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have been collected from Chhasra Formation. The Early Miocene localities in Kutch represent
a large area, and the areal extent is about 62 sq.km and 373 sq.km for the Khari Nadi and
Chhasra formations respectively.

A comprehensive systematic study has been carried out to identify the gastropod assemblage
from both the formations based on the published literature and personal experience. The
taxonomy is now very steady. The diversity of gastropods within the two formations
constitute 72 species belonging to 31 families.

Miocene gastropod drilling predation is well known spatiotemporally. Indian records of
drilling predation are however, rare. We have made an extensive study on gastropod drilling
predation within the lower Miocene gastropod assemblages of the two formations i.e. Khari
Nadi Formation and Chhasra Formation of Kutch. This study includes detailed analyses of
drilling intensity (DI) and many other aspects which involve a total number of 25766
gastropod specimens in DIs calculation.

Discoveries of whale fall assemblages have drawn attention of many workers and enriched
the knowledge of benthic environments. Reports on Miocene whale fall assemblages are quite
frequent. They have been reported from Japan, Italy and other parts of the world, but not from
India. The present study recorded the first such report from the Lower Miocene of Kutch.

The Family Pleurotomariidae has been quite consistent and long-ranging in rock record from
the Late Triassic to the Recent with huge diversity during Mesozoic. There is a sharp fall in
diversity of this clade after the K-T mass extinction event.

There are several reports on Jurassic Indian pleurotomariid gastropods. But records of the
Caenozoic pleurotomarrid gastropod was absent from the Indian fossil record and are also
rare from rest of the world. Any new report is therefore, interesting which will improve the
study of palaeontological and palaeobiogegraphical aspects of the family. We have recorded
for the first time the pleurotomariid gastropods from Kutch as well as Dwarka basin.

List of Publication

Das, S. S., Saha, S., Bardhan, S., Mallick, S., and Allmon. W. D., 2018. The oldest turritelline
gastropods: from the Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) of Kutch, India. Journal of Paleontology,
92(3), p. 373–387. DOI: 10.1017/jpa.2017.89
Das, S. S., Mondal, S., Saha, S., Bardhan, S., and Ranita Saha., 2019. Family Naticidae
(Gastropoda) from the Upper Jurassic of Kutch, India and a critical reappraisal of taxonomy
and time of origination of the family. Journal of Paleontology, doi:10.1017/jpa.2019.3 p. 1-
12.
Das, S. S., Bardhan, S., and Saha, S. 2019. Jurassic gastropod of Kutch: a study on diversity
th
and palaeoecological interaction. 11 North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC)
California, USA, June 23 to 27, 2019. , Program with Abstracts. PaleoBios 36 (Supplement
1): 1-389.

Goswami, P., Das, S.S., Bardhan, S. and Paul, S., 2020. Drilling gastropod predation on the
lower Miocene gastropod assemblages from Kutch, western India: spatiotemporal
implications. Historical Biology, doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2020.1716343pp.1-18.

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