Fossil Steginoporellid (Cheilostomata: Neocheilostomina), Bryozoa from the Tertiary sediments of Western Kachchh, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Five species of Steginoporella from the Palaeogene rocks of the Western Kachchh, Gujarat are described in this paper. Out of five steginoporellids, S. mathuri n.sp., S. murachbanensis n.sp. and S. chiplonkari n.sp. are new to science; S. bhujensis is already reported from this region; and Steginoporella sp. indet is reported for the first time in these rocks. All these species show Indo-Pacific affinities. The occurrence of Steginoporella from Middle Eocene to Early Miocene indicates that two stages of radiation had taken place in Kachchh. Phylogenetic analysis using PAST programme indicates that S. mathuri is very distinct from other species of Steginoporella; while S. murachbanensis and S. bhujensis form the same clade.

Development of Geotourism in Kutch Region, Gujarat, India: An Innovative Approach

“…Fossils of crab species belonging to Paleogene (23 to 65 My) and Neogene (3.4 to 23 My) times are common in these limestone [21]. Besides fossil forams, fossil Bryozoa [22] and algae, varieties of gastropods, lamellibranches and echinoids are also common as well as bones of fossil whales and crocodiles.…”

Newly discovered species of cheilostomatid Bryozoa from the Miocene of western Kachchh, Gujarat, India

“…To do so, our research group has sampled the entire Miocene sequence from Kachchh region. As a result, Sonar & Gaikwad (2013a, 2013b, 2013c and Sonar & Pawar (2016) have identified poricellariid, steginoporellid, calloporid as well as cyclostomatid bryozoans from the Cenozoic rocks exposed along the shelf zone adjoining the Mesozoic sequences of the western Kachchh (Fig. 1) (Sonar et al 2022).…”