| Upper Maleri Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Norian ~ | |
 Artistic reconstruction of the Upper Maleri Formation paleoenvironment | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Gondwana Group |
| Underlies | Lower Dharmaram Formation |
| Overlies | Lower Maleri Formation |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 19°18′N 79°30′E / 19.3°N 79.5°E / 19.3; 79.5 |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 33°06′S 36°24′E / 33.1°S 36.4°E / -33.1; 36.4 |
| Region | Telangana |
| Country | India |
| Extent | Pranhita–Godavari Basin |
Upper Maleri Formation (India) | |
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.
Fossil content
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Dinosauriforms
| Dinosauriforms of the Upper Maleri Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Guaibasauridae Indet.1 | Indeterminate | A guaibasaurid sauropoomorph | ||||
| Jaklapallisaurus1 | J. assymetrica | Telangana | ISI R274, postcranial material1 | An unaysaurid sauropodomorph; also found in the Lower Dharmaram Formation | ||
| Nambalia1 | N. roychowdhurii | Telangana | ISI R273, including partial postcrania of at least three individuals of different sizes found closely associated1 | A basal bagualosaurian sauropodomorph | ||
| Maleriraptor2 | M. kuttyi | Pranhita-Godavari Valley | ISIR 282, partial sacral ribs, vertebrae, and pelvic girdle2 | A herrerasaurian saurischian | 
| |
Other amniotes
| Non-dinosaur Amniotes of the Upper Maleri Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Despatosuchini Indet.3 | Indeterminate | A desmatosuchin desmatosuchine | ||||
| Kranosaura3 | K. kuttyi | ISIR 269, a partial skull | A dome-headed protopyknosian archosauriform; closely related to Triopticus primus from the Colorado City Formation of Texas | |||
| Leptosuchomorpha Indet.3 | Indeterminate | A leptosuchomorph mystriosuchine; closely related to Leptosuchus studeri. | ||||
| Mystriosuchinae Indet.3 | Indeterminate | A mystriosuchine parasuchid; closey related to Angistorhinus grandis | ||||
| Paratypothoracini Indet.3 | Indeterminate | A paraypothoracini typothoracine | ||||
| Placeriinae Indet.3 | Indeterminate | A placeriine stahleckeriid | ||||
| Stahleckeriinae Indet.3 | Indeterminate | A stahleckeriine stahleckeriid | ||||
Temnospondyls
| Temnospondyls of the Upper Maleri Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Compsocerops4 | C. cosgriffi4 | A chigutisaurid temnospondyl; also found in the Santa Maria Formation5 | ||||
| Kuttycephalus4 | K. triangularis4 | A chigutisaurid temnospondyl5 | ||||
Fish
| Fishes of the Upper Maleri Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Image |
| Ferganoceratodus | F. hislopianus | A ceratodontiform lungfish | ||||
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.1
References
References
- 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. 101 (3–4): 333–349. doi:10.1017/S1755691011020093. ISSN 1755-6910. S2CID 128620874.
- Ezcurra, Martín D.; Garcia, Maurício Silva; Novas, Fernando E.; Müller, Rodrigo Temp; Agnolín, Federico L.; Chatterjee, Sankar (7 May 2025). "A new herrerasaurian dinosaur from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri Formation of south-central India". Royal Society Open Science. 12 (5). doi:10.1098/rsos.250081. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 12077243.
- 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". Journal of Anatomy. 239 (1): 184–206. doi:10.1111/joa.13414. PMC 8197959. PMID 33660262.
- Sengupta, Dhurjati P. (1995). "Chigutisaurid temnospondyls from the Late Triassic of India and a review of the Family Chigutisauridae" (PDF). Palaeontology. 38 (2): 313–339.
- Teschner, Elżbieta M.; Chakravorti, Sanjukta; Sengupta, Dhurjati P.; Konietzko-Meier, Dorota (8 September 2020). "Climatic influence on the growth pattern of Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Late Triassic of India deduced from paleohistology". PeerJ. 8 e9868. doi:10.7717/peerj.9868. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7485487. PMID 33194360.
Further reading
Further reading
- Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 1–880. ISBN 0-520-24209-2. Retrieved 21 February 2019.