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Indian Dianosaurs Revisited
Indian Dianosaurs Revisited
DINOSAUR bones were reported as early as 1828 from Indian dinosaur localities
Jabalpur Cantonment by an army officer Captain W. H.
Early discoveries were made in central India in the 19th
Sleeman (Figure 1), only four years after the first des-
Century by soldiers, surveyors and priests, one of the
cription of Megalosaurus by William Buckland, a Profes-
most famous being Reverend Stephen Hislop of Nagpur.
sor at Oxford University in 1824. In fact, some of these
Most of the dinosaur localities are in central India, along
collections housed in the British Museum, London helped
the Pranhita–Godavari (PG) Valley2 and along the Narmada
Sir Richard Owen to formally establish ‘Dinosauria’ as a
river3, and are associated with Gondwana rocks or with
group of large extinct reptiles later in 1842. The dino-
sedimentary sequences interfingering with the Deccan
saurs of India have thus been studied for the past 175
basaltic flows (Figure 3). However, there are some nota-
years and these studies provide unique scientific informa-
ble exceptions: ONGC scientists have described Jurassic
tion on: the origin of dinosaurs and the evolution of their
dinosaurs from northern Kutch along India’s border with
gigantic size; their nesting environments and behaviour;
Pakistan; while Cretaceous finds include the Tiruchirapalli
and dietary preferences as inferred by remains of dino-
region in south India; the Barkhan locality, east of Quetta
saur dung or coprolites. Relationships to contiguous land
in Pakistan4, and some sites in Meghalaya described by
masses of Madagascar, Australia, Antarctica and South
scientists of the Geological Survey of India5.
America based on geodynamic plate tectonic models can
also be inferred. In addition, attention has focused on
extinction scenarios involving the asteroid impact fallout Some important Indian taxa
at two localities in Kutch and Meghalaya, and the concur- Although there has been much discussion regarding the
rent outpouring of the Deccan lava flows, one of the most extinction of dinosaurs and other biotas at the end of the
intensive and extensive continental flood basalt activities
known on planet Earth at precisely the same time as the
dinosaur extinction event.
The dinosaurs of India known by about 15 to 20 genera
form only a small component of the less than 300 valid
taxa known worldwide1. This group of highly successful
and diverse reptiles survived for about 165 million years
(m.y.) and occupied diverse ecological niches ranging
from tropical rainforests (as in the Cretaceous of North
and South America), sandy deserts of Mongolia and the
polar regions of Alaska and Australia. In this great lati-
tudinal distribution, these reptiles were helped by a long-
term greenhouse with temperatures significantly elevated
above the global mean annual present-day temperature of
15°C (Figure 2).
Cretaceous, there has been relatively less attention paid another skeleton of Kotasaurus has been exhibited at the
to the origination of this group. In fact, the rise of the Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad7. Both these genera found
dinosaurs was just one other instance of accelerated evo- in Lower Jurassic rocks are unique not only because they
lution that took place after one of the most destructive represent one of the best examples of the early sauropod
biotic mass extinction episodes on earth some 245 m.y. giants, but they also throw light on India as a possible
ago. During this extinction event over 90% of marine life centre of origin. No other specimen at this early stage of
and over 80% of life on land perished. It was as one dinosaur evolution is as complete. In fact, the potential of
palaeontologist put it – ‘The day the earth nearly died!’ the Indian dinosaur fossil record is yet to be realized.
Life on earth as we know it now, consists of the 10–15% The Jurassic sauropods gave rise to even larger sauro-
survivors of this catastrophe. Among the survivors were pods in the Cretaceous for which an appropriate name
the thecodonts which, within a span of 30 m.y., gave rise Titanosaurus has been given, based initially on material
to the first dinosaurs. Much is now known of the earliest from India. Titanosaurids have now been reported from
(Triassic) dinosaurs from the work of the Argentinian several localities in the Cretaceous of southern France and
scientist Fernando Novas, who has described some excel- Spain as well as in several localities in South America,
lent specimens from Patagonia. In India as well, some implying a slow but steady faunal exchange between
little material has been assigned to a putative dinosaur, these land masses. Jain and Bandopadhyay8 have descri-
Alwalkeria maleriensis from Nehal village, in the PG bed a partial skeleton of Titanosaurus from the Lameta
Valley6. Triassic dinosaurs, including Alwalkeria were Formations near Wardha. Sauropod bones are found in
slender, nimble, bipedal creatures that soon took over the most Indian Cretaceous localities extending from Kutch
role of a top carnivore. in the west through most of peninsular India to the east in
Jabalpur and south of Nagpur. The ectothermic nature of
these giants has been inferred on the basis of several
Barapasaurus and Kotasaurus and the origin physiological factors9, but the high vascularity of their
of the giants
Figure 2. Greenhouse earth during the time of the dinosaurs. Figure 3. Distribution of dinosaurs in the Indian subcontinent.
