Ichthyofauna (Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes) from the Upper Cretaceous intertrappean beds of Piplanarayanwar, Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh, India. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lourembam, Ranjit Singh; Prasad, Guntupalli V. R.; Grover, Pooja
• Is Part Of: Island arc. Volume 26:Number 1(2017)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: Deccan Traps -- ichthyofauna -- intertrappean beds -- Late Cretaceous -- palaeobiogeography -- Piplanarayanwar; Plate tectonics -- Periodicals; Island arcs -- Periodicals; Geodynamics -- Periodicals; 551.136
• DOI: 10.1111/iar.12180
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1038-4871

Abstract

Abstract: A new fossiliferous intertrappean section is found 92 km southwest of the extensively studied intertrappean beds of Mohgaonkalan and Jhilmili in Chhindwara District, Central India. Application of the bulk screen‐washing method led to the recovery of a rich microvertebrate fauna represented by fish, amphibians, crocodiles, snakes and dinosaurs. In this paper, the ichthyofauna recovered from the new intertrappean section consisting of Igdabatis indicus Prasad and Cappetta, 1993, Lepisosteus indicus Woodward, 1908, Osteoglossidae gen. et sp. indet., Pycnodontidae gen. et sp. indet. and Siluriformes indet. is described. The ichthyofauna dominantly represented by the teeth of Igdabatis indicus is suggestive of a nearshore, deltaic or estuarine palaeoenvironment and Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age for the intertrappean beds. The remarkable similarity of the new intertrappean fauna to that of Asifabad and the infratrappean beds of Marepalli also is suggestive of coastal‐plain conditions all along the Godavari lineament in the Late Cretaceous. Although the presence of planktonic foraminifera in the intertrappean beds of Jhilmili in the Mandla Lobe of Deccan volcanic province has been inferred in terms of a short term marine incursion from the west coast along the Narmada lineament in the Early Palaeocene, currently there is no definitive evidence for the prevalence of marine or coastal‐plain conditions along the Narmada lineament at least in the latest Cretaceous. Abstract : The paper describes an ichthyofauna recovered from a new Upper Cretaceous Deccan intertrappean section in Central India. The fauna predominantly represented by marginal marine batoid fishes favor a coastal‐plain depositional environment and together with similar occurrences at several sites along the Godavari graben point to the existence of a marine sea way along the Godavari graben in the Late Cretaceous.