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| Saturday, 26 June 2004 |
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Indian dinosaur on display at the Calcutta Museum from Upali Rupasinghe in New Delhi The Rajasauras Narmadensis, India's first carnivorous dinosaur fossil, discovered in the Narmada region in Gujrat has taken up permanent residence amidst civilisation after millions of years. And that too besides the twenty two and half million-year-old fossil tree at the Indian Museum in Calcutta. On display is at least 70 percent of Rajasauras Narmadensis' skull. It inhabited the shore of the Narmada 67 million years ago. To ensure its princely appearance, Rajasuras Narmadensis was crowned with a double-crested horn on its forehead. Managing to bring the exhibit to the indian Museum, Calcutta was S.K. Chakravarti, Director of the Museum who went on retirement after a distinguished service of 38 years on the very day the relics of the dinosaur entered the Museum. According to geologists, the dinosaur fossil's specific name, originating from Narmada (Narmada river), denotes its habitat, environs, stretching from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh to kheda in Gujrat, all along the length of the Narmada river. Although the basic fossil material was unearthed from the locality in Gujrat by the scientists of the Geological Survey of India (GSI), previous studies have shown the presence of bone fragments of Rajasauras from the Jabalpur fossil locality also. Rajasauras Narmadensis is the first Indian dinosaur of its kind for which preserved associated cranial and postecranial skeletal remains are available. The excavation of the fossil bones of Rajasauras was done at a site in the Rahioli village of Kheda district. Gujrat, from a series of connected pits. The pits were precisely mapped for the exact location of the bones buried therein. This has helped in identifying associated bones of Rajasauras from amongst several other bone fragments belonging to other dinosaurs. From a collection of 33 bones, including braincase, vertebrae, jaw, limbs, tail bone etc. the morphological details regarding the size and form of Rajasauras have been conceived. The availability of a relatively large number of associated bones, including the braincase has imparted greater precision to the palaeontological assessment of the skeletal structure and anatomy of Rajasauras. With precise details in hand, it appeared quite attractive to the project team to make an attempt towards reconstructing skeletal details of the head and the overall appearance with fleshy cover of Rajasauras. The sediments yielding the fossil remains of Rajasauras are dated 67 m.y. And this was the period in the earth's history when the primordial supercontinent of Gondwanaland had already dismembered into the present day continental fragments or plates, which were drifting in different directions to ultimately attain the present geographic locations. At 67 m.y. the Indian plate consisted exclusively of its present peninsula part, in isolation, in the form of a big 'Island'. It was drifting northward eventually to collide with the Eurasian Plate, some 1.5 m.y. later, resulting into the formation of the Himalayan mountain chain. The habitat of Rajasauras in such an 'island' situation indicates strong possibilities of indigenously evolved morphological characters. Rajasauras Narmadensis can aptly be called truly an Indian dinosaur. The well-known North American dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex was, in all probability, a contemporary of Rajasauras Narmadensis, but the two never met, the scientists say. |
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