Tiki Formation

Tiki Formation
Stratigraphic range: Carnian-Norian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Gondwana Group
Sub-units	Lower & Upper members
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone
Other	Claystone, sandstone
Location
Coordinates	23°54′N81°24′E / 23.9°N 81.4°E / 23.9; 81.4
Approximate paleocoordinates	42°36′S51°06′E / 42.6°S 51.1°E / -42.6; 51.1
Region	Madhya Pradesh
Country	India
Type section
Named for	Tiki village
Tiki Formation (India) Show map of India Tiki Formation (Madhya Pradesh) Show map of Madhya Pradesh

The Tiki Formation is a Late Triassic (Carnian to Norian) geologic formation in Madhya Pradesh, northern India. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus. ^[1] Phytosaur remains attributable to the genus Volcanosuchus have also been found in the Tiki Formation. ^[2]

The genera Tikiodon , Tikitherium and Tikisuchus and species Rewaconodon tikiensis , Hyperodapedon tikiensis and Parvodus tikiensis have been named after the Tiki Formation.

Paleobiota

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Cynodonts

Cynodonts of the Tiki Formation
Genus	Species	Material	Notes
Gondwanadon [3] [4]	G. tapani	A single molar	A morganucodont
Inditherium [5]	I. floris [5]	Three postcanine teeth	A dromatheriid
Rewaconodon [3]	R. indicus [5]	A partial jaw and three postcanine teeth	A dromatheriid
	R. tikiensis [6]
Ruberodon [3] [7]	R. roychowdhurii	Five partial jaws	A traversodontid
Tikiodon [3]	T. cromptoni	A single postcanine tooth	A mammaliamorph
Tikitherium [3] [8]	T. copei	A single postcanine tooth	A mammaliaform. Initially described as a basal mammaliaform related to Docodonta, but later redescribed as a Neogene shrew fossil that was reworked into the older deposit. [9]
Cynodontia indet.

Reptiles

Teeth similar to Galtonia, Protecovasaurus , ^[10] and Azendohsaurus ^[11] are known from the formation. Claws similar to shuvosaurids and dinosaurs ^[12] have also been reported, though their exact identification is questionable. Saurischian dinosaurs may have been present based on vertebrae and limb fragments. ^[13]

Reptiles of the Tiki Formation
Genus / Taxon	Species	Material	Notes
Clevosaurus [14]	C. nicholsi	Jaw fragments	A clevosaurid sphenodont
Colossosuchus [15]	C. techniensis [15]	Known from multiple skeletons, all likely died together	A very large mystriosuchine phytosaur
Desmatosuchnae Indet. [16]		osteoderms	A stagonolepidid aetosaur
Hyperodapedon [6]	H. huxleyi	Rare maxillary tooth plates [6]	A hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur, also known as Paradapedon . [17] This species is far more common in the coeval Lower Maleri Formation of central India.
	H.tikiensis [18]	Various cranial and postcranial elements	A hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur
Parasuchus [19] [6]	P. hislopi	Skulls	A basal (non-mystriosuchine) phytosaur
Tikisuchus [19]	T. romeri	The skull and some postcranial elements of a young individual	A putative rauisuchid
Volcanosuchus [20]	V. statisticae [20]	A skull	A mystriosuchine phytosaur
Ornithischia indet. [21] [6]
Phytosauria indet. [21] [22]
Pseudosuchia indet. [23]
Sphenodontia indet. [11] [21] [6]
Theropoda indet. [19]

Amphibians

Amphibians of the Tiki Formation
Genus	Species	Material	Notes
Eodiscoglossus [6]	E. sp	An incomplete jaw	A discoglossid frog
Compsocerops [24]	C. tikiensis		A chigutisaurid temnospondyl
Metoposaurus [19]	M. sp.		A metoposaurid temnospondyl
Panthasaurus	P. maleriensis		A metoposaurid temnospondyl

Fish

Fishes of the Tiki Formation
Genus	Species	Material	Notes
Cladodus [6]	C. sp.	Teeth	A ctenacanth
Gnathorhiza	G. sp. [25]	Teeth	A gnathorhizid lungfish
Lonchidion	L. estesi		A hybodont
	L. encumbens		A hybodont
Mooreodontus [11]	M. indicus [26]	Teeth	A xenacanthid
	M. jaini [26]	Teeth
Pristrisodus [27]	P. tikiensis [27]	Teeth	A hybodont, formerly known as Parvodus tikiensis and Lissodus duffini. [6]
Ptychoceratodus	P. oldhami [25]	Teeth	A ptychoceratodontid lungfish
Tikiodontus [26]	T. asymmetricus [26]	Teeth	A xenacanthid
Actinopterygii indet. [6]
Coelacanthidae indet. [6]

Flora

• Baiera sp. ^[28]
• Dicroidium sp. ^[28]
• Elatocladus sp. ^[28]
• Lepidopteris sp. ^[28]
• Pagiophyllum sp. ^[28]
• Sphenobaiera sp. ^[28]
• Xylopteris sp. ^[28]
• Yabeiella sp. ^[28]

Correlations

The Tiki Formation is considered a temporal equivalent of the Lower Maleri Formation. The majority of the Tiki Formation correlates with the Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina, the upper part of the Santa Maria Formation, and the overlying lower Caturrita Formation of Brazil, the Isalo II Beds of Madagascar, Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland, and the lower Tecovas Formation of the Chinle Group of North America.

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
  • List of stratigraphic units with indeterminate dinosaur fossils

References

1. Weishampel et al., 2004, "Dinosaur distribution", pp. 517-607
2. Chatterjee, 1978
3. Bhat, M. S.; Ray, S.; Datta, P. M. (2020). "New cynodonts (Therapsida, Eucynodontia) from the Late Triassic of India and their significances". Journal of Paleontology . 95 (2): 376–393. doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.95. S2CID   228836405.
4. Datta & Das, 1996
5. Bhat, M. S.; Ray, S.; Datta, P. M. (2020). "New cynodonts (Therapsida, Eucynodontia) from the Late Triassic of India and their significances". Journal of Paleontology. 95 (2): 376–393. doi:10.1017/jpa.2020.95.
6. Kumar & Sharma, 2019
7. Ray, S. (2015). "A new Late Triassic traversodontid cynodont (Therapsida, Eucynodontia) from India". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 35 (3): e930472. Bibcode:2015JVPal..35E0472R. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.930472. S2CID   86368800.
8. Datta, P. M. (2005). "Earliest mammal with transversely expanded upper molar from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Tiki Formation, South Rewa Gondwana Basin, India". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 25 (1): 200–207. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0200:EMWTEU]2.0.CO;2.
9. Averianov, Alexander O.; Voyta, Leonid L. (March 2024). "Putative Triassic stem mammal Tikitherium copei is a Neogene shrew" . Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 31 (1). doi:10.1007/s10914-024-09703-w. ISSN   1064-7554.
10. Ray, Sanghamitra; Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Datta, P. M. (2021-02-01). "First record of varied archosauriforms from the Upper Triassic of India based on isolated teeth, and their biostratigraphic implications" . Historical Biology. 33 (2): 237–253. Bibcode:2021HBio...33..237R. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1609957. ISSN   0891-2963.
11. Singh, Y. Priyananda; Sharma, K. Milankumar; Tiwari, Raghavendra Prasad; Patnaik, Rajeev; Singh, Nongmaithem Amardas; Singh, Ningthoujam Premjit (27 March 2023). "Lepidosauromorphs and associated vertebrate fauna from the Late Triassic Tiki Formation, South Rewa, Gondwana basin, India: implication for paleoenvironment and paleobiogeography" . Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy . 89 (2): 325–346. Bibcode:2023INSAP..89..325S. doi:10.1007/s43538-023-00162-0. ISSN   0370-0046 . Retrieved 27 December 2024– via Springer Nature Link.
12. Rakshit, Nibedita; Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Ray, Sanghamitra; Datta, P.M. (2018). "First report of dinosaurian claws from the Late Triassic of India" . Palaeoworld. 27 (2): 179–187. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2018.01.001.
13. Ray, Sanghamitra; Bhat, Mohd Safi; Mukherjee, Debarati; Datta, P. M. (2016-12-31). "Vertebrate fauna from the Late Triassic Tiki Formation of India: new finds and their biostratigraphic implications". Journal of Palaeosciences. 65 ((1-2)): 47–59. doi:10.54991/jop.2016.298. ISSN   2583-4266.
14. Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Datta, Debajit; Ray, Sanghamitra; Datta, P. M. (2023-01-02). "A new clevosaurid (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the Upper Triassic of India" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 43 (1). doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2232833. ISSN   0272-4634.
15. Datta, D.; Ray, S. (2023). "A giant phytosaur (Diapsida, Archosauria) from the Upper Triassic of India with new insights on phytosaur migration, endemism and extinction". Papers in Palaeontology. 9 (1). e1476. Bibcode:2023PPal....9E1476D. doi:10.1002/spp2.1476. S2CID   257103850.
16. Haldar, A.; Ray, S. (2025). "First report of desmatosuchine aetosaur (Pseudosuchia, Aetosauriformes) osteoderms from the Upper Triassic Tiki Formation of India: Their complex internal vascular system, functional significance and biostratigraphy". Journal of Anatomy. doi:10.1111/joa.14255. PMID   40205778.
17. Lydekker, 1885
18. Mukherjee, Debarati; Ray, Sanghamitra (2014). Benson, Roger (ed.). "A new Hyperodapedon (Archosauromorpha, Rhynchosauria) from the Upper Triassic of India: implications for rhynchosaur phylogeny". Palaeontology. 57 (6): 1241–1276. Bibcode:2014Palgy..57.1241M. doi:10.1111/pala.12113. ISSN   0031-0239.
19. Chatterjee & Majumdar, 1987
20. Datta, Debajit; Ray, Sanghamitra; Bandyopadhyay, Saswati (2021). "Cranial morphology of a new phytosaur (Diapsida, Archosauria) from the Upper Triassic of India: implications for phytosaur phylogeny and biostratigraphy". Papers in Palaeontology. 7 (2): 675–708. Bibcode:2021PPal....7..675D. doi:10.1002/spp2.1292. ISSN   2056-2802. S2CID   213698017.
21. Datta et al., 2005
22. Mukherjee & Ray, 2012
23. Huene, 1940
24. Chakravorti, Sanjukta; Sengupta, Dhurjati Prasad (2023-03-06). "The first record of chigutisaurid amphibian from the Late Triassic Tiki Formation and the probable Carnian pluvial episode in central India". PeerJ. 11: e14865. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14865 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   9997194 .
25. Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Ray, Sanghamitra (2020-03-15). "A record of new lungfishes (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi) from the Carnian (Upper Triassic) of India" . Historical Biology. 32 (3): 428–437. Bibcode:2020HBio...32..428B. doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1499020. ISSN   0891-2963.
26. Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Ray, Sanghamitra; Datta, P.M. (2018). "A new assemblage of freshwater sharks (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Triassic of India" . Geobios. 51 (4): 269–283. Bibcode:2018Geobi..51..269B. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2018.06.004.
27. Bhat, Mohd Shafi; Ray, Sanghamitra; Datta, P. M. (2018). "A new hybodont shark (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Triassic Tiki Formation of India with remarks on its dental histology and biostratigraphy" . Journal of Paleontology. 92 (2): 221–239. Bibcode:2018JPal...92..221B. doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.63. ISSN   0022-3360.
28. Pal, 1984

Bibliography

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