The Chitarwata Formation is a geological formation in western Pakistan, made up of Oligocene and early Miocene terrestrial fluvial facies. The sediments were deposited in coastal depositional environments (estuarine, strandplain and tidal flats) when Pakistan was partly covered by the Tethys Ocean.

Paleomagnetic data indicates an age range of around 28 to 17 million years ago, with its base in the Oligocene, and its upper boundary, where it meets the overlying Vihowa Formation, of the Early Miocene.

Together with the Vihowa Formation, the Chitarwata Formation records the sedimentation of the Himalayan foreland basin during the collision of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates, the transition from marginal marine to fluvial environments, and the rise of the Himalayas.

Fossil content The Chitarwata Formation has provided a wealth of terrestrial mammal fossils of the late Paleogene and early Neogene, or Tabenbulakian; the last of the Asian land mammal ages (ALMA).

Among many others, the following fossils are reported from the formation:Chitarwata Formation at Fossilworks.org

Mammals Artiodactyl Anthracothere Anthracotheriidaes of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes ImageAnthracotherium A. adiposumLando Chur A. bugtiense A. silistrense BugtitheriumB. grandincisivum Microbunodon M. silistrense Parabrachyodus P. hyopotamoides Sivameryx S. palaeindicus

Entelodonts Entelodonts of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Paraentelodon P. sp.

Giraffid Giraffids of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Progiraffa P. exigua

lophiomerycids lophiomerycidaes of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Nalameryx N. savagei N. sulaimani Lophibaluchia L. pilbeami Lophiomeryx L. kargilensis

Ruminants Ruminants of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Bugtimeryx B. pilgrimi Paalitherium P. gurki

Creodonts Creodonts of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes ImageHyainailourosH. bugtiensis A creodont.

Carnivorans Perissodactyl Paraceratheriidae Paraceratheriidaes of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image"Buzdartherium""B. gulkirao"ParaceratheriumP. bugtiense Chur J2, Bugti hill Left fragmentary maxilla with M2–M3 A giant hornless rhinoceros

Rhinocerotidae Rhinocerotidaes of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Aprotodon A. smithwoodwardi Brachypotherium B. fatehjangenseCadurcotheriumC. indicum Bugti MemberEpiaceratheriumE. magnum Pleuroceros P. blanfordi

Marsupials Marsupials of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Asiadidelphis A. akbarbugtii

Rodents Rodents of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Atavocricetodon A. paaliense Baluchimys B. barryi B. chaudryi, B. ganeshapher Bugtimys B. zafarullahiDownsimys D. margolisi Fallomus F. ginsburgi F. quraishyi F. razaeHodsahibia H. azrae H. beamshaiensis H. gracilis Lindsaya L.derabugtiensisPrimus P. cheemai P. microps Spanocricetodon S. sulaimanProkanisamys P. arifi P. kowalskii Pseudocricetodon P. nawabi Welcommoides W. gurki Zindapiria Z. quadricollis

Primates Primates of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Bugtilemur B. mathesoni Paali Nala C2 A tooth (right M2), which is considered not a traceable fossil. An extinct relative of lemurs. Bugtipithecus B. inexpectans Paali Nala DBC2 A dentition, right M. A Small-bodied amphipithecid. Guangxilemur G. singsilai Paali Nala C2 A newly described upper and lower dentitions. An adapiform primate.Phileosimias P. brahuiorumPaali Nala DBC2 Several dentition from upper molar An Eosimiidae primate. P. kamali

Proboscidean Proboscideans of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes ImageDeinotherium D. sp.

Reptiles Reptiles of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image"Asifcroco""A. retrai"A crocodilian.AstorgosuchusA. bugtiensis A giant crocodilian. Pseudogavialis P. curvirostris A long-snouted crocodilian. Rhamphosuchus P. pachyrhynchus A gavialoid.

Fish Fishes of the Chitarwata Formation Genus Species Location Materials Notes Image Carcharhinus C. balochenisis C. perseus Cretolamna Cretolamna twiggensis Hemipristis H. heteropleurus Nebrius N. obliquum

References

Further reading S. Adnet, P. -O. Antoine, S. R. Hassan Baqri, J. Crochet, L. Marivaux, J. Welcomme, and G. Métais. 2007. New tropical carcharhinids (chondrichthyes, Carcharhiniformes) from the late Eocene–early Oligocene of Balochistan, Pakistan: Paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic implications. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 30(2):303-323 G. Métais, P.-O. Antoine, S. R. H. Baqri, M. Benammi, J.-Y. Crochet, D. Franceschi, L. Marivaux and J.-L. Welcomme. 2006. New remains of the enigmatic cetartiodactyl Bugtitherium grandincisivum Pilgrim, 1908, from the upper Oligocene of the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan). Naturwissenschaften 93(7):348-355 E. H. Lindsay, L. J. Flynn, I. U. Cheema, J. C. Barry, K. Downing, A. R. Rajpar, and S. M. Raza. 2005. Will Downs and the Zinda Pir Dome. Palaeontologia Electronica 8(1):19A:1-18 L. Marivaux, P.-O. Antoine, S. R. H. Baqri, M. Benammi, and Y. Chaimanee. 2005. Anthropoid primates from the Oligocene of Pakistan (Bugti Hills): Data on early anthropoid evolution and biogeography. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102(24):8436-8441 P.-O. Antoine, J.-L. Welcomme, L. Marivaux, I. Baloch, M. Benammi and P. Tassy. 2003. First record of Paleogene Elephantoidea (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from the Bugti Hills of Pakistan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(4):977-980 J.-L. Welcomme and L. Ginsburg. 1997. Mise en évidence de l'Oligocène sur le territoire des Bugti (Balouchistan, Pakistan). Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA 325(12):999-1004 L.J. Flynn, L.L. Jacobs, and I.U. Cheema. 1986. Baluchimyinae, A New Ctenodactyloid Rodent Subfamily from the Miocene of Baluchistan. American Museum Novitates 2841:1-58

External links Palaeontologia Electronica