Cambay Shale Formation Explained

Cambay Shale Formation
Type:	Geological formation
Age:	Eocene ~
Period:	Early eocene
Region:	Gujarat

The Cambay Shale Formation is geologic formation in the Cambay Basin, India. It is of lower Eocene age. It varies in thickness from a few meters on the margins of the basin to more than 2,500m in the depressions. It directly overlies the Olpad Formation and is, in turn, overlain by the Anklesvar Formation in the southern part of the basin and by Kalol Formation in the northern part of the basin. Further north, the Cambay Shale, in its lower part, is gradually replaced by tongues of paralic-deltaic Kadi Formation and finally by Tharad Formation.

Source: Perroleum Geology of the Cambay Basin, India by LR Chowdhary, Indian Petroleum publishes, Dehradun, India.

Paleobiota

Plants

Plants from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Pterospermoxylon	P. suratensis		An angiosperm.
Anthocephalophyllum	A. vastanicum		An angiosperm.
Ebenoxylon	E. cambayense		An angiosperm.
Gardeniophyllum	G. cambayum		An angiosperm.
Calophyllaceophyllum	C. eocenicum		An angiosperm.
Carallioipollenites	C. integerrimoides		An angiosperm known from fossilised pollen.
Gynocardia	G. eocenica		An angiosperm.

Mammals^[1]

Anthracobunians from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Cambaytherium	C. thewissi C. gracilis C. bidens		A cambaytheriid.
Kalitherium	K. marinus		Another cambaytheriid.
Indobune	I. vastanensis		A possible anthracobunid.

Primates^[2] from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Asiadapis	A. cambayensis A. tapiensis		An Asiadapine.
Marcgodinotius	M. indicus		Another Asiadapine.
Vastanomys	V. gracilis V. major		A omomyid.

Tapiromorphs from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Cambaylophus^[3]	C. vastanensis		A tapiromorph.
Vastanolophus^[4]	V. holbrooki		A tapiromorph.

Cimolestans from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Suratilestes	S. gingerichi		A cimolestan.
Anthraconyx	A. hypsomylus		A esthonychid

Bats from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Archaeonycteris	A. storchi		A bat.
Protonycteris	P. gunnelli		A bat.
Cambaya	C. complexus		A bat.
Hassianycteris	H. kumari		A bat.
Icaronycteris	I. sigei		A bat.
Jaegeria	J. cambayensis		A bat.
Microchiropteryx	M. folieae		A bat.

Other mammals from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Frugivastodon	F. cristatus		A apatemyid.
Indolestes	I. kalamensis		An adapisoriculid.
Indodelphis	I. luoi		A opossum.
Meldimys^[5]	M. musak		A rodent.
Indonyctia^[6]	I. cambayensis		A nyctitheriid.

Reptiles

Lizards from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Indiagama	I. gujarata		A iguanian.
Suratagama	S. neeraae		A iguanian.
Tinosaurus	T. indicus		A iguanian.
Vastanagama	V. susanae		A iguanian.
Heterodontagama	H. borsukae		A priscagamid iguanian.

Snakes from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Platyspondylophis	P. tadkeshwarensis		A Madtsoiid.
Russellophis	R. crassus		A russelophiid.
Procerophis	P. sahnii		A snake.
Thaumastophis	T. missiaeni		A snake.
Palaeophis	P. vastaniensis		A paleophiid snake.

Amphibians

Amphibians from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Eobarbourula	E. delfinoi		A toad.
Indorana	I.prasadi		A frog.

Arthropods

Crabs

Insects

Beetles from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Protoclaviger^[7]	P.trichodens		A Beetle.
Cambaltica	C. paleoindica		A Flea Beetle.
Paleosorius	P. cambayensis		A Rove Beetle.

Hemipterans^[8] from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Heteromargarodes	H. hukamsinghi H. americanus		A sand pearl.
Normarkicoccus	N. cambayae		A diaspidid scale insect.

