The name of the formation was coined by geologist William Thomas Blanford, who accompanied the British Expedition to Abyssinia in 1868.

The sedimentary succession is found in Ethiopia, in the Mekelle Outlier, in the Blue Nile gorge, in the Harrar Plateau and around Dire Dawa.

The Antalo Limestone comprises sediment that was deposited in a shallow tropical sea in the upper Jurassic.

At shallow depth, the sea bottom was made of large mudflats, with sand bars and spits near river mouths.

A striking scavenger in this fauna was a cephalopod mollusc, a giant nautilus with a characteristic spiral shell.