Figure 4. Skeleton of Barapasaurus tagorei on display at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
(Photo: Courtesy Palaeontology Museum.)
Indosuchus raptorius
Comparable in size to the better known Tyrannosaurus
rex of North America, but distinct from it taxonomically
at the familial level is Indosuchus raptorius (Abelisauri-
dae). Indosuchus was first described by Von Huene and
Matley in 1933 (ref. 10) based on material quarried from
Jabalpur and other localities in Madhya Pradesh. By
studying specimens collected by Barnum Brown in 1922
from Jabalpur and now housed in the American Museum
of Natural History at New York, Chatterjee11 has des-
cribed the skull and mandible of this giant carnivore. He
is also in the process of describing a much larger dinosaur
assemblage from the Lameta Formation of Balasinor and
Rahioli, situated east of Ahmedabad12. These forms in-
clude a stegosaur and an ankylosaur. Figure 5. Cross-section of sauropod bone from Anjar showing growth
and well-preserved osteons marked by arrows. Osteon diameters are
about 25 µm.
Dinosaur nesting sites
tion of sauropod nesting sites in an area excess of
During the last two decades, one of the biggest gains in 10,000 km2 across most of peninsula India3. The nesting
dinosaur research in the country has been the documenta- sites comprise of hundreds of nests and thousands of eggs
906 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 85, NO. 7, 10 OCTOBER 2003
GENERAL ARTICLES
Figure 6. Thin section of eggs (brown colour) in pedogenically modified calcareous sandstones.
Rounded caliche nodule to the left is 1 cm in diameter.
calcium resorbtion taking place. Indian sauropod egg- the main questions being addressed is the degree of gut
shells studied by electron microscopy suggest that a large (bacterial) fermentation taking place.
proportion of embryos were growing and hatching out, as
the mammillary surface shows cratered pits. Another rare
eggshell type consists of elongated eggs named Elonga-
Environments and associated biotas
toolithus and this is believed to have been laid by carni-
The palaeoenvironments in which Indian Triassic, Juras-
vorous (theropod) dinosaurs.
sic and Cretaceous dinosaurs lived have been discussed at
length previously17. Of greater interest is the biodiversity
Dinosaur dung of life during the Mesozoic, at the time that dinosaurs
were the dominant animals18. Cretaceous biodiversity
Some of the rarest preserved dinosaur material pertains to during the outpouring of the Deccan basalts has been the
dung or coprolites (Figure 10). Matley16 was one of the first best studied and it will be elaborated here, to give some
to systematically describe coprolites from the Pisdura idea of the other life forms that lived alongside the dino-
area situated not far from Nagpur. On-going collabora- saurs. Vegetation was diverse, dominated by palm trees
tive work by several institutions such as the Physical and other plants requiring high precipitation. Lakes were
Research Laboratory (PRL), Birbal Sahni Institute of dominated by algal charophytes and siliceous diatoms.
Palaeobotany, Geological Survey of India and Panjab The Goghuwa Fossil Park situated to the east of Jabalpur
University is documenting isotopic and dietary signatures displays some of the land plants present during the Creta-
of herbivorous dinosaurs. A variety of coprolitic segments ceous. On land, the main faunal communities consisted
have yielded woody tissue, cuticles, pollen and water- of fishes, frogs, snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles and
ingested micro-organisms such as diatoms. This study dinosaurs18. Mammals were then small and arboreal, and
is providing greater insights into the physiological proces- formed an insignificant part of this community19. No Cre-
ses of large sauropod dinosaurs which were presumably taceous bird has yet been reported from India. Invertebrates
ectothermic and had rudimentary peg-like teeth. One of comprised of pulmonate gastropods, unionid pelecypods
and ostracodes. The seas teemed with a host of forms
dominated by the molluscan ammonites, best seen in the
a Tiruchirapalli sections. These sea giants also met the same
fate as the dinosaurs some 65 m.y. ago.
