Published: 02:59 PM, 23 August 2023
Scientists of IIT Roorkee discover oldest fossil of plant-eating dinosaur in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer
"The findings of the study indicate that India was also a major centre of dinosaur evolution. Prof Bajpai revealed that there was a group of six scientists from two premier organisations who continued the research on it. The study of fossil remains stated that the first-ever dicraeosaurid dinosaurs found in India existed in the Jaisalmer region."
Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have discovered the oldest fossil remains of a plant-eating dinosaur in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.
The fossil that, was collected from the region in 2018, was found to be 167-million-year-old, according to the study published in the international journal Scientific Reports. Scientists have now discovered that the fossil remains could be of a long-necked dicraeosaurid dinosaur.
The results of the remains collected not only state the age but also indicate that the fossil belonged to a new and unknown species. Sunil Bajpai, the former director of Birbal Sahni Institute Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow, and now the Chair Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Earth Sciences in IIT Roorkee along with his IIT colleague Debajit Datta had conducted the detailed study after the collection of fossils from the site in Jaisalmer.
According to scientists, earlier, the fossils of Dicraeosaurus dinosaurs have been found in North and South America, Africa and Asia (China). However, such fossils were not found in India before. They also mentioned that, through this study, it can be said that India was also a major centre of dinosaur evolution.
Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have discovered the oldest fossil remains of a plant-eating dinosaur in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.
The fossil that, was collected from the region in 2018, was found to be 167-million-year-old, according to the study published in the international journal Scientific Reports. Scientists have now discovered that the fossil remains could be of a long-necked dicraeosaurid dinosaur.
The results of the remains collected not only state the age but also indicate that the fossil belonged to a new and unknown species. Sunil Bajpai, the former director of Birbal Sahni Institute Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow, and now the Chair Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Earth Sciences in IIT Roorkee along with his IIT colleague Debajit Datta had conducted the detailed study after the collection of fossils from the site in Jaisalmer.
According to scientists, earlier, the fossils of Dicraeosaurus dinosaurs have been found in North and South America, Africa and Asia (China). However, such fossils were not found in India before. They also mentioned that, through this study, it can be said that India was also a major centre of dinosaur evolution.
“A systematic fossil exploration and excavation program was initiated by GSI in 2018 in the Middle Jurassic (~ 167 Ma) rocks in Jaisalmer region of Rajasthan, which led to this discovery,” Prof Bajpai was quoted as saying by IANS.
He revealed that there was a group of six scientists from two premier organisations who continued the research on it. The study of fossil remains stated that the first-ever dicraeosaurid dinosaurs found in India existed in the Jaisalmer region.
After the findings were obtained, the unknown species was named “Tharosaurus indicus” with the first name indicating Thar desert while the second name refers to the country of origin, which is India.
According to Prof Bajpai, the rocks in which it was found are considered to be around 167 million years old, which makes this new Indian sauropod not only the oldest known dicraeosaurid but also globally the oldest diplodocoid.
>> Source: CNBC TV 18.com
According to Prof Bajpai, the rocks in which it was found are considered to be around 167 million years old, which makes this new Indian sauropod not only the oldest known dicraeosaurid but also globally the oldest diplodocoid.
>> Source: CNBC TV 18.com