Termites^[11] from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Nanotermes	N. isaacae		A termitid termite.
Prostylotermes	P. kamboja		A Stylotermitid termite.
Parastylotermes	P. krishnai		A Stylotermitid termite.
Zophotermes	Z. ashoki		A Rhinotermitid termite

Flies from the Cambay Shale formation
Genus	Species	Stratigraphic position	Notes	Images
Sycorax^[12]	S. longistyla		A moth fly.
Phlebotoiella	P. eoindianensis		A moth fly of unceritian affinities.
Dicranomyia	D. (Dicranomyia) indica		The oldest known Crane fly and tipulomorph.^[13]
Stempellina	S.pollex S.stebneri		A non-biting midge
Tanytarsus	T.forfex T.ramus		A non-biting midge
Camptopterohelea	C. odora		A non-biting midge
Eohelea	E. indica		A biting midge
Gedanohelea	G. gerdesorum		A biting midge
Indorrhina	I.sahnii		A biting midge
Lygistorrhina	L. indica		A biting midge
Meunierohelea	M. borkenti		A biting midge
Meunierohelea	M. cambayana		A biting midge
Meunierohelea	M. orientalis		A biting midge
Palaeognoriste	P. orientale		A biting midge

Arachnids

Fish

Notes and References

1. Web site: Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India.
2. Early Eocene Primates from Gujarat, India. Kenneth D.. Rose. Rajendra S.. Rana. Ashok. Sahni. Kishor. Kumar. Pieter. Missiaen. Lachham. Singh. Thierry. Smith. April 1, 2009. Journal of Human Evolution. 56. 4. 366–404. ScienceDirect. 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.008. 19303624 .
3. Oldest South Asian tapiromorph (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the Cambay Shale Formation, western India, with comments on its phylogenetic position and biogeographic implications. Vivesh V.. Kapur. Sunil. Bajpai. December 31, 2015. Journal of Palaeosciences. 64. (1-2). 95–103. jpsonline.co.in. 10.54991/jop.2015.104. 252301155 . free.
4. https://palaeovertebrata.com/articles/view/344
5. Web site: An ailuravine rodent from the lower Eocene Cambay Formation at Vastan, western India, and its palaeobiogeographic implications - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. www.app.pan.pl.
6. A nyctitheriid insectivore (Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) of Asian affinity from the early Eocene of India. Debasis P.. Das. Nora. Carolin. Sunil. Bajpai. July 3, 2022. Historical Biology. 34. 7. 1157–1165. Taylor and Francis+NEJM. 10.1080/08912963.2021.1966002. 238735010 .
7. Web site: Specialized Myrmecophily at the Ecological Dawn of Modern Ants: Current Biology.
8. Diverse New Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) in Amber from the Cretaceous and Eocene with a Phylogenetic Framework for Fossil Coccoidea . 10.1206/3823.1 . 2015 . Vea . Isabelle M. . Grimaldi . David A. . American Museum Novitates . 3823 . 1–15 . 73702369 .
9. Coniopterygidae (Neuroptera: Aleuropteryginae) in Amber from the Eocene of India and the Miocene of Hispaniola . 10.1206/3770.2 . 2013 . Grimaldi . David . Engel . Michael S. . Nascimbene . Paul c. . Singh . Hukam . American Museum Novitates . 3770 . 20–39 . 56567508 .
10. The bees of Early Eocene Cambay amber (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Michael S.. Engel. Jaime. Ortega-Blanco. Paul C.. Nascimbene. Hukam. Singh. December 17, 2013. Journal of Melittology. 25. 1–12. journals.ku.edu. 10.17161/jom.v0i25.4659. 1808/14444. free.
11. The termites of Early Eocene Cambay amber, with the earliest record of the Termitidae (Isoptera). Michael. Engel. David. Grimaldi. Paul. Nascimbene. Hukam. Singh. November 21, 2011. ZooKeys. 148 . 105–123. zookeys.pensoft.net. 10.3897/zookeys.148.1797 . 22287892 . 3264413 . free .
12. A new species of Sycorax (Sycoracinae: Psychodidae) from the Lower Eocene amber of Tadkeshwar, Gujarat, India. Rüdiger. Wagner. Priya. Agnihotri. Hukam. Singh. August 25, 2022. Palaeoentomology. 5. 4. 319–326. mapress.com. 10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.4.4. 251861581 .
13. The first representative of Tipulomorpha (Diptera) from Early Eocene Cambay amber (India). Iwona. Kania. Wiesław. Krzemiński. Frauke. Stebner. Hukam. Singh. June 11, 2016. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 107. 2–3. 263–269. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/S1755691017000433. 134226776 .
14. Whipspiders (Arachnida: Amblypygi) in amber from the Early Eocene and mid-Cretaceous, including maternal care. Michael S.. Engel. David A.. Grimaldi. August 6, 2014. Novitates Paleoentomologicae. 9. 1–17. journals.ku.edu. 10.17161/np.v0i9.4765. free. 1808/15287. free.