Upper Maleri Formation Explained

Upper Maleri Formation
Type:Geological formation
Age:Norian
~
Period:Norian
Region:Telangana
Coordinates:19.3°N 79.5°W
Paleocoordinates:-33.1°N 36.4°W
Unitof:Gondwana Group
Underlies:Lower Dharmaram Formation
Overlies:Lower Maleri Formation
Extent:Pranhita–Godavari Basin

The Upper Maleri Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Telangana, India. It is one of the formations of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. It is of late Norian and possibly earliest Rhaetian ages (Late Triassic), and is notable for its fossils of early dinosaurs.

Paleobiota

Dinosauriforms

An unnamed guaibasaurid was present in the formation based on associated vertebrae, hip, and hindlimb material, specimens ISI R277. Two more indeterminate dinosauriform species are also known from the formation, based on specimens ISI R282 (a hip and three vertebrae) and ISI R284 (a right ilium similar to that of Nambalia roychowdhurii). Material from the formation has also been referred to Herrerasauridae.[1]

Dinosauriforms from the Upper Maleri Formation
Genus Species Location Material Notes Images
JaklapallisaurusJ. assymetricaTelanganaISI R274, postcranial materialAn unaysaurid sauropodomorph, also found in the Lower Dharmaram Formation
NambaliaN. roychowdhurii TelanganaISI R273, including partial postcrania of at least three individuals of different sizes found closely associatedA basal sauropodomorph

Other amniotes

Phytosaur fossils are known from the formation, including forms similar to Angistorhinus and Leptosuchus.[2] Indeterminate aetosaurs and dicynodonts have also been reported.

Temnospondyls

Temnospondyls from the Upper Maleri Formation
Genus Species Notes Images
Compsocerops[3] C. cosgriffiA chigutisaurid also found in the Santa Maria Formation[4]
KuttycephalusK. triangularisA chigutisaurid

Correlations

The formation has been correlated with the Forest Sandstone of Africa, the lower Caturrita Formation of the Paraná Basin in Brazil, the upper Ischigualasto Formation and lower Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of Argentina, and the Chinle Formation of North America.

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Novas . Fernando E. . Ezcurra . Martin D. . Chatterjee . Sankar . Kutty . T. S. . 2011 . New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of Central India . Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . en . 101 . 3–4 . 333–349 . 10.1017/S1755691011020093 . 128620874 . 1755-6910.
  2. Nesbitt . S. J. . Stocker . M. R. . Chatterjee . S. . Horner . J. R. . Goodwin . M. B. . 2021 . A remarkable group of thick-headed Triassic Period archosauromorphs with a wide, possibly Pangean distribution . . 239 . 1 . 184–206 . 10.1111/joa.13414 . 8197959 . 33660262.
  3. Sengupta . Dhurjati P. . 1995 . Chigutisaurid temnospondyls from the Late Triassic of India and a review of the Family Chigutisauridae . Palaeontology . 38 . 2 . 313–339.
  4. Teschner . Elżbieta M. . Chakravorti . Sanjukta . Sengupta . Dhurjati P. . Konietzko-Meier . Dorota . 2020-09-08 . Climatic influence on the growth pattern of Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Late Triassic of India deduced from paleohistology . PeerJ . en . 8 . e9868 . 10.7717/peerj.9868 . 2167-8359 . 7485487 . 33194360 . free .