Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Biological Consequences of Plate Tectonics pp 181–226Cite as

The Age of Dinosaurs in the Land of Gonds

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

The fossil record of dinosaurs from India provides a highly significant contribution to understanding the origin and evolution of dinosaurs and their paleobiogeographic significance. As India rifted from Gondwana and drifted northwards during the age of dinosaurs, the mobile episode in Indian geology provides a unique opportunity to study the diversity of dinosaurs in time and space. The dinosaurs from the Gondwana and post-Gondwana sediments of India have been collected and studied since their discovery in the 1920s, but the full range of their significance and evolutionary history remained fragmentary. After the independence of India, a renaissance arose in the study of dinosaurs at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) under the leadership of Pamela Robinson, as more and more dinosaur skeletons were discovered from different localities. This exploration by ISI paleontologists represented a pivotal moment in the history of vertebrate paleontology in India and became a starting point for a remarkable increase in our knowledge of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous dinosaur faunas. It inspired a new generation of students working under Ashok Sahni’s direction at Panjab University to engage in the Cretaceous research. This paper offers an updated and comprehensive review of the anatomy, systematics, and evolution of Indian dinosaurs within historical, paleobiogeographic, and paleoecologic contexts. The occurrence of Indian dinosaurs is currently restricted to central and southern India, and the record extends across all three Mesozoic periods. It is generally regarded that dinosaurs originated in the Late Triassic Period in Argentina, about 230 million years ago. However, Alwalkeria, a theropod discovered in the Lower Maleri Formation of India, was contemporaneous with the oldest Argentinean dinosaurs. Similarly, Barapasaurus from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation is considered as one of the oldest, gigantic sauropod dinosaurs with a quadrupedal pose. The Late Triassic and Early Jurassic dinosaurs of India are diverse and document their early radiation. With the breakup of Gondwana, India began to disintegrate and drifted northwards, carrying its dinosaur fauna like a passenger ship, until it collided with the Oman-Kohistan-Ladakh Arc in the Late Cretaceous, forming a biotic corridor to Africa and Europe. The Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Lameta Formation, consisting of several species of titanosaurs and abelisaurs, provide intimate documentation of the last ‘geologic minutes’ before their extinction. Along with dinosaur bones, the largest titanosaurid hatchery is known from the Lameta Formation, extending for more than 1,000 km. Most egg clutches contain about 10 to 12 spherical eggs ranging in diameter from 15 to 20 cm. Surprisingly, these eggs were empty, showing no signs of embryos, perhaps indicating hatching failure during some environmental crisis. At the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, India was ground zero for two catastrophic events—the Shiva impact and Deccan volcanism—both linked to dinosaur extinction. The combination of twin asteroid impacts (Chicxulub and Shiva), with prolonged Deccan volcanism created an unprecedented and ultimately catastrophic environmental crisis across the globe, triggering the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alvarez, W. (1997). T. rex and the Crater of the Doom. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez, L. W., Alvarez, W., Asaro, F., & Michel, H. V. (1980). Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Science, 208, 1095–1108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandyopadhyay, S., Gillette, D. D., Ray, S., & Sengupta, D. P. (2010). Osteology of Barapasaurus tagorei (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the early Jurassic of India. Palaeontology, 53, 533–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, A. R., Renne, P. R., Das Gupta, D. K., Teichmann, F., & Poreda, R. J. (1993). Early and late alkali igneous pulses and a high–3He plume origin for the Deccan flood basalts. Science, 261, 902–906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, D. N., Banerjee, A., & Tamhane, D. M. (1982). Facies distribution and petroleum geology of Bombay Offshore Basin, India. Journal of Petroleum Geology, 5, 57–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, P. H., Furness, R. W., & Henning, D. (1993). Mercury dynamics in young Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks from a polluted environment. Ecotoxicology, 2, 33–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berman, D. S., & Jain, S. L. (1982). The braincase of a small sauropod dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from the Upper Cretaceous Lameta Group, Central India, with review of Lameta Group localities. Annals of Carnegie Museum, 51, 405–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari, L. L., & Jain, S. K. (1984). Reservoir geology and its role in the development of L-III reservoir, Bombay high field, India. Journal of Petroleum Geology, 7, 27–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhandari, N., Shukla, P. N., Ghevariya, Z. G., & Sundaram, S. M. (1996). K/T boundary layer in Deccan intertrappeans at Anjar, Kutch. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 307, 417–424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohor, B. F., Modreski, P. J., & Foord, E. E. (1987). Shocked quartz in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary clay: Evidence for a global distribution. Science, 224, 705–799.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonaparte, J. F., Brea, G., Schultz, C. L., & Martinelli, A. G. (2007). A new specimen of Guaibasaurus candelariensis (basal Saurischia) from the Late Triassic Caturitta Formation of southern Brazil. Historical Biology, 19, 73–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brusatte, S. L., Butler, R. J., Barrett, P. M., Carrano, M. T., Evans, D. C., Lloyd, G. T., et al. (2014). The extinction of dinosaurs. Biological Review, 90, 628–642.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1974). A rhynchosaur from the Upper Triassic Maleri Formation of India. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B276, 209–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1978a). A primitive parasuchid (phytosaur) reptile from the Upper Triassic Maleri Formation of India. Palaeontology, 21, 83–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1978b). Indosuchus and Indosaurus, Cretaceous carnosaurs from India. Journal of Paleontology, 52, 570–580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1980). Malerisaurus, a new eosuchian reptile from the Upper Triassic Maleri Formation of India. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B290, 219–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1982a). Phylogeny and classification of thecodontian reptile. Nature, 295, 317–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1982b). A new cynodont reptile from the Triassic of India. Journal of Paleontology, 56, 203–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (1987). A new theropod dinosaur from India with remarks on the gondwana-laurasia connection in the late triassic. In G. D. McKenzie (Ed.), Gondwana six: stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleontology. Geophysical Monograph, 41 (pp. 183–189). Washington DC: American Geophysical Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S. (2015). The rise of birds: 225 million years of evolution. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., Goswami, A., & Scotese, C. R. (2013). The longest voyage: Tectonic, magmatic, and paleoclimate evolution of the Indian plate during its northward flight from Gondwana to Asia. Gondwana Research, 23, 238–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., Guven, N., Yoshinobu, A., & Donofrio, R. (2006). Shiva structure: A possible KT boundary impact crater on the western shelf of India. Special Publication, Museum of Texas Tech University, 50, 1–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., & Hotton, N., III. (1986). The paleoposition of India. Journal of Southeast Asian Earth Sciences, 1, 145–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., & Majumdar, P. K. (1987). Tikisuchus romeri, a new rauisuchid reptile from the Late Triassic of India. Journal of Paleontology, 61, 787–793.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., & Rudra, D. K. (1996). KT events in India: Impact, volcanism, and dinosaur extinction. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 39, 489–532.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., & Scotese, C.R. (1999). The breakup of Gondwana and the evolution and biogeography of the Indian plate. In A. A. Sahni & R. S. Loyal (Eds.), Gondwana assembly: New issues and perspectives (pp. 397–425). New Delhi: Indian National Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, S., Scotese, C. R., & Bajpai, S. (2017). The restless Indian plate and its epic voyage from Gondwana to Asia: Its tectonic, paleoclimatic, and paleobiogeographic evolution. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 529, 1–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colbert, E. H. (1980). A fossil hunter’s notebook. New York: E. P. Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colbert, E. H. (1988). Digging into the past. New York: Dembner Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coria, R. A., & Saladgo, L. (2001). South American ankylosaurs. In K. Carpenter & J. I. Kirkland (Eds.), The armored dinosaurs (pp. 159–168). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta, P. M. (1981). The first jurassic mammal from India. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 73, 307–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Datta, P. M., & Das, D. P. (2001). Indozostrodon simpsoni, gen. et sp. nov., an Early Jurassic megazostrodontid mammal from India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21, 528–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Emic, M. D., Wilson, J. A., & Chatterjee, S. (2009). The titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) osteoderm record: Review and first definitive specimen from India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29, 165–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellwood, B. B., MacDonald, W. D., Wheeler, C., & Benoist, S. L. (2003). The K-T boundary in Oman: Identified using magnetic susceptibility field instruments with geochemical confirmation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 206, 529–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández, M. S., & Khosla, A. (2015). Parataxonomic review of the Upper Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells belonging to the oofamily Megaloolithidae from India and Argentina. Historical Biology, 27(2), 158-180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Font, E., Adatte, T., Sial, A. N., de Lacerda, L. D., Keller, G., & Punekar, J. (2016). Mercury anomaly, Deccan volcanism, and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Geology, 44, 171–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaffney, E. S., Chatterjee, S., & Rudra, D. K. (2001). Kurmademys, a new side-necked turtle (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Late Cretaceous of India. American Museum Novitates, 3321, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghosh, P., Bhattacharya, S. K., Sahni, A., Kar, R. K., Mohabey, D. M., & Ambwani, D. M. (2003). Dinosaur coprolites from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Formation of India: Isotopic and other markers suggesting a C3 plant diet. Cretaceous Research, 24, 743–750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goresy, A. E., Chen, M., Dubrovinsky, L., Gillet, P., & Graup, G. (2001). An ultradense polymorph of rutile with seven-coordinated titanium from the Ries crater. Science, 293, 1467–1470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami, A., Prasad, G. V. R., Verma, O., & Benson, R. B. J. (2013). A troodontid dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of India. Nature Communications, 4, 1703. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hildebrand, A. R., Pilkington, M., Conors, C. Ortiz-Aleman, & R. E. Chavez. (1995). Size and structure of the Chicxulub crater revealed by horizontal gravity gradients and cenotes. Nature, 376, 415–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huene, F. V. (1940). The tetrapod fauna of the Upper Triassic Maleri beds. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Palaeontologia Indica (NS), 32, 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huene, F. V., & Matley, C. A. (1933). Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the central provinces of India. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Palaeontologia Indica, 21, 1–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain, S. L., & Bandopadhyay, S. (1997). New titanosaurid (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Central India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 17, 114–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jain, S. L., Kutty, T. S., Roy Chowdhury, T. K., & Chatterjee, S. (1975). The sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Kota Formation of India. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 188, 221–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. C., Horton, J. W., Chow, I. M., & Belkin, H. E. (2006). A shock-induced polymorph of anatase and rutile from the chesapeake bay impact structure, Virginia. U. S. A. American Mineralogist, 91, 604–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, A. P., Price, G. D., Price, N. J., De Carli, P.S., & Clegg, R. A. (2002). Impact induced melting and the development of large igneous provinces. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 202, 551–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, G. (2014). Deccan volcanism, the Chicxulub impact, and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: Coincidence? Cause and effect? Geological Society of America Special Paper, 505, 57–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khosla, A., Kapur, V. V., Sereno, P. C., Wilson, J. A., Wilson, G. P., Duthell, D., et al. (2003). First dinosaur remains from the Cenomanian-Turonian Nimar Sandstone (Bagh Beds), district Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 48, 115–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khosla, A., & Sahni, A. (1995). Parataxonomic classification of Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells from India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 40, 87–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kring, D.A. (2017). Chicxulub and the exploration of large peak-ring craters through scientific drilling. GSA Today 27. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG352A.1.

