India,the real jurassic park

1. SEMINAR
ON
OCCURRENCES OF
DINOSAURS IN INDIA:
THE REAL JURASSIC PARK?

2. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Evolution and kindsof dinosaurs
 INDIA:Thereal jurassic park?
 Dinosaur fossils
MadhyaPradesh
Tamil Nadu
Gujarath
Maharashtra
Andhrapradesh
Meghalaya
 Conclusion
 Reference

3. INTRODUCTION
 The word Dinosaur was coined by Sir. Richard
Owen.
 Which is a Greek word means ‘terrible lizards’.
 The oldest known Dinosaur is Eoraptor that
inhabited on the Earth 228 million years ago.
 Dinosaurs were one of several kinds of
prehistoric reptiles that lived during the
Mesozoic Era, the ‘Age of the Reptiles’.
 These animals died out millions of years ago, but
they have fascinated people ever since they were
first described in the early 1800’s

4.  Word Dinosauria embraces two distinct reptilian
Orders
Order Saurischia
Order Ornithischia.
 First Dinosaur appeared during Late Triassic times.
i.e., Coelophysis and Plateosaurus belongs to
Order ‘Saurischia’.
 Order Ornithischia also made its appearance in Late
Triassic time.
 Sauropods were the large herbivorous and
Theropods were the carnivorous kind.
 Dinosaur remains have been found from China, USA,
Mongolia, Europe and most importantly in India.

5. Continued.....
 Indian dinosaur fossil bearing sediments represented by
 Upper Gondwana sediments(Pre Lameta) representing
Triassic to Middle Jurassic.
e.g, Pranhitha-Godavari valley.
 Late Cretaceous sediments (Lameta times)
e.g, Lameta Formation,Trichi
 The large spherical eggs assigned to the genus
Megaloolithus belonging to the large Dinosaur
Titanosaurus and the more oval-shaped eggs which are
believed to belong to the meat-eating Abelisaurid
dinosaurs which include Indosuchus , Indosaurus and
Rajasaurus.

6. EVOLUTION OF DINOSAURS

7. KINDS OF DINOSAURS

8. INDIA:THE REAL JURASSIC PARKINDIA:THE REAL JURASSIC PARK??
 Fragmentary bones Dinosaurs were first
reported by Captain Sleeman in 1828 from
the section of Jabalpur
 The first systematic description in Indian
dinosaurs carried out by Lydekkar in 1877.
 Fossils reported from Early Jurassic to Late
Cretaceous formations of Andhra Pradesh,
Gujatath, MadhyaPradesh ,Maharashtra,
Tamilnadu and Meghalaya.
 Central India was the largest Dinosaur
nesting site in the world.
 Indian Dinosaur nesting sites cover an area
of more than 10,000 square km.
 In India more than 10,000 eggs have been
documented. Captain W.H. Sleeman

9. DINOSAUR FOSSILS
 In India Dinosaurs were reported from more
than 60 sites (places) belongs to
approximately 500 genera.
 Indian dinosaur fossils are represented by
Skeletal remains
Eggs and nests
Caprolites
Foot prints

10. Distribution of dinosaurs in the Indian

11. DISTRIBUTION OF DINOSAUR EGGS AND NESTS IN INDIA

12. Spatial and temperal distribution of Indian dinosaurs
based on skeletal materials, traces,and tracks.

13. MADHYA PRADESH
 In Lameta Formation there are 17 sites
where egg shells and nests are reported.
(Bara Simla Hills, Chui Hills Lameta Ghat
etc)
 Fossilized remains of Nemicolopterus
(winged reptiles) reported in Patai village
of Raiser District.
 G.S.I recovered more than 100 fossil eggs
in Kukshi –Bagh area of Dhar District.
 Remains of Rajasaurus, Narmadensis
reported from Narmada river valley.
 Dinosaur fossils with a wing-span of 30 feet
have been found near Northern banks of
the river, some 25 km from Udaipur town
in Raisen district.
G S I recovered more than 100 fossilized
Eggs of dinosaurs from Dhar area

14. Continued....
 The site near an old Siddhanath Ghat in Thala
Dighavan village has hundreds of fossilized remains
of different species of dinosaurs.
 A small dinosaur, about the size of adult humans,
was named Jubbulpuria discovered by Matley in 1933
Bones found in Jabalpur area in three stratigraphi
level.
o Lower sandstone and limestone bed consists bones of
Coelssaur and Stegosaur.
o Middle conglomerate consists reworked bones of Sauropod.
o Upper sandy clay with broken bones.
 Bagh beds comprise dinosaur eggs in Bagh caves and Jhabna
area.

