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Jaisalmer Formation

Topic: Earth

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Jaisalmer Formation
Stratigraphic range: Middle-Late Jurassic, Bajocian–Oxfordian
An outcrop of the Jaisalmer Formation which is the type locality for Tharosaurus indicus. Photographed between 2019-21.
TypeGeological formation
Sub-unitsBadabag Member, Fort Member, Hamira Member, Jajiya Member, Joyan Member, Kuldhar Member
UnderliesBaisakhi Formation
OverliesLathi Formation
ThicknessVariable, typically 120–170 km (75–106 mi)
Lithology
PrimarySiltstone, sandstone
OtherLimestone
Location
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 26°54′42″N 70°55′23″E / 26.911661°N 70.922928°E / 26.911661; 70.922928
CountryIndia
ExtentJaisalmer
Type section
Named forJaisalmer, India
Named byRichard Dixon Oldham
Year defined1886[1]

The Jaisalmer Formation is a Middle to Late Jurassic-aged geologic formation located in India near the city of Jaisalmer that consists mainly of marine deposits.[2] The formation was first identified and defined by geologist Richard Dixon Oldham in 1886.[1]

Dinosaur remains are among the known fossils recovered from this formation.[3]

Strophodus jaisalmerensis, a hybodont, was named after this formation and the Jaisalmer District where its holotype was found.[4]

Sub-units

The Badabag, Fort, Joyan and Hamira members represent the Middle Jurassic Bajocian and Bathonian stages,[2] while the Jajiya and Kuldhar members represent the Middle Jurassic Callovian and the Late Jurassic Oxfordian stages.[2]

The Fort Member is the most extensively studied and consists of fine to medium grain sandstones and oolitic limestones.[5] The Badabag Member consists of intraformational conglomerate and is fossil bearing.[6]

Paleoenvironment

The Jaisalmer district of India is a landlocked district in the state of Rajasthan. However, during the Middle Jurassic, the Jaisalmer Formation was located on the Tethyan coast of Gondwanan India. A marine paleoenvironment is supported by the presence of Hybodont sharks.[4] The Kuldhar Member Limestone contained carbonate microfacies that also indicate a depositional environment composed mainly of lagoons, shoals and open marine environments.[7]

Paleofauna

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

Sauropods

Sauropods of the Jaisalmer Formation
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Photos
Turiasauria indet.[6] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry Fragmentary tooth A turiasaur
Tharosaurus[8] T. indicus Jethwai Village RWR-241 (A–K), partial cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae and a dorsal rib A potentially dubious eusauropod

frameless

Theropods

Theropods of the Jaisalmer Formation
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Photos
Spinosauridae indet.[9] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/CVQS002, pedal ungual phalanx Possibly the oldest spinosaurid frameless
Averostra indet.[10] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/JWGQ001, an isolated tooth. A possible allosauroid, ceratosaur, or non-spinosaurid megalosauroid frameless

Other reptiles

Other reptiles of the Jaisalmer Formation
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Photos
Cf. Teleosaurus[11] Cf. T. cadomensis Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/015, a single isolated osteoderm of 6 cm in length and 5.5 cm in width, the osteoderm has randomly arranged and separated elliptical pits. A teleosaurid thalattosuchian.
Plesiosauria[11] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/009-010, two teeth that are single-cusped, lingually curved and slender, they're similar to the gracile teeth of Cryptoclidus. A plesiosaur. Described as a plesiosaurid but the teeth are similar to Cryptoclidus, a cryptoclidid.
Teleosauridae[11] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/002, a tooth that is robust, conical and single-cusped An indeterminate teleosaurid.
Machimosauridae[11] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/005, a single tooth that is large, single cusped and conical. A indeterminate machimosaurid.
Metriorhynchoidea[11] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry RAJ/JAIS/006, a single moderately largest tooth that is lingually curved and mediolateral compressed. A indeterminate metriorhynchoid.

Fish

Fishes of the Jaisalmer Formation
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Photos
Hybodontiformes indet.[12] Indeterminate
Strophodus S. jaisalmerensis Jethwai village Teeth A hybodont shark.
S. indicus[13] Chandoo Village quarry
S. magnus[13] Chandoo Village quarry
S. medius[13] Chandoo Village quarry
Planohybodus P. aff. grossiconus [13] Chandoo Village quarry Teeth A hybodont shark.
Osteichthyes indet.[10] Indeterminate Chandoo Village quarry Teeth and scale Found along with an averostran tooth.
Eomesodon[14][15] E. sp. Jethwai Village Prearticular dental plate and isolated teeth Oldest East Gondwanan Pycnodont.

