{{short description|Geologic formation in India}} {{see also|Upper Maleri Formation}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Lower Maleri Formation | image = | caption = | type = Geological formation | age = Late Carnian–early Norian | period = Norian | prilithology = | otherlithology = | namedfor = | namedby = | region = Andhra Pradesh & Telangana | country = India | coordinates = {{coord|19.2|N|79.7|E|display=inline,title}} | paleocoordinates = {{coord|36.4|S|38.2|E|display=inline}} | unitof = Gondwana Group | subunits = | underlies = Upper Maleri Formation | overlies = Basement | thickness = | extent = Pranhita–Godavari Basin | area = | map = {{Location map+ | India | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = {{Location map~ | India | lat_deg = 19.2 | lon_deg = 79.7 | mark = Pink ff0080 pog.svg | marksize = 12 }} }} | map_caption = }}
The '''Lower Maleri Formation''' is a sedimentary rock formation found in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India. It is the lowermost member of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. It is of late Carnian to early Norian age (Upper Triassic), and is notable for its fossils of early archosaurs.<ref name="triassicdistribution">Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.525–527</ref>
== Vertebrate fauna == cf. ''Angistorhinus'' and cf. ''Typothorax'' have also been recovered from it.<ref name=Indiansaupo>Novas et al, 2011</ref><ref name=TSKetal07>Kutty et al., 2007</ref>
{| class="wikitable" align="center" |- ! colspan="7" align="center" | '''Vertebrates from the Lower Maleri Formation''' |- ! Genus !! Species !! Location !! Stratigraphic position !! Material !! Notes !! Images |- | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | ''Alickmeron''<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sen|first1=Sulagna|last2=Ray|first2=Sanghamitra|title=Taxonomic reassessment of archosaurs with dinosaurian affinities from the lower fauna of the Upper Triassic Maleri Formation of India and their significance|year=2025|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=45 |issue=3 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2025.2546434|article-number=e2546434}}</ref> | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | ''A. maleriensis'' | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | | style="background:#E6E6E6;" |Partial distal femur | style="background:#E6E6E6;" |An objective junior synonym of ''Alwalkeria maleriensis''<ref name=MMR2026>{{cite journal|author1=McDavid, S.N.|author2=Marchant, C.J.|author3=Reid, I.J.|date=2026-02-02|title=''Alickmeron'' Sen & Ray, 2025 is an objective junior synonym of ''Alwalkeria'' Chatterjee & Creisler, 1994|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|doi=10.1080/02724634.2025.2604088}}</ref> | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | |- | ''Alwalkeria''<ref name="triassicdistribution" /> | ''A. maleriensis''<ref name="triassicdistribution" /> | Andhra Pradesh | | "Partial skull and postcranial remains."<ref name="table-2-1">"Table 2.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 26.</ref> | An avemetatarsalian<ref name=MMR2026/> | center|200px |- |''Panthasaurus'' |''P''. ''maleriensis'' | | | |A temnospondyl | |- | ''Exaeretodon'' | ''E. statisticae''<ref name=Indiansaupo/> | | | | | center|200px |- | ''Hyperodapedon'' | ''H. huxleyi''<ref name=Indiansaupo/> | | | | | center|200px |- | ''Malerisaurus'' | ''M. robinsonae''<ref name=Indiansaupo/> | | | | | center|200px |- | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | ''Massospondylus'' | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | ''M. hislopi'' | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | Andhra Pradesh | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | "Isolated vertebrae."<ref name="table-12-1-236">"Table 12.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.236</ref> | style="background:#E6E6E6;" | Later found to be indeterminate prosauropod remains | |- | ''Parasuchus'' | ''P. hislopi''<ref name=Indiansaupo/> | | | | A parasuchid phytosaur. | |- | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | ''Plateosaurus'' | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | Indeterminate | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | Andhra Pradesh | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | | style="background:#f3e9f3;" | Later found to be indeterminate prosauropod remains | |- |} {{paleobiota-key-compact}}
== Correlations == The formation has been correlated with the Molteno Formation (Karoo Basin) and Pebbly Arkose Formation of Africa, the Santa Maria Formation of the Paraná Basin in Brazil, the Ischigualasto Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of Argentina and the lowermost Chinle Formation of North America.<ref name=Novas2011_p343>Novas et al., 2011, p.343</ref>
== See also == * List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
== References == {{Reflist|3}}
=== Bibliography === * {{citation |last1=Novas |first1=Fernando E. |last2=Ezcurra |first2=Martín D. |author3-link=Sankar Chatterjee |last3=Chatterjee |first3=Sankar |last4=Kutty |first4=T.S. |year=2011 |title=New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of central India |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231824148 |journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |volume=101 |issue=3–4 |pages=333–349 |accessdate=2019-04-06 |doi=10.1017/S1755691011020093 |bibcode=2010EESTR.101..333N |author1-link=Fernando Novas }} * {{citation |last1=Kutty |first1=T.S. |last2=Chatterjee |first2=S. |last3=Galton |first3=P.M. |last4=Upchurch |first4=P. |year=2007 |title=Basal sauropodomorphs (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Lower Jurassic of India: their anatomy and relationships |url=http://jpaleontol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/81/6/1218 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=81 |issue=6 |pages=1552–1574 |doi=10.1666/04-074.1|bibcode=2007JPal...81.1218K |url-access=subscription }} * {{citation |last1=Weishampel |first1=David B. |author2-link=Peter Dodson |last2=Dodson |first2=Peter |author3-link=Halszka Osmólska |last3=Osmólska |first3=Halszka |year=2004 |title=The Dinosauria, 2nd edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZFDb_iw40C |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |pages=1–880 |accessdate=2019-02-21 |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |author1-link=David B. Weishampel }}
Category:Geologic formations of India Category:Triassic System of Asia Category:Norian Stage Category:Carnian Stage Category:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Asia Category:Paleontology in India Category:Geology of Andhra Pradesh Category:Geography of Telangana Category:Triassic India