ABSTRACT

The late Middle Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Kota Formation of peninsular India has previously yielded "symmetrodontan" and eutriconodontan mammals. Bulk screen-washing of the clays and mudstones inter-bedded with the limestone band representing the Upper Member of the Kota Formation and exposed along a stream cutting 150 m west of Paikasigudem village, Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh (state), India, produced an isolated mammalian upper premolar. The premolar with its asymmetrical occlusal outline, two labial cusps, pinching of crown lingual to the labial cusps, and a wide talon basin is very similar to the upper premolars of docodont mammals. Detailed comparisons with the upper dentition of various known docodont taxa showed that the new specimen from India has premolar morphology comparable to a Haldanodon pattern, and here it is assigned to Gondtherium dattai gen. et sp. nov. (Docodontidae). This represents the first discovery of docodont mammals from the Southern Hemisphere and suggests a wide geographic distribution for this group of mammals.

G.V.R. Prasad. Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu – 180 006, India.
B.K. Manhas. 463, Sector-E, Sainik Colony, Jammu, India.

KEY WORDS: Docodonta, Kota Formation, Gondwana, Jurassic, India

PE Article Number: 10.2.7A
Copyright: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology August 2007
Submission: 7 November 2006. Acceptance: 15 May 2007.