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DINOSAUR AND FOSSIL PARK
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- Recreating the age of Dinosaurs |
“Dinosaur”
the very world evokes magical images of giant
prehistoric reptiles that walked on our planet 65
million years ago and then astonishingly vanished from
the face of the earth forever. From uncompromising
adults to wide-eyed children these mega monsters
fascinate all sections of the society. It is true to
suggest that dinosaurs gained instant worldwide
recognition due to the spectacular movie “The Jurassic
Park” directed ably by that gifted genius Steven
Spielberg. Once the media took to this prehistoric
animals there has been no stopping them… dinosaurs have
now found themselves thrust, albeit unw illingly into the
spotlight in the most unlikely of places from books,
videos, cds, to commercials and even the covers
fashionable magazines. Dinosaur popularity especially
among the children has resulted in a mass media blitz
and commercialization of this interest generated is now
a common phenomenon.
Dinosaur National Parks have been set up and these
places where large remains of dinosaurs have been
excavated are considered to be of paramount geological
and palaeontological. Scientists have spent over a
hundred and fifty years studying these creatures and
though there is still much to learn, we are much closer
to understanding them than we were during any time in
the last century. Dinosaur skeletons continue to be
excavated every few weeks and through the latest
technological advances made, scientists studying them
are capable of making new path breaking discoveries.
Among the primary objectives of the vertebrate palaeontologists studying these creatures is trying to
unravel the mystery that surrounds their dramatic
disappearance from the face to the earth so as to
prepare ourselves for any future unwelcome event.
Gujarat is one of the few states of India that contains
a wealth of dinosaur fossilized remains besides also
possessing a chilling reminder to their perhaps
unceremonious exit due to a catastrophe. It is perhaps
fair to state that Gujarat boasts of having at Rahioli
in Kheda district one among the most abundant of
hatcheries in the world comparable to those discovered
in China, Mangolia, USA and Argentina, This unique
occurrence of the dinosaurian eggs, hones, skin impressions and in some cases even coprolites suggest a
widespread presence of dinosaurs in Gujarat especially
the Late Cretaceous period.
GEER Foundation Gandhinagar has taken up the task of
preparing a dinosaur foss il
park at Indroda wherein the fossilized remains as well
as life – sized models of this prehistoric fauna of
Gujarat will be displayed. Their ecosystem depicting the
floral diversity with pines, palm, ferns and other early
angiosperms such as magnolias will be grown to make the
set up seem life like. The park has already begun to
take shape and is being prepared based on an elaborate
plan drawn up by the officers of GEER Foundation in
consultation with the geologists of the Geological
Survey of India (Operation Gujarat) Western Region. GEER
Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
the Geological Survey of India, Gandhinagar wherein the
technical know how will be provided by the geologists
belonging to this premier geological institution. The
park is an attempt to create public awareness among the
local citizens regarding the wealth of ancient flora and
fauna of our stage. The park will be built in there main
stages depicting various geological periods of the
earth’s enormous geological time span with special
emphasis on those period important with respect to
Gujarat. The first stage is centered around the
Cretaceous period (Creta from Latin for chalk) that time
in the earth’s past when Gujarat was a flourishing
ground for a number of dinosaur species as was much of
the Gondwanaland and Laurasia land masses, part of the
them super continent, Pangaea. India was on its way of
where it lies today starting a grand journey that has
over millions of years covered many thousands of miles.
This was the time of the first angiosperms, the first
pollinating insects and also the time when our earth was
on the verge of being hit by a cataclysmic asteroid,
that which resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs
and also of pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs and the ammonites.
The students of MSU Faculty of Fine Arts have been
preparing the life – sized models of dinosaurs that
feely roamed these parts of Gujarat along with other
significant reptiles including crocodiles and
pterousaurs besides amphibians and the earliest shrew
like mammal, a very miniature form of the modern day
mammals. The dinosaurs on display along with all the
necessary information indicating their age, behaviour
pattern and significant characters including their
etymological origins can be seen. The models have been
made in fiber glass and resin and these include
Deinonychus ‘terrible claw”, a carnivore, swift, agile
and fearsome always attacking in packs,
Tyrannosaurus-rex without doubt one of the world’s most
famous dinosaur, Megalosaurus another theropod much
smaller in comparison to T-rex. Besides these a
Triceratops and her baby along with a giant
Brontosaurus, belonging to the sauropod family of long
necked long tained peaceful herbivores and an lguanodon,
among dinosaur to get a scientific name can also be
seen. These dinosaurs have been reconstructed with the
help of the geologists of Geological Survey of India,
Gandhinagar especially Dr. Z.G. Ghevaria who provided
necessary technical guidance and expertise regarding the
external morphology of these animals. All these forms
are based on recorded findings discovered over the year
and visitors will be able to see and marvel about these
creatures in the Park’.
Mammals like crusafontia, zalambdalestes that existed
during that period were very small under the dominanace
of the great reptiles. The models of these mammals are
also prepared. Some of the other reptiles like
longisquama and deinosuchus have been prepared.
 After
completion of the Cretaceous section work on the
Jurassic period will be undertake wherein two famous
Jurassic dinosaurs the Stegosaurus and the Allosaurus
will be prepared. Fossils belonging to Kutch primarily
will be collected and highlighted especially the
“Ammonites” which are a well known group of extinct
cephalopods believed to be among the best indicators of
a Jurassic environment and also known to occur widely in
the region.
The last section will consist of the Tertiary and
Quaternary periods part of the “Age of Mammals”–
Cenozoic era and this will showcase the exciting range
of mammalian evolution and their coming of age. Human
origin and development through the last 10,000 year will
also traced. |
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