skeletal anatomy of Barapasaurus includes several teeth, vertebrae from the caudal cervicals rearward to the terminal caudals, and most elements of the appendicular skeleton. Barapasaurus is characterized by spoon-shaped teeth with bulbous bases and grooves on the anterolabial and posterolingual sides of the crown, coarse tubercles on the carina, acamerate cranial and dorsal vertebrae, lateral laminae of the middle and caudal dorsal neural spines composed of spinodiapophyseal and spinopostzygapophyseal laminae, neural canal of the mid-dorsal vertebrae opens dorsally through a narrow slit into a large cavity and sacrum with four co-ossified vertebrae. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that Barapasaurus is basal in comparison with Vulcanodon and is removed from Eusauropoda.

The Gondwana formations of India, comprising a thick succession of Permo-Mesozoic continental sedimentary rocks, occur in rift basins formed within the Indian plate. Successions developed in some of the Gondwana basins namely—Pranhita–Godavari, Damodar, Satpura and Son–Mahanadi, contain an array of vertebrate fossil assemblages. Among the four basins, the Pranhita–Godavari basin contains vertebrate assemblages from Late Permian, Middle and Late Triassic

... Thanks are due to PS Ghosh, SN Sarkar, T. RoyChowdhury and DP Sengupta of Indian Statistical Institute for their constant help and ... 45 Fernando E. Novas, Sankar Chatterjee, Dhiraj K. Rudra, and PM Datta 4 Pterosauria from the Late Triassic of Southern Brazil..... ...