  • Kring, D. A., & Dudra D. D. (2003). The day the world burned. Scientific American, 289, 98–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutty, T. S., Chatterjee, S., Galton, P. M., & Upchurch, P. (2007). Basal sauropodomorphs (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Lower Jurassic of India: Their anatomy and relationships. Journal of Paleontology, 81, 1552–1574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutty, S., & Sengupta, D. P. (1989). Late Triassic formations of the Pranhita-Godavari valley and their vertebrate faunal sequence–A reappraisal. Indian Journal of Earth Sciences, 16, 189–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerbekmo, J. F. (2014). The Chicxulub-Shiva extraterrestrial one-two killer punches to Earth 65 million years ago. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 40, 203–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lydekker, R. (1877). Notices on new and other Vertebrata from Indian Tertiary and Secondary rocks. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 10, 30–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matley, C. A. (1923). Note on an armored dinosaur from the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 55, 105–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matley, C. A. (1933). The coprolites of Pisdura, central Provinces. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 74, 530–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathur, R. B., & Nair, K. M. (1993). Exploration of Bombay high offshore basin. In S. K. Biswas (Ed.), Proceedings of the Second symposium on Petroliferous Basins of India (pp. 365–396). Dehra Dun, India: Indian Petroleum Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • McHone, J. G. (2003). Volatile emissions from central Atlantic magmatic province basalts: Mass assumptions and environmental consequences. In W. E. Hames, J. G. McHone, P. Renne, & R. Ruppel (Eds.), The central Atlantic magmatic province: Perspective from the rifted fragments of Pangea (pp. 241–254). American Geophysical Union Monograph, 136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medlicott, H. B. (1872). Note on the Lameta or infra-trappean formation of central India. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 5, 115–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehrotra, N. C., Venkatachala, B. S., & Kapoor, P. N. (2010). Palynology in hydrocarbon exploration: High impact palynological studies in western offshore and Krishna-Godavari basins. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 75, 364–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melosh, H. J. (1989). Impact cratering: A geologic process. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikhailov, K. E. (1991). Classification of fossil eggshells of amniotic vertebrates. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 36(2), 193-238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molnar, R. E. (1980). An ankylosaur (Ornithischia: Reptilia) from the Lower Cretaceous of southern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 20, 65–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novas, F. E. (2009). The age of dinosaurs in South America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novas, F. E., Agnolin, F. L., & Bandopadhyay, S. (2004). Cretaceous theropods from India: A review of specimens described by Huene and Matley (1933). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, 6, 67–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novas, F., Chatterjee, S., Rudra, D. K., & Datta, P. M. (2010). Rahiolisaurus gujaratensis, n. gen. n. sp., a new abelisaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of India. In S. Bandopadhyay (Ed.), New aspects of Mesozoic biodiversity (pp. 45–62). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novas, F. E., Ezcurra, M. D., Chatterjee, S., & Kutty, T. S. (2011). New dinosaur species from the Upper Triassic Upper Maleri and Lower Dharmaram formations of central India. Earth and Environment Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 101, 333–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padian, K., Ricqles, A. J. D., & Horner, J. R. (2001). Dinosaurian growth rates and bird origins. Nature, 412, 405–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pandey, O. P., & Agarwal, P. K. (2001). Nature of lithosphere deformation beneath the western continental margin of India. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 57, 497–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parthasarathy, G., Bhandari, N., Vairamani, M., & Narasaiah, B. (2002). Natural fullerenes from the Cetaceous-Tertiary boundary at Anjar, Kutch, India. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 356, 345–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, G. V. R., & Parmar, V. (2020). First ornithischian and theropod dinosaur teeth from the Middle Jurassic Kota Formation of India: Paleobiogeographic relationaships. In G. V. R. Prasad & R. Patnaik (Eds.), Biological consequences of plate tectonis: New perspectives on post-Gondwana break-up (pp. 1–30). Cham: Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, G. V. R., & Sahni, A. (2014). Vertebrate fauna from the Deccan volcanic province: Response to volcanic activity. Geological Society of America Special Publication, 505, 193–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, G. V. R., Verma, O., Flynn, J. J., & Goswami, A. (2013). A new Late Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from the Cauvery basin, South India: Implications for Gondwana paleobiogeography. