| Lower Maleri Formation | |
| Type: | Geological formation |
| Age: | Late Carnian–early Norian |
| Period: | Norian |
| Region: | Andhra Pradesh & Telangana |
| Coordinates: | 19.2°N 79.7°W |
| Paleocoordinates: | -36.4°N 38.2°W |
| Unitof: | Gondwana Group |
| Underlies: | Upper Maleri Formation |
| Overlies: | Basement |
| Extent: | Pranhita–Godavari Basin |
The Lower Maleri Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India. It is the lowermost member of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. It is of late Carnian to early Norian age (Upper Triassic), and is notable for its fossils of early dinosaurs, including the basal saurischian (possible theropod) Alwalkeria.[1]
cf. Angistorhinus and cf. Typothorax have also been recovered from it.[2] [3]
| Vertebrates from the Lower Maleri Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
| Alwalkeria | A. maleriensis | Andhra Pradesh | "Partial skull and postcranial remains."[4] | |||
| Panthasaurus | P. maleriensis | A temnospondyl | ||||
| Exaeretodon | E. statisticae | |||||
| Hyperodapedon | H. huxleyi | |||||
| Malerisaurus | M. robinsonae | |||||
| Massospondylus | M. hislopi | Andhra Pradesh | "Isolated vertebrae."[5] | Later found to be indeterminate prosauropod remains | ||
| Parasuchus | P. hislopi | |||||
| Plateosaurus | Indeterminate | Andhra Pradesh | Later found to be indeterminate prosauropod remains | |||
The formation has been correlated with the Molteno Formation (Karoo Basin) and Pebbly Arkose Formation of Africa, the Santa Maria Formation of the Paraná Basin in Brazil, the Ischigualasto Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of Argentina and the lowermost Chinle Formation of North America.[6]