Journal
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
Volume 29, Issue 4, Pages 674-686Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2008.02.003
Keywords
lacertilian nest; lagoonal sediments; Lower Limestone; Upper Cretaceous; Lameta type section; Jabalpur; India
Categories
Funding
- CSIR, New Delhi
- Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A nest with eleven relatively large-sized eggs of lacertilian affinity has been recovered from the Lower Limestone horizon exposed at the type section of the Lameta. Formation, Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh, India). Morpho-structurally, the eggs probably represent a new family as they share common features with the eggs of the living varanid lizard Varanus indicus and a shell microstructure described for geckonids. The close association of a lizard nest and titanosaurid (Sauropoda) eggs raises interesting questions regarding the egg-laying strategies of these differently-sized reptiles. Sedimentological data suggest that the Lower Limestone of Lameta Ghat was deposited in an alkaline lagoon that was connected to a marine embayment by channels. The massive limestone, sandy limestone, and calcareous sandstone lithofacies forming coarsening upward sequence represents sedimentation from deeper to marginal parts of the lagoon that were densely vegetated. Pre-burial meteoric diagenesis of the sediments indicates humid climate. Such conditions might have provided a suitable habitat supporting a large variety of terrestrial life. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available