Dinosaur remains found in maharashtra

Amravati: A geologist, A.K. Srivastava said here Saturday that near Salbardi area, around 60 km from here in eastern Maharashtra, fossils of dinosaur bones and eggs of gigantic creatures have been discovered. The discoveries have become fruitful after nearly six years of efforts by a team led by A.K.Srivastava and his research scholar R.S.Mankar, both from the Department of Geology, SGB Amravati University.

"These remains have been found in the sedimentary rocks, geologically known as 'Lameta Formation' deposited during the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) period," said Mankar. Following detailed studies of the discovery, they have interpreted that around 66-71 million years ago, there was a huge lake in which these Lameta sediments were deposited, Srivastava said.

Mankar said the dinosaurian remains now exist in the form of small fragments of bones; the whole eggs of the animals have been firmly fixed in the rocks and can’t be retrieved. The work on the bones and discovery has been published in the latest issue of the prestigious journal Current Science, Srivastava said.They said, it was herbivorous animal with a short and deep neck, long forelimbs and a short tail, but could not survive after the Late Cretaceous period due to hostile conditions which developed due to high temperatures and release of hazardous gases during the volcanic activity forming the Deccan Trap Basalt.

Mankar said this is not the first of its kind that the dinosaur remains have been in India. Already at few places like Nagpur, Chandrapur, and now Amravati such discoveries have been done.

"The latest discovery in Amravati highlights its presence from a new area indicating that these giant creates ruled much geographical area than was previously believed. Accordingly, it has attracted the attention of the country's scientific community working in dinosaur related areas," Srivastava said.