Crustaceans

Crustaceans of the Jaisalmer Formation
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Photos
Cytherella[16] C. indica
Micropneumatocythere[16] M. joyanensis
Progonocythere[16] P. khoslai
Trichordis[16] T. minuta

Ichnofossils

  • ?Bichordites sp. – Ichnofossils[17]
  • Planolites sp. – Ichnofossils[17]
  • Rhizocorallium irregulare – Ichnofossils[17]
  • Rhizocorallium jenense – Ichnofossils[17]
  • Taenidium serpentinum – Ichnofossils[17]
  • Thalassinoides sp. – Ichnofossils[17]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oldham, R.D., (1886). Preliminary note on the geology of northern Jaisalmer. Record Geological Survey of India, 19,157-160.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ahmad, Faiz; Quasim, Mohammad Adnan; Ahmad, Abul Hasnat Masood (January 2021). "Review for "Microfacies and diagenetic overprints in the limestones of Middle Jurassic Fort Member (Jaisalmer Formation), Western Rajasthan, India: Implications for the depositional environment, cyclicity, and reservoir quality". Geological Journal 56 (1): 130–151. doi:10.1002/gj.3945/v1/review2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gj.3945/v1/review2. 
  3. ↑ Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, Asia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 593–600. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Krishna Kumara, Sunil Bajpaib, Pragya Pandeya, Triparna Ghosha, Debasish Bhattacharya (2021). "Hybodont sharks from the Jurassic of Jaisalmer, western India". Historical Biology 34 (6): 953–963. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1954920. 
  5. ↑ Narayanan, K., Subrahmanyan, M., Srinivasan, S., (1961). Geology of Jaisalmer. Unpublished report, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Dehradun, India.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sharma, Archana; Singh, Sanjay; S. R., Satheesh (2022-06-10). "The first turiasaurian sauropod of India reported from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) sediments of Jaisalmer Basin, Rajasthan, India" (in en). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen: 187–203. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2022/1064. https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpa/detail/304/101378/The_first_turiasaurian_sauropod_of_India_reported_from_the_Middle_Jurassic_Bathonian_sediments_of_Jaisalmer_Basin_Rajasthan_India. 
  7. ↑ Asjad, Shaikh; Khan, K. F.; Quasim, M. A.; Sachan, H. K.; Javed, Aashna (2023-11-06). "Microfacies and stable isotope analysis of Kuldhar Member Limestone (Callovian–Oxfordian), Jaisalmer Basin, western Rajasthan: implications for depositional environment and diagenetic evolution" (in en). Carbonates and Evaporites 38 (4): 81. doi:10.1007/s13146-023-00905-6. ISSN 1878-5212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-023-00905-6. 
  8. ↑ Bajpai, S.; Datta, D.; Pandey, P.; Ghosh, T.; Kumar, K.; Bhattacharya, D. (2023). "Fossils of the oldest diplodocoid dinosaur suggest India was a major centre for neosauropod radiation". Scientific Reports 13 (1): 12680. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-39759-2. PMID 37542094. Bibcode: 2023NatSR..1312680B. 
  9. ↑ Sharma, A.; Novas, F. E.; Singh, S. (2023). "First Jurassic evidence of a possible spinosaurid pedal ungual from the Jaisalmer Basin, India". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 129 (3): 653–670. doi:10.54103/2039-4942/20032. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/20032. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sharma, Archana; Hendrickx, Christophe; Singh, Sanjay (2023-01-23). "First Theropod Record from the Marine Bathonian of Jaisalmer Basin, Tethyan Coast of Gondwanan India" (in en). Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 129 (1). doi:10.54103/2039-4942/18306. ISSN 2039-4942. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/18306. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Sharma, A. (November 2025). "Marine Reptiles of the Jaisalmer Formation: Sea Monsters roaming the Middle Jurassic Sea of North-western India". International Seminar-Unearthing the past, shaping the future: 175 years of Geological Survey of IndiaAt: Rajasthan International Centre, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.10313.20321. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398667707_Marine_Reptiles_of_the_Jaisalmer_Formation_Sea_Monsters_roaming_the_Middle_Jurassic_Sea_of_North-western_India. 
  12. ↑ Ghosh, T.; Swami, N. K.; Kumar, K.; Maurya, A. S.; Bajpai, S. (2024). "An assemblage of Middle Jurassic hybodonts from Jaisalmer Basin, western India". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2412131. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 "A small assemblage of marine hybodont sharks from the Bathonian of the Jaisalmer Basin, India". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 301 (3): 317–333. 2021. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2021/1014. 
  14. ↑ Kumar, Krishna; Bajpai, Sunil; Ghosh, Triparna; Pandey, Pragya; Bhattacharya, Debasish (2022-12-01). "Oldest East Gondwanan pycnodont fishes (Neopterygii, Pycnodontiformes) from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Jaisalmer, western India" (in en). PalZ 96 (4): 795–804. doi:10.1007/s12542-022-00619-5. ISSN 1867-6812. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-022-00619-5. 
  15. ↑ Ghosh, T.; Kumar, K.; Swami, N. K. (2025). "Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) pycnodont fishes from the Jaisalmer Basin, western India". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 316 (2): 121–130. doi:10.1127/njgpa/1284. Bibcode: 2025NJGPA.316..121G. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Kumari, M. (2023). "Middle Jurassic Ostracodes from Joyan Member, Jaisalmer Formation, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India". Paleontological Journal 57 (7): 775–783. doi:10.1134/S0031030123070055. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Kulkarni, K.G., Borkar, V.D., Petare, T.J., (2008). Ichnofossils from the Fort Member (Middle Jurassic), Jaisalmer Formation, Rajasthan. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 71, 731-738



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