Geological Survey of India Re-Discovers First Indian Dinosaur Fossil 

In quieter moments when palaeontologists are given the chance to reflect on the current hot-spots for dinosaur discoveries thoughts may turn to the exciting fossil finds coming out of Angola, or the work being undertaken to research into the bizarre Dinosauria fauna that once roamed the prehistoric island of Hateg in southern Europe.   Other scientists may comment on the amazing Early Cretaceous dinosaur discoveries that are being made around the town of Winton in Queensland (Australia), however, it is important that the fossil discoveries being made in India are not overlooked. Today, we look at India’s first dinosaur fossil to be scientifically described.

To read about the discovery of a dinosaur nesting site in India: “Treasure Trove” of Dinosaur Eggs found in India.

First Dinosaur Fossil

India is a huge country with extensive Mesozoic-aged formations that are just beginning to reveal evidence of the amazing creatures that roamed what was to become the Asian sub-continent.  The history of dinosaur discovery in India actually goes back a very long way.  The first recorded dinosaur find was made in that country more than one hundred and eighty years ago, even before the term Dinosauria was coined and the Dinosauria established as a suborder of the Reptilia.  After one hundred and thirty four years the very first dinosaur fossil described from India has been re-discovered, ironically amongst the collection of the Geological Survey of India at their Kolkata head-office.

In the days of the British Empire, when India was regarded as the “jewel in the crown”, the country was being mapped and explored by her colonial masters.    In 1828, Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Sleeman of the Bengal Army (later knighted and to become a Major-General, after a long and distinguished career in India), led a small expedition to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh (central India).  This military expedition with its accompanying geologists and cartographers mapped the strata in the area.  This strata is now known as the Lameta Formation and it consists of Upper Cretaceous aged rocks (Maastrichtian faunal stage).  The Lameta Formation is famous for its Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils, most of them unique to this region.  The fossils found include long-necked dinosaurs (Titanosauria) as well as many theropods including large abelisaurids that rivalled the tyrannosaurs in terms of size.  It was this military expedition that found the first evidence of dinosaurs in India.  W. H. Sleeman is credited with finding a twenty centimetre long, isolated bone from what was later to be termed a dinosaur.

Newly Re-Discovered World’s First Described Titanosaur Bone

India’s lost and found titanosaur fossil.

Picture credit: Geological Survey of India

Discovered in 1828

The discovery, made in 1828 was only four years after the Reverend William Buckland had described the very first dinosaur (Megalosaurus bucklandii) and many years before the eminent English anatomist Sir Richard Own established the Dinosauria as the term used to describe these “terrible, fearfully great lizards”.  Sir Richard Owen established the term Dinosauria – the dinosaurs in April 1842, although he later alluded to the fact that he had come up with the term earlier (August 1841).

The Indian specimen was actually a single, caudal vertebra (part of the tail), of a large, herbivorous dinosaur.  It was passed amongst a number of distinguished Victorian scientists until 1877 when no record of where it was could be found.  This dinosaur fossil, which had lain undiscovered for millions of years was lost to science from 1877 until April 2012 when it was discovered by members of the Geological Survey of India who were re-assessing the fossil heritage of the sub-continent.  It was a chance discovery, the specimen having resided in the collection of the Geological Society of India at their Kolkata head-office.

India’s First Dinosaur Fossil

India’s first dinosaur fossil to be described was discovered by Dr D. M. Mohabey and Dr Subhasis Sen of the Geological Survey team.  The dinner-plate sized specimen was amongst a collection of fossils that had been studied by the English naturalist and geologist Richard Lydekker, who had joined the organisation that was to become the Geological Survey of India back in 1874.  It was Lydekker who formally named and described the specimen in 1877, establishing a new genus of dinosaur – Titanosaurus indicus.  The newly, re-discovered tail bone is a holotype, a specimen upon which the original description of an organism is based.  The specimen still has the original labels – 2193 and 2194 on it which are clearly visible, the classification given to this fossil by Lydekker.  The fossil was located amongst the vertebrate fossils in the catalogued collection made by Lydekker and stored on the first floor at the headquarters of the Geological Survey of India.

Titanosaurs are a Cretaceous sub-branch of the long-necked dinosaurs known as sauropods.  They lived mostly in the southern continents and survived up until the very end of the Cretaceous.  Some titanosaurs did migrate into northern lands and a number of these herbivores evolved into huge animals, bigger than the diplodocids and brachiosaurids of the Late Jurassic.  Titanosaurs such as Paralititan, Andesaurus, Bruhathkayosaurus, Alamosaurus  and Argentinosaurus represent the largest land animals known to science.

An Illustration of a Typical Giant Titanosaur (Argentinosaurus)

Huge dinosaurs – titanosaurids.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Indian team are hoping to find more fossils that were presumed lost and to help to solve a puzzle which involves the Natural History Museum in London.  A number of British expeditions explored the fossil beds of the Lameta Formation in the early part of the 20th century.  Many specimens were subsequently removed from India to the then British Museum (now the Natural History Museum), in London.  As part of a continuing international research programme to map India’s vertebrate fossils, scientists are hoping to be able to identify Indian dinosaurs amongst the collection at the Natural History Museum.

