A freshwater ostracod assemblage from the Kesavi intertrappean beds (latest Cretaceous/earliest Paleocene) of lower Narmada Valley, Malwa Sub-province of Deccan Traps, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India

We here report a new freshwater ostracod assemblage comprising 11 species (Frambocythere tumiensis anjarensis, Gomphocythere paucisulcatus, G. strangulata, Limnocythere deccanensis, Zonocypris spirula, Eucypris intervolcanus, Cypria cyrtonidion, Stenocypris cylindrical, Cypridopsis hyperectyphos, Candona amosi, Eucypris sp.) from a newly discovered intertrappean locality at Kesavi, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh. This locality lies in the lower Narmada Valley of Malwa sub-province, a poorly studied region of the Deccan Traps volcanic province of peninsular India compared to the other volcanic sub-provinces. The ostracod assemblage from Kesavi is similar to those known from different parts of the Deccan volcanic province and lacks any brackish or marine elements. The endobenthic crawler Frambocythere tumiensis dominates the assemblage, indicating a lacustrine freshwater depositional environment.