What if I told you that a carnivorous dinosaur even more ferocious and stronger than the Tyrannosaurus rex, once lived here in India? We had our very own “king lizard of the Narmada” or the “royal lizard” with a characteristic crown-like crest adorning its head, called Rajasaurus narmadensis, whose ~65 million-year-old fossils were discovered in the town of Rahioli, Kheda District in the Indian state of Gujarat. In 1983, palaeontologist Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Society of India (GSI) discovered an almost intact braincase and vertebrae of the Rajasaurus narmadensis. This discovery was made right next to an even grander fossil site in Rahioli (also spelt as ‘Raiyoli’) that was once a dinosaur egg hatchery or a communal nesting ground where thousands of fossilised dinosaur eggs have been discovered.
Scale diagram of Rajasaurus narmadensis (GSI 21141/1–33). Credit: Paleocolour/Wikimedia Commons
Many such dinosaur nesting sites have been unearthed over the years across India including in other locations in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. The nesting site at Rahioli in Gujarat is considered to be one of the world’s largest fossil excavation sites and dinosaur nesting grounds!
In 2021, GSI researchers announced that they had identified the dinosaur bone fossils unearthed from a place around West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya that belonged to a sauropod, a dinosaur group comprising dinosaurs so large, that they qualify as the largest animals to have ever walked on land. Sauropods were plant-eating giants with exceptionally long necks and tails, but disproportionately small heads. This find, which is still to be scientifically published, could make Meghalaya the fifth state in India after Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu to carry bones of a sauropod called Titanosaurus. So far, seven species of Titanosaurs have been discovered in India with the first specimen of a Titanosaurus indicus discovered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, way back in 1828! That is the first ever known record of a dinosaur fossil from Asia.
The list of dinosaur species from India is long, glittering, and rich – Barapasaurus tagorei (named in honour of Rabindranath Tagore), Shringasaurus indicus (discovered in Madhya Pradesh in 2017 and identified as a new species with a characteristic horn that lived over 200 million years ago), Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis (named after Rahioli in Gujarat where it was found), Bruhathkayasaurus (In Sanskrit, ‘Bruhath’ stands for ‘large’ ‘and ‘kaya’ means ‘body’ and it weighed nearly 80 tonnes!), etc. The list is long!
“Definitely, the discovery and excavation of Barapasaurus tagorei was a proud moment for India. Excavated from Pochampalli, a place bordering Telangana, Barapasaurus tagorei was one of the first fossils to be mounted out of real fossil bones. Apart from the skull and the anterior cervical vertebra most of the bones have been recovered,” says paleobiologist Dr. Sanjukta Chakravorti, an Honorary Visiting Scientist at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and an assistant professor at JIS University, Kolkata . She is one of the very few women palaeontologists in the country who have been well-acclaimed both nationally and internationally for their work.
Dr. Sanjukta Chakravorti excavating fossils from Sandstone in the Early Triassic Panchet Formation, West Bengal, India. Photo courtesy – Personal field photo collection of Dr Sanjukta Chakravorti
And it is not just fossilised bones and eggs by which dinosaurs have been identified in India. Dinosaur footprints have been described from rock beds in Kutch in Gujarat and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, among other sites. Sites rich in dung fossils (called ‘coprolites’) have been discovered here. In fact, some of the most impressive records of coprolites have been unearthed in their hundreds in some villages south of Nagpur!
More Than Just Dinosaurs
India’s awe-inspiring fossil wealth is incredibly diverse and holds immense significance for the role it has played in raising our understanding of evolution and palaeobiogeography over the years, thanks to the valiant, tireless efforts of generations of Indian and international palaeontologists, geologists, and other experts including fossil enthusiasts.