Figure 8. a, Well-preserved nest at Rahioli; b, Close-up of some eggs Figure 9. Thin section of sauropod eggshell showing calcitic spheroliths
in the nest. Pen for scale. and air canals running through the shell. Shell thickness about 2.5 mm.
However at present, on the basis of physical and geo- 3. Sahni, A., Tandon, S. K., Jolly, A., Bajpai, S., Sood, A. and Srini-
chemical markers, the asteroid hypothesis has gained vasan, S. In Dinosaur Eggs and Babies (eds Carpenter, K. et al.),
Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 204–226.
ground. In over 100 localities around the world, enhanced 4. Wilson, J. A., Malkani, M. S. and Gingerich, P., Contrib. Mus.
iridium levels (in ng/g range) are confined to thin layers Paleontol., Univ. Mich., 2001, 30, 321–336.
which not only mark a major biotic turn-over at the 5. Mishra, U. K. and Sen, S., Curr. Sci., 2001, 60, 1053–1056.
Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (KTB), but also host a 6. Chatterjee, S. In Gondwana Six: Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and
suite of impact-related minerals such as stishovite, micro- Paleontology (ed. McKenzie, G. D.), Geophysical Memoir, 1987,
41, pp. 183–189.
diamonds and fullerenes (the latter originating from wild- 7. Yadagiri, P., Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 1988, 116, 102–127.
fires that swept the globe after the impact). Bhandari and 8. Jain, S. L. and Bandopadhyay, S., J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 1997, 17,
co-workers from the PRL have documented two widely- 114–136.
separated sites in India, one at Anjar, Kutch22 and the 9. Spolia, J. R., O’Connor, M. P., Dodson, P. and Paladino, F. V.,
other at Um Shorengkew (Figure 12) in Meghalaya, Mod. Geol., 1991, 16, 203–227.
10. Von Huene, F. and Matley, C. A., Mem. Geol. Surv. India, Palae-
where the iridium anomaly has been observed. ontol. Indica, 1933, 21, 1–74.
11. Chatterjee, S., J. Paleontol., 1978, 52, 570–580.
12. Chatterjee, S. and Scotese, C. R. In Gondwana Assembly: New
Conclusion Issues and Perspectives (eds Sahni, A. and Loyal, R. S.), INSA
Spec. vol., 1999, pp. 189–218.
13. Tandon, S. K., Andrews, J. E., Sood, A. and Mittal, S., Sediment.
Indian dinosaurs form a small but important component Geol., 1998, 119, 25–45.
in understanding dinosaur palaeobiology and evolution. 14. Khosla, A. and Sahni, A., J. Palaeontol. Soc., 1995, 40, 87–102.
They also contribute significantly to aspects dealing with 15. Mohabey, D. M., J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 1998, 18, 348–362.
origins of the giant sauropods, reproductive and digestive 16. Matley, C. A., Rec. Geol. Surv. India, 1939, 74, 535–547.
17. Loyal, R. S., Khosla, A. and Sahni, A., Mem. Queensl. Mus., 1996,
physiology as well as faunal relationships in land masses
39, 629–638.
that were at one time contiguous. Dinosaurs form part of 18. Khosla, A. and Sahni, A., J. Asian Earth Sci., 2003, 21, 895–
India’s rich fossil heritage and deserve to be protected for 908.
our future generations. At present, there is urgent need for 19. Prasad, G. V. R. and Sahni, A., Nature, 1988, 332, 638–640.
enactment of legislation that will allow scientific study 20. Briggs, J. C., Evolutionary Monographs, Univ. of Chicago, 1990,
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of fossils, including dinosaurs, but will firmly deal with
21. Courtillot, V., Besse, J., Vandamme, D., Montigny, R., Jaeger,
intentional acts of vandalism and commercialism. J. J. and Cappetta, H., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1986, 80, 361–
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22. Bhandari, N., Shukla, P. N., Ghevariya, Z. G. and Sundaram,
1. Dodson, P., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1990, 87, 7608–7612. S. M., Geol. Soc. Am., Spec. Pap., 1996, 307, 417–424.
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Soc. London, Ser. A, 1975, 188, 221–228. Received 6 August 2003