16. Stages in the preservation of eggs, nests and
bones at Jabalpur.

17. Dinosaur bones in thin Cretaceous lake deposits sandwiched
between lava flows, Ranipur, southeast of Jabalpur

18. TAMIL NADU
 Cluster of dinosaur eggs and body parts of about
65 million years old, reported from a village in
Ariyalur .
 The eggs, each about 13 to 20 cm in diameter,
lying in sandy nests about 1.2 meter wide.
 The nesting site, about two sq km in area located
at northeast of Ariyalur, was found along the
banks and channel bottom of streams in the
Cauvery basin.The stream section having clusters
of fossilised eggs, casts of eggs, dung and bone
remains of dinosaurs.
 Report of Massopondylus rawesi from Ariyalur,
Bruhatkayosaurus from Kallamedu,Dravidosaurus
from Trichi are the other evidences.
 Single,solitary,complete egg of Megalolithis
collected from Kallamkuruchi formation recently.

19. Fossilized nests each containing clutches
of eight dinosaur eggs in Tamil Nadu in
Southern India.
Cross-section of dinosaur dung showing
concentric layering and air vesicles.

20. GUJARAT
 Spinal column and legs associated with limestone
are found at Kaur in Kutch, belongs to Kaladongar
formation which is one of the oldest remains found
in India.
 Nests of Sauropoda and Ornithopoda reported in
1990 in Anjar hills of Anjar Formation.
 Bones are also reported from Inter trappean
sediments of Anjar area in Kutch.
 Skeletal material in coarse conglomerate in Kheda
District was recorded, which are fragmented and
weathered bones.

21. Continued.....
 Remain of Megalolithus and Ellipsolithus reported
in 9 areas of Kheda and Dahob.
 Foot print of dinosaur from nest site reported at
Jethodi area.(Mahabey 1986).
 Doubtful appearance of foot tracks of bipedal and
quadripedal dinosaurs from Upper Cretaceous
Bhuj Formation of Pakhera and Fategarh in kutch.
 Skeletal remains in the basal conglomerate litho
unit as sheet-wash deposit reported in Ralioli
area.

23. Cross-section of Sauropod bone from Anjar

24. This is the first retrieval of the oldest fossil
dinosaur from the earliest middle Jurassic
period in Kutch. The bones were 10-15 cm long
and 9-10 cm broad.

25. Well-preserved nest at Rahioli Close-up of some eggs in the nest

26. MAHARASHTRA
 Bones of Sauropods are reported early in
1859in Umrer area in Nagpur district and
later in Dongargam in Chandrapur
district.
 Titanosaurus and Laplatosaurus are
reported in green clays in Pisdura area of
Lameta Formation.
 Single,solitary and isolated tooth of
Megalosaurus reported in inter trappean
beds of Takli in Nagpur.

27. Continued...
 Isolated nests and fragmentary egg shells
reported from Pisdura, khondala, Umrer area
in Nagpur.
 Late Cretaceous Caprolites from red clays of
Lameta Formation in Chandrapur district
associated with reptilian bones and non-
marine Molluscas.
 Track way of Sauropod from egg bearing
sandstones of Lameta Formation near
Kholdoda in Nand reported in 1999.

29. Thin section of eggs (brown colour) in
pedogenically modified calcareous sandstones

30. ANDHRA PRADESH
 Barapasaurus tagorei was one of the
earliest examples of sauropods discovered
in 1970 in Kota Formation.
 Kotasaurus yamanapalliensis reported in
1980 and 2001 belongs to early Jurassic.
 Alwalkeria is the only known dinosaur that
was found in Maleri formation , a well
known Triassic geologic Formation.
 Skeletal remains of an armoured dinosaur
called Ankylosauria found in red clay bed of
the Kota Formation.

