The Thar Desert in western India’s Rajasthan state, now a scorching region, was once a tropical shoreline inhabited by dinosaurs and marine creatures. Recently, researchers discovered 167-million-year-old dicraeosaurid fossils from the region. The fossils belong to Tharosaurus indicus, a dinosaur group that feasted on plant life with its long neck. This is the first time dicraeosaurids have been found in India and the oldest ever found in the world’s fossil record. The discovery underscores the importance of studying fossils from the Indian subcontinent to gain a broader understanding of Earth’s prehistory.
Dicraeosaurids, including Tharosaurus indicus, are a type of diplodocoid sauropod characterized by their elongated bodies and necks. These dinosaurs have been found in fossil beds from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous periods, but no dicraeosaurids had been documented in India before this discovery. The fossils were unearthed by an all-Indian team in collaboration with the Geological Survey of India and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, who have been systematically exploring and excavating fossils in the Thar Desert. The discovery of Tharosaurus indicus challenges earlier theories that India was only inhabited by the predecessors of diplodocoids.
The dinosaur possesses distinctive features, such as elongated depressions on the neck bones’ sides and neural spines with deep divisions that resemble upward spikes on the neck. Its tail bones also have a heart-shaped front surface. The fossils provide evidence for an alternative viewpoint on which sauropods lived in what is now India, representing the earliest global record of dicraeosaurids and diplodocoids.
The discovery of Tharosaurus indicus, along with other primitive dinosaur findings from India, strongly suggests that the region played a significant role in the emergence and diversification of neosauropods, a group of long-necked vegetarian dinosaurs. This is further supported by considering the arrangement of continents during the Middle Jurassic period. Researchers argue that the Indian landmass was important in the origin and evolutionary history of other vertebrate groups as well, with notable examples including fossils tracing the origins of whales and horses.
Despite the valuable fossils that India possesses, the field of vertebrate paleontology faces challenges due to limited resources. Restricted access to fossil sites, mining operations, dense forest cover, insufficient funding, and limited job opportunities hamper the comprehensive study of fossils in the country. However, recent federal proposals have aimed to protect and conserve important fossil sites and geoheritage sites in India, providing hope for the advancement of the field.
