The oldest Asian record of alpheid shrimps,assigned to genus Alpheus,based on snapping claw fingertips from the Miocene Khari Nadi Formation in the Kutch Basin,western India reported herein,extends the fossil record o...The oldest Asian record of alpheid shrimps,assigned to genus Alpheus,based on snapping claw fingertips from the Miocene Khari Nadi Formation in the Kutch Basin,western India reported herein,extends the fossil record of the family Alpheidae from Asia by~22 million years.An early Miocene(Aquitanian)age is estimated based on the associated assemblage of calcareous nannofossils,Sphenolithus disbelemnos,Cyclicargolithus floridanus,and Reticulofenestra haqii.The co-occurring microbiota includes bony fish otolith remains,identified as“genus Gobiidarum”,isolated teeth of Dasyatis rays,Sphyrna sharks,and teleosts,ctenoid and placoid scales,ostracods,belonging to the genera Paractinocythereis,Alocopocythere,Ruggieria,Aglaiocypris,Bairdoppilata,and echinoid spines.Taken together,the microfossil assemblage and data from chemical analyses using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy,X-Ray Diffraction and Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence of host and associated lithologies suggests prevalence of a shallow(neritic)to coastal marine(intertidal)depositional paleoenvironment.The present investigation also provides the oldest fossil evidence on the co-occurrence of Alpheus and gobiids(based on otoliths)that strongly advocates that the mutualistic association between these animal groups had developed by the Aquitanian.展开更多
This paper reviews research on coprolites from India,providing the first evidence of microcoprolites from the early Miocene(Aquitanian)Khari Nadi Formation sedimentary succession,exposed about 1.5 km northeast of the ...This paper reviews research on coprolites from India,providing the first evidence of microcoprolites from the early Miocene(Aquitanian)Khari Nadi Formation sedimentary succession,exposed about 1.5 km northeast of the village of Kotada,Kachchh(Kutch)District,Gujarat State,western India.Morphometric and size comparisons(in a statistical framework)with known coprolites from the Mesozoic-Cenozoic successions of India(including those recorded herein)and globally suggest that fishes were the likely producers of the Kotada coprolites.Scanning electron microscopy confirms the presence of fish dental remains within the coprolites,while both Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM)and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy(EDS)reveal the phosphatic nature of the microscopic coprolite specimens(recorded herein)hinting that the producer(s)were predominantly carnivorous(ichthyophagous)in their diet.Furthermore,X-Ray Fluorescence(XRF)analysis of the host and associated lithologies allows us to deduce that the Kotada coprolites were deposited in a shallow marine environment,with possible aerial exposure of the host lithology occurring at some point after deposition.To the best of our knowledge,the present report is the first record of microscopic fish coprolites from India,as well as being the first from the Aquitanian of India and the oldest Neogene record from India.展开更多
基金granted by the BSIP LucknowIndia in the form of an In-house Project No. 3 (2021–2025)
文摘The oldest Asian record of alpheid shrimps,assigned to genus Alpheus,based on snapping claw fingertips from the Miocene Khari Nadi Formation in the Kutch Basin,western India reported herein,extends the fossil record of the family Alpheidae from Asia by~22 million years.An early Miocene(Aquitanian)age is estimated based on the associated assemblage of calcareous nannofossils,Sphenolithus disbelemnos,Cyclicargolithus floridanus,and Reticulofenestra haqii.The co-occurring microbiota includes bony fish otolith remains,identified as“genus Gobiidarum”,isolated teeth of Dasyatis rays,Sphyrna sharks,and teleosts,ctenoid and placoid scales,ostracods,belonging to the genera Paractinocythereis,Alocopocythere,Ruggieria,Aglaiocypris,Bairdoppilata,and echinoid spines.Taken together,the microfossil assemblage and data from chemical analyses using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy,X-Ray Diffraction and Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence of host and associated lithologies suggests prevalence of a shallow(neritic)to coastal marine(intertidal)depositional paleoenvironment.The present investigation also provides the oldest fossil evidence on the co-occurrence of Alpheus and gobiids(based on otoliths)that strongly advocates that the mutualistic association between these animal groups had developed by the Aquitanian.
基金funding support from BSIP in the form of In-house Project No.2.17(XIII five-year plan)。
文摘This paper reviews research on coprolites from India,providing the first evidence of microcoprolites from the early Miocene(Aquitanian)Khari Nadi Formation sedimentary succession,exposed about 1.5 km northeast of the village of Kotada,Kachchh(Kutch)District,Gujarat State,western India.Morphometric and size comparisons(in a statistical framework)with known coprolites from the Mesozoic-Cenozoic successions of India(including those recorded herein)and globally suggest that fishes were the likely producers of the Kotada coprolites.Scanning electron microscopy confirms the presence of fish dental remains within the coprolites,while both Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM)and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy(EDS)reveal the phosphatic nature of the microscopic coprolite specimens(recorded herein)hinting that the producer(s)were predominantly carnivorous(ichthyophagous)in their diet.Furthermore,X-Ray Fluorescence(XRF)analysis of the host and associated lithologies allows us to deduce that the Kotada coprolites were deposited in a shallow marine environment,with possible aerial exposure of the host lithology occurring at some point after deposition.To the best of our knowledge,the present report is the first record of microscopic fish coprolites from India,as well as being the first from the Aquitanian of India and the oldest Neogene record from India.