31. Continued....
 Skeletal occurrence of a Coelurosaur
Walkeria maleriensis from Late Triassic of
Pranhita-Godavari valley,in Adilabad
district.
 Caprolites are also known from the redclays
of the Maleri Formation.
 One large Plateosaurid and a small
Thecodontosaurid from the Late Triassic
Dharmaram Formation.
 Inter trappean localities bearing dinosaur
egg shell fragment reported in Asifabad.

33. Skeleton of Barapasaurus tagorei on display at
the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

34. MEGHALAYA
 Fossil bones of dinosaurs from west Khasi Hills
which are the first evidence in NE India.
 Fossil bone fragments of dinosaurs occuree in
purple-coloured sandstones of Late Cretaceous
Mahadek Formation at Dirang, a village near
Ranikor 132 km away from Shillong reported by
G.S.I., which belongs to Sauropod.
 Sandstones which are massive, coarse grained,
gritty, poorly sorted which deposited under
fluvio-lacustrine condition.

35. Continued....
 Parts of one dorsal rib, one right scapula, one
right femur and one fibula are preserved.
 Bones located along the bedding surfaces of
the purple sandstones.
 These are only remains of dinosaur identified
in NE parts of India.

37. Fossil bone of a single vertebra Large, massive and fragmented fossil bone
Transverse section of a dinosaur bone. Bone bed in Lower Mahadek Formation.

38. CONCLUSION
EXTINCTION OF DINOSAURS
 Various theories are being postulated as to why dinosaurs became
extinct.
 About 65 million years ago, a huge mass of volcanic rock erupted from
the Indian peninsula, covering an area of 500,000 sq. Km (Deccan trap).
During that time, 65 million years ago, all large dinosaur species became
extinct (Ref.Ashok Sahni )
 Another view proposed by Sankar Chatterjee, that the extinction was
the result of a large meteor hitting the earth. Meteorites of nearly 40 km
in diameter hits Bombay High ,creating a vast crater named Shiva
crater ,500 km wide. Due to this magma erupted and temperature
increased. It results the distruction and mass extinction (Ref . Sankar
Chatterjee).
 Rajeev Patnaik, principal investigator, DST, National Geographic
Project, opines that dinosaurs might have become extinct when an
asteroid with a diameter of 10 km hit Central America 65 million years
ago, forming the Chicxulub crater in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. "If we
observe closely, the Indian Deccan traps are bang opposite the area of
strike on the globe. This asteroid hit could have induced heavy volcanic
activity in India resulting in the death of dinosaurs," he says.

39. REFERENCE
 1980,Edwin. H. Colbert,Evolution of the vertebrates-A
history of the backboned animals through time,Wiley-
Interscience Publication,pp. 540.
 1997, Philip. J. Curie ,Kevin Padian, Encyclopedia of
dinosaurs, Academic Press,p.p 837(361-367).
 2001,D.M Mahabey, Indian dinosaur eggs, Journal of the
Geological Society of India,58(6), pp. 479-508
 2002,T.T.Nath,P.Y.Yadagiri,A.K.Moitra,First record of
armored dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Kota
Formation,Pranhita-Godavari valley, Andhra Pradesh,
eggs, Journal of the Geological Society of India,59(6), pp.
575-557.
 2004,U.K. Mishra, S.Sen,Dinosaur remains from
Diranga,West Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, eggs,
Journal of the Geological Society of India,63(1), pp. 9-14.

40.  2003, Ashok Sahni,Indian Dinosaurs revisited,
Currents sciences, 85(7),pp no.904-910.
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 www.dinodictionary.com
 www.sorbygeology.group.shef.ac.uk
 www.cretaceousfossil.com
 http://science.nationalgeographic.com
 www.tribuneindia.com
 www.topnews.in
 www.panoramio.com

41. THANK
YOU....