At one of the fossil digs in 2008, Sunil Bajpai, a vertebrate palaeontologist at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, helped to unearth fossilised evidence of closely related terrestrial ancestor of whales in Kashmir. That and more such whale fossils unearthed from different locations including Kutch in Gujarat have firmly established that the origins of whales can be traced to India and Pakistan. The fossils of the whale’s oldest ancestor called Himalayacetus, which lived around 53 million years ago, have been found near Simla Hills in Himachal Pradesh.
Fossils of extinct marine invertebrates such as ammonites (seen here) can be profusely found in the Himalayan region of Spiti and Ladakh. Photo credit: Gaurav Shirodkar/Purva Variyar
The Himalayan region in north India is a treasure trove of fossils of ancient marine organisms with ammonite fossils found abundantly in the river valleys such as Spiti and Ladakh, and fossils of trilobites, ammonites, molluscs, etc. found in Zanskar Valley in Kashmir! Southwards from the Himalayas in central India, exists a rich sedimentary belt stretching across the banks of the Narmada river called the Lameta Formation. This is India’s holy grail of fossils. Fossils of dinosaurs, land crocodiles, other reptiles, and even early human species have been recovered from here. Fossils of pterosaurs, flying reptiles who once took to the skies and exerted aerial domination, such as Campylognathus, which lived in India between 191 and 182 million years ago, have been found in Kota district of Rajasthan and Chandrapur District of Maharashtra in the last several decades.
Dr. Chakravorti says, “Life began in the waters and the amphibians who crawled out to the land millions of years ago are called temnospondyls. They were gigantic beasts which came before the dawn of the mighty dinosaurs. India hosts an amazing record of these bizarre creatures that help us build up and study the palaeoecosystem. But scarcely anyone knows about them! There are several other fossil records as well beholding signature of the past.”
A huge temnospondyl amphibian skull excavated by Dr. Sanjukta Chakravorti at the Late Triassic Gondwana deposit in Madhya Pradesh. Photo courtesy – Personal field photo collection of Dr Sanjukta Chakravorti
In my opinion, one of the most exciting palaeontological finds from India is the one that proves reality is stranger than fiction. It is that of an action-packed fossil of a ginormous prehistoric snake called Sanajeh indicus discovered from Kheda District in Gujarat. In 1984, vertebrate palaeontologist Dhananjay Mohabey of GSI stumbled upon calcified bones of Sanajeh indicus wrapped around a clutch of sauropod eggs about to devour the emerging dino hatchlings! An intriguing predator-prey moment from millions of years ago locked in time.
A 3-5 m. long Cretaceous snake Sanajeh indicus waits to feed on hatchling sauropod dinosaurs as they emerge from their eggs, in a scene from the Upper Cretaceous some 70 million years ago. Sculpture by Tyler Keillor and original photography by Ximena Erickson; image modified by Bonnie Miljour. The sculpture is based on a fossil dinosaur nest from western India. Source Benton MJ (2010) Studying Function and Behavior in the Fossil Record. PLoS Biol 8(3): e1000321. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000321.g001
Invisible and Undervalued
I admit that initially I was blissfully unaware of the sheer scale and significance of India’s palaeontological wealth. But, soon I was under its spell. Now I voraciously seek out any literature I can find on India’s fossils. I have started visiting places of palaeontological interest. I had the good fortune of visiting the Balasinor Dinosaur Fossil Park, Rahioli’s famed dinosaur nesting site, that is located about 90 km. from Ahmedabad in February of 2022.
More such visits to different fossil sites are in the pipeline.
The author holds a fossil of a dinosaur egg recovered from the ancient dinosaur nesting site at Rahioli, Gujarat, now the Balasinor Dinosaur Fossil Park. Photo credit: Purva Variyar
But, one thing stood out like a thorn as I educated myself about India’s paleontological scene. The truth about the utter lack of awareness and interest among the masses about India’s fossil heritage and the government’s apathy. Almost every account I read on the subject, led to this sombre realisation.
