Abstract
Mesozoic gastropod assemblages currently emerged from Kutch, western India constitute one of the most diverse communities known during the Bathonian-Oxfordian worldwide. The present paper describes part of the Jurassic gastropod faunas of the family Pleurotomariidae from Kutch, comprising ten species belonging to three genera, of which eight species are new. They are: Bathrotomaria reticulata (Sowerby), B. waageni sp. nov., B. calloviana sp. nov., B. buddhai sp. nov., B. prasantai sp. nov., B. dhosaensis sp. nov., B. tewarii (Maithani); Leptomaria daityai sp. nov.; L. asurai sp. nov. and Obornella wuerttembergensis (Sieberer). The assemblage shows a strong Tethyan affinity at generic level, but has a distinctly endemic species content, and thus merits a distinct subprovince within the Indo-Madagascan Faunal Province. The genus Pleurotomaria is discussed in historical perspective and shown to be Mesozoic genus. The six species of Bathrotomaria described herein are considered to have evolved from the early immigrantspecies, B. reticulata of Europe.
