Intertrappean Beds
Encyclopedia
The Intertrappean Beds are a Late Cretaceous
geologic formation in India. Indeterminate theropod and pterosaur
remains have been recovered from the formation, as well as dinosaur egg
s. The mammal genera Deccanolestes
, Sahnitherium
, Bharattherium
, and Kharmerungulatum
have been recovered from it as well.
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
geologic formation in India. Indeterminate theropod and pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
remains have been recovered from the formation, as well as dinosaur egg
Dinosaur egg
Dinosaur eggs are represented today as fossils. They represent the product of egg laying activity and can offer clues as to how dinosaurs behaved. In some cases the embryonic dinosaur is preserved within the eggshell, and can be studied....
s. The mammal genera Deccanolestes
Deccanolestes
Deccanolestes is a scansorial, basal Euarchontan from the Late Cretaceous Intertrappean Beds of Andhra Pradesh, India. It may be closely related to Sahnitherium...
, Sahnitherium
Sahnitherium
Sahnitherium is a possible basal Euarchontan from the Maastrichtian of the Intertrappean Beds of Andhra Pradesh, India. It may be closely related to Deccanolestes. The holotype is an upper molar, and it is the only specimen of Sahnitherium....
, Bharattherium
Bharattherium
Bharattherium is a mammal that lived in India during the Maastrichtian . The genus has a single species, Bharattherium bonapartei. It is part of the gondwanathere family Sudamericidae, which is also found in Madagascar and South America during the latest Cretaceous...
, and Kharmerungulatum
Kharmerungulatum
Kharmerungulatum is an extinct genus of Condylarth from the Late Cretaceous Intertrappean Beds of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its specific epithet honors Leigh Van Valen. It is considered to be one of the earliest known condylarths....
have been recovered from it as well.