Where: Pakistan (25.7° N, 68.2° E: paleocoordinates 4.9° S, 58.7° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Bara Formation, Thanetian (59.2 - 56.0 Ma)

• The Bara and Lakhra formations have long been considered to be Paleocene in age, mainly on the basis of larger foraminifers (Williams, 1959; Hunting Survey Corporation Ltd, 1961; Cheema et al., 1977). According to Cheema et al. (1977), the Bara is not younger than early Selandian, and it is underlain by the Khadro Formation, which is early Paleocene (Danian) at least in its upper part. Based on palynological data, Frederiksen (1994) concluded that the lower part of the Bara Formation is middle Paleocene. The Lakhra Formation, which unconformably overlies the Bara, has been assigned a late Paleocene (Thanetian) age based on planktonic foraminifera (Mohan, 1982; Usmani, 1983). Wakefield and Monteil (2002) identified two Maximum Flooding Surfaces (MFS) in the Lakhra Formation, and possibly five MFSs in the Bara Formation on the basis of subsurface data (including lithology, biostratigraphy of pollens, nanno- and microfossils),seismic and gamma ray) on the Duljan-1 well-core, situated between the central and lower portions of the Indus Basin and about 100 km NE of the fossil localities studied here. It is worth noting that they did not recognize the Khadro or the Sohnari Formations in the Duljan succession. The first MFS identified in the Lakhra Formation is near its base and correlates with the top of planktonic foraminiferal Zone P4 which is probably equivalent of MFSPg10 of Sharland et al. (2001). The second MFS lies in the upper Lakhra and occurs in planktonic foraminiferal Zone P5/6. This biostratigraphic calibration involves that the Lakhra Formation isstraddling the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, which is inconsistent with the chronostratigraphic studies published so far. The probable early Eocene age of the upper Lakhra has to be tested from outcrops data in the area where the fossil described herein were collected. Fossil crustaceans described herein come from a lignitic level near the top of the Bara Formation. Consequently, it is reasonable to think that these fossils are early Thanetian.

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marginal marine; lithified mudstone

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the MNHN

Primary reference: S. Charbonnier, A. Garassino, G. Pasini, G. Métais, D. Merle, A. Bartolini, I. A. Brohi, S. H. Solangi, R. A. Lashari, J. Welcomme, and L. Marivaux. 2013. Paleogene decapod crustaceans from the Sulaiman and Kirthar Ranges, Pakistan. Annales de Paléontologie 99:101-117 [M. Clapham/R. Valdez ]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 226448: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Rosa Valdez on 08.07.2022

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)