‘Palaeontology needs more than just scientists with spades and brushes. It also requires a government invested in protecting sites from looters, vandals, and apathetic landowners.’ reads a line from an article titled ‘India’s Fossil heritage is vast. It’s also under threat.’ . It struck a chord with me.
Fossils aren’t safe in India. Vandalism, theft, and bulldozing in fossil sites using earthmovers for mining, construction of roads and other infrastructure, are sadly common and create major hurdles for scientists in their quest to understand more about India’s geological past. Even officially declared fossil parks are prone to these vagaries due to lack of investment in the protection and preservation of these parks.
A clearly discernible dinosaur bone fossil still in the ground at the Rahioli fossil site, Gujarat. Photo credit: Purva Variyar
“With respect to the needs of conservation there aren’t enough fossil parks in India. The fossil sites in India are spread throughout the country from north to south. However, the state of conservation of these areas and the scope or funding to conserve and excavate and “tend” to the fossils is very poor when compared to the need,” laments Dr. Chakravorti. “We have already lost lots of prospective fossil sites to marching urbanisation. If we continue to lose fossil-bearing sites at this pace, then the future generations will only have prehistoric creatures in the museum to look at.”
She further adds, “The status of funding is far less than the bare minimum required to meet the necessities. Also, the lack of transparency in promoting fossil studies is hugely problematic! This hampers the progress of quality science and meritorious scientists are often left with no funds. Fossil cleaning and maintenance also requires a lot of money and manpower. More funds should be disbursed towards palaeobiology and both private and government organizations should be encouraged to pursue and fund these studies.”
India’s scientists have been crying hoarse about the dangers of forever losing our fossils and geological wealth to rapid, unchecked development. According to scientists hundreds of geological sites lie threatened by development and vandalism in India. It is a race against time.
What if Conservation of Biodiversity and Geodiversity Converged?
As someone working in the field of nature conservation and reading and writing about the planet’s natural history, learning about fossils and the prehistoric creatures they belonged to seems like a natural extension of my cerebral process.
This leads me to wonder if biodiversity conservation can enfold within its ambit geological conservation so that the latter gets the same amount of attention and resources. The efforts to protect fossils and biodiversity could converge benefitting both. Fossils could be made ambassadors of existing natural habitats. By declaring Protected Areas that also harbour important fossil sites, the fossil sites will enjoy increased legal protection, and by declaring fossil parks which are contiguous to critical natural habitats, will extend the buffer space and protection to wildlife within its boundaries.
“Geological conservation seeks to ensure the survival of the best representative example of the country’s geological features and events so that everyone can better appreciate one of the world’s best natural laboratories. Sadly, however, geological conservation remains only languishes[sic] in our collective blindspot,” geologist C.P. Rajendran wrote in his article published in The Wire in 2019.
As Mr. Rajendran pertinently further points out, in his article, the urgent need for India to draw up a geo-conservation legislation akin to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, a ‘National Geo-Conservation Authority’ and create an exhaustive inventory of prospective geo-sites.
It is time to treat our living natural heritage and geo-heritage with the same amount of respect and extend highest levels of protection to both, equally. While the former keeps ecosystems functions running, the latter helps shed light on the history of life and fills many a knowledge gap in our understanding of natural history.
“Every time I see the curious awed eyes of children and students learning about fossils, I feel a strong urge to conserve fossil sites for our future generations,” says Dr. Chakravorti. “An interdisciplinary field such as palaeobiology is like a cauldron where you pour the extract and expertise of all fields of sciences to delve into the deepest secrets nature has brewed in time and unravel its mysteries. We as intelligent beings should care for all life forms, both extinct and extant.”
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About the author: Purva Variyar is a conservationist, science communicator and conservation writer. She works with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and has previously worked with Sanctuary Nature Foundation and The Gerry Martin Project.
Disclaimer: The author is associated with Wildlife Conservation Trust. The views and opinions expressed in the article are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Wildlife Conservation Trust.
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