Lower Dharmaram Formation

The Lower Dharmaram Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is one of the formations of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. It is of latest Norian and Rhaetian ages (Upper Triassic), and is notable for its fossils of early dinosaurs.

Lower Dharmaram Formation Stratigraphic range: Latest Norian–Rhaetian ~211–202 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Gondwana Group
Underlies	Upper Dharmaram Formation
Overlies	Upper Maleri Formation
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, Mudstone
Location
Coordinates	19.2°S 79.6°W / -19.2; -79.6
Approximate paleocoordinates	32.3°S 36.1°W / -32.3; -36.1
Region	Andhra Pradesh
Country	India
Extent	Pranhita–Godavari Basin
Type section
Named for	Dharmaram
Lower Dharmaram Formation (India)

Vertebrate fauna

cf. Paratypothorax, cf. Nicrosaurus, fragmentary remains of sauropodomorphs (ISI R279, 280, 281) and neotheropods (ISI R283) have also been recovered from it.[1]

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.

Dinosaurs reported from the Lower Dharmaram Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Jaklapallisaurus	J. assymetrica[1]	Andhra Pradesh		"ISI R279, distal end of right femur."[1]	A plateosaurid, also found in the Upper Maleri Formation

Correlations

The formation has been correlated with the Lower Elliot Formation (Karoo Basin) and Forest Sandstone of Africa, the Caturrita Formation of the Paraná Basin in Brazil, the Laguna Colorada and Los Colorados Formations (Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin) of Argentina, the Chinle Formation of North America, the Trössingen Formation of the Keuper Group of Germany, and the Nam Phong Formation of Thailand.[2]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

1. Novas et al., 2011, p.345
2. Novas et al., 2011, p.343

Bibliography

• Novas, Fernando E.; Martín D. Ezcurra; Sankar Chatterjee, and T.S. Kutty. 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. 333–349. Accessed 2019-04-06.doi:10.1017/S1755691011020093

Further reading

• Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21.ISBN 0-520-24209-2