To view models and replicas of titanosaurs and other dinosaurs: Titanosaur Replicas and Dinosaur Models (CollectA).

The Geological Survey of India team are optimistic that any dinosaur specimens that they are able to trace to the Natural History Museum collection will be returned to India for further study and to be united with other Indian dinosaur specimens.  Like the fossil found by Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Sleeman, one hundred and eight four years ago, many of these fossils are holotypes and the only known fossil evidence for a number of dinosaur species that seem to be unique to the sub-continent.

The caudal vertebra, now back in the catalogued collection of the Indian survey team represents the very first titanosaur fossil to be scientifically studied and as such it is regarded as a critical specimen for the global research into the evolutionary history of these sauropod dinosaurs.

Perhaps more importantly, as the Indian economy strengthens and the country emerges as a global super-power there is a strong demand for improved educational resources and an emphasis on India’s place and role in the scientific community.  It is likely that Indian museums will step up their efforts to have important artifacts such as dinosaur fossils returned to their country as interest in dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals grows.

United States District Judge Notes that Tarbosaurus bataar is a “Frankenstein Model”

In a surprise twist to the long running saga concerning the right to auction a mounted, twenty-four-foot- long Tarbosaurus bataar dinosaur fossil specimen which was seized by federal authorities,  it seems that the disputed Tarbosaurus fossil exhibit may contain the bones from more than one individual animal.

Disputed Tarbosaurus Fossil

The claim, which has been challenged by United States prosecutors and refuted by palaeontologists may complicate the U.S. and Mongolian Government’s attempt to return the fossils back to Mongolia.

To read about the auction of this dinosaur exhibit: Tyrannosaurid Specimen Sold at Auction despite Controversy.

The fossils were originally sold in May at Heritage Auctions in New York, the buyer, believed to be a private individual paid over £1 million USD for the mounted skeleton.  The lot had been described as the bones from a single animal in the auction sale literature.  In June, U.S. Government officials seized the exhibit after the Mongolian Government demanded its return on the suspicion that the fossils had originally been smuggled out of Mongolia illegally.

Michael McCullough, an attorney representing Florida commercial palaeontologist Eric Prokopi, who had offered the specimen for sale stated that about half the reconstruction – fossilised bones welded onto a metal frame,came from one creature and the other half from “at least two, most likely many” dinosaurs.

At Everything Dinosaur we call such specimens composites, almost all of the exhibits in museums are made up of the fossilised bones of several individuals.  Often the remainder of the specimen is completed using plastic re-constructions of the bones that were not found at the original dig site.  It is extremely rare for the fossils of a large dinosaur such as a Tarbosaurus to be found in an articulated state with most of the bone material in situ.

“Frankenstein Model”

The district judge hearing the case described the dinosaur as a “kind of Frankenstein model of a dinosaur”.  Earlier in the case Mongolian scientists and North American Theropod experts examined the remains and deemed the reconstruction to have been created from a single specimen.

Judge Castel enquired:

“They did not pick up that this was from several sources?”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Bell replied on behalf of the prosecution team stating:

“Their opinion is that it is largely from one dinosaur.  It was marketed as one dinosaur. A seventy-five percent complete, but one dinosaur.”

The Mongolian Government’s claim to the fossil is based on the specimen (or specimens) being smuggled out of their country, where it has been illegal to send such items abroad for more than fifty years.  This case is also complicated by the fact that Mr. Prokopi is alleged to have provided mis-leading customs documents to allow the fossils to be imported in the United States.  On the customs documents the remains are valued at $19,000 USD, but the specimen went on to fetch more than fifty times that amount after it had been prepared, mounted and put up for auction in New York.

Attorney McCullough said that the $19,000 shipment only constituted part of the reconstruction, and that Prokopi had collected other parts of the skeleton from multiple sources in at least three separate shipments imported to America between the years 2007 and 2009.

Mr. Prokopi has not said where or from whom he acquired the skeleton.  He said that he constructed the specimen from a collection of loose, mostly broken bones and rocks with embedded bones.  Although it has been reported that this specimen or at least part of it was supplied by a fossil dealer based in Dorset (England).

Mr. Prokopi has filed a case to allow him to have the specimen back.  He has said he and his wife spent thousands of hours preparing and mounting the skeleton, which increased its value, over the original customs valuation before it was auctioned.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Government stated that the authorities remain confident based on expert testimony, that the fossils all originated from within Mongolia’s Gobi desert. Prosecutors have previously said those experts believe the fossils were removed from the region between 1995 and 2005.

The case will  continue when it is reconvened in December.

In the meantime, for legitimate Tarbosaurus models and prehistoric animal replicas: Age of Dinosaurs Popular Models (CollectA).

Update

Judge Castel has given the U.S. Government until September 21st to provide further evidence in support of the application to retain the Tarbosaurus bataar skeleton with a view to returning the specimen to Mongolia.  This ruling has occurred as we understand the current situation, as it was revealed that the disputed exhibit may actually contain the fossilised bones of more than one individual dinosaur.