Pinjor Formation | |
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Stratigraphic range: Pleistocene ~ Pleistocene | |
Type | Geological formation |
Underlies | Tatrot Formation |
Location | |
Coordinates | 30°42′N76°48′E / 30.7°N 76.8°E |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 29°12′N77°18′E / 29.2°N 77.3°E |
Region | Hariyana, Punjab India, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Pakistan, Chandigarh |
Country | India |
The Pinjor Formation is a Cenozoic geologic formation in India. The fossils of large crocodilians and mammals have been recovered from the formation. [1]
Reptiles from the Pinjor Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Location | Notes | Images |
Rhamphosuchus [2] | R. crassidens | piece of rostrum, middle portion of craniurns, hind portion of mandibular symphysis, quadrate and quadratojugal, partial mandibular symphysis, several vertebrae, left ilium, small left ilium, right fibula, and several scute. | Chandigarh | A large gharial | |
Gavialis | G. browni | Chandigarh | Gharials | ||
G. gangeticus | |||||
G. sp. | |||||
Crocodylus | C. palustris | Chandigarh | Mugger Crocodiles | ||
C. biporcatus | |||||
C. palaeoindicus | |||||
Varanus [3] | V. sivalensis | Distal end of right humerus and dorsal vertebrae | Chandigarh | A large monitor lizard similar to Komodo dragon | |
Omegachelys | O. sahnii | Uttar Pradesh, | A Emydidae Turtle. | ||
Geoclemys | G. hamiltonii | Uttar Pradesh | A Geoemydidae Turtle. | ||
Hardella | H. thurjii | Uttar Pradesh | A Geoemydidae Turtle. | ||
Megalochelys | sp. | Chandigarh | A Soricidae. | ||
Mammals from the Pinjor Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Location | Notes | Images |
Elephas | E. maximus | Chandigarh | Asian elephants. | ||
E. platycephalus | |||||
E. hysudriscus | |||||
E. planifrons | |||||
Mus | M. linnaeusi | Chandigarh | A Rat. | ||
M. flynni | |||||
Tatera | T. pinjoricus | Chandigarh | A Gerbillinae. | ||
T. sp. | |||||
Punjabitherium | P. platyrhinum | Punjab | A Rhinoceros. | ||
Sivatherium | S. giganteum | Chandigarh | A Giraffe. | ||
Coelodonta | C. platyrhinus | Chandigarh | A Woolly rhinoceros. | ||
Camelus | C. sivalensis [4] | Chandigarh | A Camel. | ||
Stegodon | S. bombifrons | Chandigarh | A Stegodon. | ||
S. insignis | |||||
Vishnuictis | V. hinduiensis | Chandigarh | A large Viverrid. | ||
Enhydriodon | E. sivalensis | Himachal Pradesh | A large Otter. | ||
E. falconeri | |||||
Crocidura | sp. | Chandigarh | A Soricidae. | ||
Golunda | sp. | Chandigarh | A Murine. | ||
Bandicota | sp. | Chandigarh | A Muridae. | ||
Cremnomys | C. blanfordi | Chandigarh | A Rodent. | ||
Crocidura | sp. | Chandigarh | A Muridae. | ||
Dilatomys | sp. | Chandigarh | A Muridae. | ||
Mammals from the Pinjor Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Material | Location | Notes | Images |
Potamon | sp. | Chandigarh | A Crab. | ||
Hugh Falconer MD FRS was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna, and geology of India, Assam,Burma, and most of the Mediterranean islands and was the first to suggest the modern evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium. He studied the Siwalik fossil beds, and may also have been the first person to discover a fossil ape.
Rhinoceros is a genus comprising one-horned rhinoceroses. This scientific name was proposed by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus contains two species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros. Although both members are threatened, the Javan rhinoceros is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world with only 60 individuals surviving in Java (Indonesia). The word 'rhinoceros' is of Greek origin meaning "nose-horn".
The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas. The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'. The hills are known for their numerous fossils, and is also home to the Soanian Middle Paleolithic archaeological culture.
Titanosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs, first described by Richard Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian Lameta Formation of India.
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Equus sivalensis is an extinct species of large equid native to the northern Indian subcontinent. Remains date from the beginning of the Pleistocene, c. 2.58 million years ago until around 600,000 years ago, during the Middle Pleistocene. It is considered a "stenonine horse", meaning that it is more closely related to zebras and asses than true horses. Based on isotopes and teeth morphology, it is thought to have been a grazer. The later species Equus namadicus from the same region has sometimes been suggested to be a synonym due to their similar teeth morphology.
Hexaprotodon is an extinct genus of hippopotamid known from Asia and possibly Africa and Europe. The name Hexaprotodon means "six front teeth" as some of the fossil forms have three pairs of incisors.
The Soanian culture is a prehistoric technological culture from the Siwalik Hills, Pakistan. It is named after the Soan Valley in Pakistan.
Bramatherium is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger Sivatherium.
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Indraloris is a fossil primate from the Miocene of India and Pakistan in the family Sivaladapidae. Two species are now recognized: I. himalayensis from Haritalyangar, India and I. kamlialensis from the Pothohar Plateau, Pakistan. Other material from the Potwar Plateau may represent an additional, unnamed species. Body mass estimates range from about 2 kg (4.4 lb) for the smaller I. kamlialensis to over 4 kg (8.8 lb) for the larger I. himalayensis.
Megalochelys is an extinct genus of tortoises that lived from the Miocene to Pleistocene. They are noted for their giant size, the largest known for any tortoise, with a maximum carapace length of over 2 m (6.5 ft) in M. atlas. The genus ranged from western India and Pakistan to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia, though the island specimens likely represent distinct species.
The Himalayan foreland basin is an active collisional foreland basin system in South Asia. Uplift and loading of the Eurasian Plate on to the Indian Plate resulted in the flexure (bending) of the Indian Plate, and the creation of a depression adjacent to the Himalayan mountain belt. This depression was filled with sediment eroded from the Himalaya, that lithified and produced a sedimentary basin ~3 to >7 km deep. The foreland basin spans approximately 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in length and 450 kilometres (280 mi) in width. From west to east the foreland basin stretches across five countries: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.
Sivaladapis is a genus of adapiform primate that lived in Asia during the middle Miocene.
Enhydriodon is an extinct genus of mustelids known from Africa, Pakistan, and India that lived from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene. It contains nine confirmed species, two debated species, and at least a few other undescribed species from Africa. The genus belongs to the tribe Enhydriodontini in the otter subfamily Lutrinae. Enhydriodon means "otter tooth" in Ancient Greek and is a reference to its dentition rather than to the Enhydra genus, which includes the modern sea otter and its two prehistoric relatives.
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