Ostracods, plant tissues, and other inclusions in coprolites from the Late Cretaceous Lameta Formation at Pisdura, India: Taphonomical and palaeoecological implications

Khosla, Ashu; Chin, Karen; Alimohammadin, Habib; Dutta, Debi

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.11.003

Cited by 51 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Recently, phosphatic coprolites containing plant 865 debris have also been described from the Late Cretaceous of India by Khosla et al (2015). As 866 coprolites putatively produced by herbivores contain only plant inclusions and lack phosphate 867 mineralization (e.g., Chin and Kirkland, 1998;Chin, 2007;Fiorelli et al, 2013;Bajdek et al, 2014), 868 the presence of various plant debris preserved within the phosphatic coprolites, which are usually 869 characteristic for carnivores, is interesting and worth of discussion.…”

Section: Coprolite Producers 816mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coprolites of Late Triassic carnivorous vertebrates from Poland: An integrative approach

Zatoń

Niedźwiedzki

Marynowski

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Vertebrate coprolites derived from the Upper Triassic terrestrial deposits of southern Poland have been subjected for various analytical methods in order to retrieve the information about their composition, potential producer's diet and nature of the preserved microbial structures. Morphologically, they have been classified to four morphotypes, of which only three were further analysed due to their good state of preservation. Their groundmass occurred to be composed by francolite, a carbonate-rich apatite, in which abundant coccoid structures are preserved. Based on various microscopic and organic geochemical techniques, they are interpreted as fossilized bacteria which could have mediated the phosphatization of the faeces. The thin sectioning revealed that the coprolites consist of those containing exclusively bone remains, and those preserving both bone and plant remains. Those coprolites preserving only vertebrate remains are suggestive for exclusive carnivorous diet of the producers. However, the interpretation of coprolites consisting of both vertebrate and plant remains is more debatable. Although they may attest for omnivory, it is not excluded that potential producers were carnivorous which occasionally ingested plants, or accidentally swallowed plant material during feeding. The latter may involve predation or scavenging upon other herbivorous animals which used to fed on plants. It is not excluded that the potential producers may have been animals that foraged in or near aquatic habitats, such as semi-aquatic archosaurs and/or temnospondyls, what is supported by the presence of ostracode remain and fish scales within the coprolites, as well as by the presence of such specific biomarkers as phytanic and pristanic acids, which are characteristic constituents of fish oil. The preservation of such labile organic compounds as sterols, palmitin, stearin or levoglucosan attests for mineralization of the faeces on very early stages of diagenesis. The article concerns the study of coprolites derived from the Upper Triassic, bonebearing deposits of southern Poland. For the first time we used integrative approach combining various analytical methods (transmission-light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission x-ray microscopy, Xray absorption near edge structure, electron microprobe analysis, XRD, inorganic and organic geochemistry, palynology) in order to decipher various problems concerning the coprolites, including the coprolite composition, the producers' diet, the nature of the coprolite groundmass and microbial consortia preserved. Thus, to our knowledge, this paper is the first of such a kind ever published and may be a reference article to other research concerning paleobiology of coprolites. As recently the journal published several papers concerning coprolites and related papers, we think that the submitted article fits well the journal scope and would also be often cited in the future. Therefore, we hope the paper will be considered for...

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Section: Coprolite Producers 816mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Edwards et al, 2012; Wood and Wilmshurst, 2014; Khosla et al, 2015). Moreover, on the basis of 75 the degree of food degradation or preservation of specific biomarkers, the kind of metabolism of a 76 producer may also be untangled (e.g.…”

Section: Introduction 53 54mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coprolites of Late Triassic carnivorous vertebrates from Poland: An integrative approach

Zatoń

Niedźwiedzki

Marynowski

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…Pisdura (Chandrapur District, Maharashtra State, central India) has been one of the initial and palaeontologically the most explored infratrappean section of the Main Central Deccan sub‐province, in the form of non‐avian dinosaur skeletal material, sauropod eggs and eggshell fragments, coprolites (mostly associated to non‐avian dinosaurs), and their biotic contents (Khosla et al, , and references therein). At Pisdura, a ~10 m thick infratrappean (Lameta Formation) sequence composed of sandstones, and red and green silty non‐laminated sandy marls capped by the Deccan basalts, is exposed (Ghosh et al, ; Khosla et al, ; Khosla et al, ; Figure , present study). Within the Pisdura infratrappean succession the dinosaur skeletal and eggshell remains are mostly confined to the sandstone unit.…”

Section: Biostratigraphic Aspects Of the Faunal Content From The Infrmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…A diverse assemblage of ostracods is known from the Maastrichtian DVSS of the DVP (Bajpai, Mohabey, Kapur, & Sharma, ; Kapur et al, ; Khosla & Sahni, ; Khosla et al, , Khosla et al, ; Sahni & Khosla, ,b; Sharma & Khosla, ; Whatley & Bajpai, , , and references therein; also refer to Table , present study). However, contrary to the associated tetrapod records from the Maastrichtian sedimentary sequences (as discussed earlier), the fossil ostracod data depict large‐scale endemism at the generic as well as the specific level (Whatley & Bajpai, ; Whatley, , and references therein) and supports an Out‐of‐India dispersal (Figure ).…”

Section: Palaeobiogeographic Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…The ~12 m thick infratrappean succession at Nand‐Dongargaon (Chandrapur District, Maharashtra State, central India) comprise mainly of sandy marls, sandy clays, and shales, in ascending order (Figure ). These infratrappean deposits are quite rich in the faunal component that includes ostracods, molluscs, fishes, frogs, snakes, crocodiles, turtles, and non‐avian dinosaurian elements (bone fragments, egg shells, and coprolites (Jain, ; Jain & Sahni, ; Khosla, Chin, Alimohammadin, & Dutta, ; Khosla, Chin, Verma, Alimohammadin, & Dutta, ; Lydekker, ; Mohabey & Udhoji, ; Mohabey, Udhoji, & Verma, ; Rana & Sati, ). The dinosaur bones are confined to the upper shale unit while the dinosaurian egg clutches are confined to the sandy clay unit in the middle part of the succession.…”

Section: Biostratigraphic Aspects Of the Faunal Content From The Infrmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Faunal elements from the Deccan volcano‐sedimentary sequences of India: A reappraisal of biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic, and palaeobiogeographic aspects

Kapur¹,

Khosla

2018

Geological Journal

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The sedimentary sequences associated with the Deccan Flood Basalts, i.e., infratrappean and intertrappean deposits, are known to yield a diverse assemblage of fauna that includes foraminiferans, ostracods, molluscs, fishes, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodiles, dinosaurs, and mammals. The existing literature debates the exact nature of origin, age, and duration of the Deccan volcanic activity; however, there is a general accord within the geosciences community that the Deccan Flood Basalts bestrode the Cretaceous–Palaeogene Boundary. Within the past few decades, the record of the biotic component (particularly faunal elements) reported from the Deccan‐volcano sedimentary sequences have grown both numerically and taxonomically. Constraining the age of the Deccan‐volcano sedimentary sequences has a direct bearing on the studies that discuss the origin, evolution of the biota in a palaeobiogeographic framework, and also in the context of changes in the palaeoenvironment and palaeoecology. Thus, it becomes important to reinforce the age, environment of the Deccan‐volcano sedimentary sequences, and the origin/affinity of the faunal elements recovered from within these sedimentary deposits. We here reappraise the biotic (with an emphasis on the fauna) evidence in a biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic, and palaeobiogeographic aspect.

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Charophytes from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene transition in the Jhilmili intertrappean beds of Central India

et al. 2022

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The Jhilmili intertrappean beds (Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh) of Central India are studied from a palaeoenvironmental, palaeoecological, and palaeobiogeographical perspective using fossil charophytes. These beds have yielded a diverse charophyte assemblage, consisting of Platychara perlata, Platychara raoi, Platychara sahnii, Peckichara cf. varians, Nemegtichara cf. grambasti, and Chara sp. 1. These charophytes were recovered from a 60 cm thick clayey and nodular limestone unit that is underlain by claystone and overlain by laminated claystones deposited on fluvial floodplains. This charophyte assemblage suggests a Late Cretaceous-Early Danian age, which agrees with the previous dating carried out using freshwater to brackish water ostracods and planktic foraminifera found in the same beds, together with dasycladalean and halimedacean chlorophytes. The Jhilmili intertrappean charophyte assemblage resembles those found in other infra-and intertrappean sections of western, central, and southern India. The charophyte assemblage indicates that during the Cretaceous-Palaeogene timespan the Indian subcontinent mainly experienced interchange with Laurasia (China, Europe, and North America) but also with Gondwana (North Africa and South America). In the opposite sense, Laurasian species might have dispersed to India by means of a sweepstakes route across the Kohistan-Dras volcanic arcs.

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Ostracods, plant tissues, and other inclusions in coprolites from the Late Cretaceous Lameta Formation at Pisdura, India: Taphonomical and palaeoecological implications

Cited by 51 publications

References 30 publications

Coprolites of Late Triassic carnivorous vertebrates from Poland: An integrative approach

Coprolites of Late Triassic carnivorous vertebrates from Poland: An integrative approach

Faunal elements from the Deccan volcano‐sedimentary sequences of India: A reappraisal of biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic, and palaeobiogeographic aspects

Charophytes from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene transition in the Jhilmili intertrappean beds of Central India

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