The Danata Formation (or Danatinskaya, Danatinsk, Russian: Danata Svita) is an Upper Paleocene to

Middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn ...

sedimentary succession located in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. It is mostly famous for its fish-bearing horizons (

Ichthyofauna Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

). The formation for example crops out in the

Kopet Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپه‌داغ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast o ...

mountain range in the border region of

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Fossil content

The Danata Formation is famous for its

ichthyofauna Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

. The fish are found in a thick clay horizon in the middle of the succession, that has been dated as Upper Paleocene. This includes fossils of the family Turkmenidae. ''

Luvarus necopinatus ''Luvaris necopinatus'' is a species of extinct louvar that lived in the Tethys Ocean during the early Paleogene. It differs from the modern species, ''L. imperialis'', in that ''L. necopinatus'' has an oval body shape, and is around one foot ...

'' was first described in this formation. Other fossils of fish include the genera ''

Eospinus ''Eospinus daniltshenkoi'' is an extinct tetraodontid bony fish from the Eocene. Its fossils are from the Danata Formation lagerstatten of Ypresian Turkmenistan. ''E. daniltshenkoi'' had four dorsal spines, three of which were on the anteri ...

, Danatinia,

Exellia ''Exellia'' is a genus of extinct spadefish that lived in the Tethys Ocean during the early Paleogene. The adult form is shaped akin to a large spadefish or a short dolphinfish, with very large pelvic fins, and a long dorsal fin starting from in ...

Turkmene ''Turkmene finitimus'' is an extinct lamprid from the Danata Formation Lagerstatten, of the Upper Paleocene of Turkmenistan. It lived sympatrically with its close relative, '' Danatinia''. In life, ''T. finitimus'' would have resembled a s ...

'' and ''

Avitoluvarus ''Avitoluvarus'' ("Ancient Louvar") is a genus of extinct louvar that lived in the Tethys Ocean during the early Paleogene. The first specimens were found from the Danata Formation Lagerstätten, of the Thanetian age of Turkmenistan, where the ...

''. The snake species '' Archaeophis turkmenicus'' has also been described.Head et al., 2005 A similar fauna occurs in the

Moler Formation The Fur Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian ( Lower Eocene Epoch, c. 56.0-54.5 Ma) age which crops out in the Limfjord region of Denmark from Silstrup via Mors and Fur to Ertebølle, and can be seen in many cliffs and quarries ...

in Denmark.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite LSA , last=Head , first=Jason J. , last2=Holroyd , first2=Patricia A. , last3=Hutchison , first3=J. Howard , last4=Ciochon , first4=Russell L. , year=2005 , title=First report of snakes (Serpentes) from the Late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Myanmar , journal=

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology The ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1980 by Jiri Zidek (University of Oklahoma). It covers all aspects of vertebrate paleontology, including vertebrate origins, evolu ...

, volume=25 , issue=1 , pages=246–250 Geologic formations of Turkmenistan Paleogene System of Asia Thanetian Stage Ypresian Stage Lutetian Stage Shale formations Sandstone formations Paleontology in Turkmenistan