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 33, 1260–1268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, G. V. R., Verma, V., Grover, P., Priyadashini, R., Sahni, A., & Lourembam, R. S. (2016). Isolated archosaur teeth from the green sandstone capping the Coralline Limestone (Bagh Group) of the Narmada valley: Evidence for the presence of pre-late to late Maastrichtian abelisaurids in India. Island Arc, 25, 410–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, V., Stromberg, C. A. E., Alimohammadian, H., & Sahni, A. (2005). Dinosaur coprolites and the early evolution of grasses and grazers. Science, 310, 1177–1180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, B. P., & Talukdar, S. N. (1980). Petroleum geology of Bombay high field, India. American Association of Petroleum Geologist Memoir, 30, 487–506.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathore, S. S., Vijan, A. R., Singh, M. P., Prabhu, B. N., & Misra, K. N. (1997). K-Ar dating of basement rocks of Bombay offshore basin. Proceedings of the Second International Petroleum Conference Exhibition, 1, 583–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathore, S. S., Vijan, A. R., Singh, M. P., Prabhu, B. N., & Sahu, A. (2004). Isotopic evidence of Middle Proterozoic magmatism from Bombay high field: Implications to crustal evolution of western offshore of India. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science, 113, 27–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, D. S., McKenna, M., Toon, O. B., Hope, S., & Lillegraven, J. A. (2004). Survival in the first hours of the Cenozoic. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 116, 760–763.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, K. C., & Wilson, J. A. (2014). Vahiny depereti, gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Fomation, Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34, 606–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy Chowdhury, T. K. (1965). A new metoposaurid amphibian from the Upper Triassic Maleri Formation of Central India. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B250, 1–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudra, D. K. (1982). Upper Gondwana stratigraphy and sedimentation in the Pranhita-Godavari valley, India. Quarterly Journal of the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Society of India, 54, 56–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, A., & Khosla, A. (1994). Paleobiological, taphonomical, and paleoenvironmental aspects of Indian Cretaceous sauropod nesting sites. Gaia, 10, 215–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, A., Tandon, S. K., Jolly, A., Bajpai, S., Sood, A., & Srinivasan, S. (1994). Upper cretaceous dinosaur eggs and nesting sites from the Deccan volcano-sedimentary province of peninsular India. In K. Carpenter, K. F. Hirsh, & J. R. Horner (Eds.), Dinosaur eggs and babies (pp. 204–223). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saladgo, L., & Gasparini, Z. (2006). Reappraisal of an ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of James Ross Island (Antarctica). Geodiversitas, 28, 119–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoene, B., Samperton, K. M., Eddy, M. P., Keller, G., Adatte, T., Bowring, S. A., et al. (2015). U- Pb geochronology of the Deccan Traps and relation to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Science, 347, 182–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scotese, C. R. (2015). Some thoughts on global climate change: The transition from Icehouse to Hothouse. Earth History: The Evolution of the Earth System as revealed through Plate Tectonics, Palaeogeography, Paleoclimate, and the Evolution of Life. PALEOMAP Project, 15e.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sereno, P. C., Wilson, J. A., & Conrad, J. L. (2004). New dinosaurs link southern landmasses in the mid-Cretaceous. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B271, 1325–1330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shukla, A. D., Bhandari, N., Kusumgar, S., Shukla, P. N., Ghevariya, Z. G., Gopalan, K., et al. (2001). Geochemistry and magnetostratigraphy of Deccan flows at Anjar, Kutch. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, 110, 111–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit, J. (1999). The global stratigraphy of Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary impact ejecta. Annual Review of Planetary Sciences, 27, 75–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tortosa, T., Buffetaut, E., Vialle, N., Dutour, Y., Turini, E., & Cheylan, G. (2014). A new abelisaurid from the Late Cretaceous of southern France: Paleobiogeographical implications. Annales de Paléontologie, 100, 63–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vellekoop, J., Esmeray-Senlet, S., Miller, K. G., Browning, J. V., Sluji, A., Schootbrugge, B. V., et al. (2016). Evidence for Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary bolide “impact winter” conditions from New Jersey, USA. Geology, 44, 619–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vianey-Liaud, M., Khosla, A., & Garcia, G. (2003). Relationships between European and India dinosaur eggs and eggshells of the oofamily Megaloolithidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 23, 575-585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vijaya & Prasad, G. V. R. (2001). Age of the Kota Formation, Pranhita-Godavari valley, India: A palynological approach. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 46, 77–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wandrey, C. J. (2004). Bombay geologic province: Eocene to Miocene composite total petroleum system, India. US Geological Survey Bulletin, 2208-F, 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegener, A. (1915). The origin of oceans and continents. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A. (2002). Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: Critique and phylogenetic analysis. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 136, 217–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A., Malkani, M. S., & Gingerich, P. D. (2005). A sauropod braincase from the Pab Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of Balochistan, Pakistan. Gondwana Geological Magazine, 8, 101–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A., Barrett, P. M., & Carrano, M. T. (2011). An associated partial skeleton of Jainosaurus cf. septentrionalis (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Chhota Simla, Central India. Palaeontology, 54, 981–998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A., Mohabey, D. M., Peters, S. E., & Head, J. J. (2010). Predation upon hatchling dinosaurs by a new snake from the Late Cretaceous of India. PLoS Biology, 8(3), e1000322. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A., Sereno, P. C., Srivastava, S., Bhatt, D. K., Khosla, A., & Sahni, A. (2003). A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lameta Formation (Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology University of Michigan, 3, 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. A., & Upchurch, P. (2003). A revision of Titanosaurs Lydekker (Dinosauria – Sauropoda), the first dinosaur genus with a ‘Gondwanan’ distribution. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 1, 126–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolbach, W. S., Gilmore, I., Angers, E., Orth, C. J., & Book, R. R. (1988). Global fire at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Nature, 324, 665–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yadagiri, P. (1984). New symmetrodonts from Kota Formation (Early Jurassic) India. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 25, 414–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yadagiri, P. (1988). A new sauropod Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis from Lower Jurassic Kota Formation of India. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 11, 102–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yadagiri, P. (2001). The osteology of Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis, a sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21, 242–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zutshi, P. L., Sood, A., Mohapatra, P., Raman, K. K. V., Dwivedi, A. K., & Srivastava, H. C. (1993). Lithostratigraphy of Indian petroliferous basins. Documents V, Bombay Offshore Basin. Dehra Dun, India: Unpublished KDMIPE Report, ONGC.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper is a story of an itinerant paleontologist who witnessed the birth of vertebrate paleontology in a newly independent India, and actively participated in that development. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the late Pamela Robinson, and the other paleontologists at the Indian Statistical Institute who inspired me to pursue paleontology during my formative years. I thank Dhiraj Rudra for accompanying me on field excursions, and for providing years of much needed logistic support. Necip Guven must be gratefully acknowledged for identifying the shocked rutile from the basement of the Shiva crater . I thank Saswati Bandopadhyay for providing the photograph of Barapasaurus. Appreciation goes to Oliver McRae for his accompanying artwork and the careful reading of this manuscript. Many thanks go to Guntupalli Prasad for inviting me to contribute this paper and his careful editing. I thank three anonymous reviewers for providing useful suggestions. This paper is dedicated to my friend Ashok Sahni for his pioneering work in Indian paleontology and stratigraphy . The research was done under the support of Texas Tech University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Museum of Texas Tech University, 3301 4th Street, Lubbock, Texas, 79409, USA

    Sankar Chatterjee

Authors
  1. Sankar Chatterjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sankar Chatterjee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Center for Advanced Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Guntupalli V.R. Prasad

  2. Center of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

    Rajeev Patnaik

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Chatterjee, S. (2020). The Age of Dinosaurs in the Land of Gonds. In: Prasad, G.V., Patnaik, R. (eds) Biological Consequences of Plate Tectonics. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49753-8_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation