Permian Reptilian Fauna from India

Abstract

THE Indian Gondwana formations are continental sediments which range in age from early Permian to about the middle of the Cretaceous. They have yielded a number of tetrapod faunas, mostly from Triassic and early Jurassic formations. Peninsular outcrops from Permian beds have yielded two solitary amphibians, Gondwanosaurus and Rhinesuchus, while a Lower Permian amphibian fauna has been found in Kashmir (Archegosaurus, Actinodon and Lysipterygium). There are no records of Permian reptiles from any part of the Indian subcontinent and, indeed, few Permian reptile faunas are known from any part of the world. This communication describes the discovery of a reptilian fauna from the Indian Permian.