Fossils are the dead remains/evidence of past organisms. Burrows, footprints & poo can also be preserved as #fossils.

#India has a legacy of ancient marine creatures, dinosaur bones/eggs & rare hominin (modern human) fossils.

#FossilFriday thread on some of India's relics:

1. Petrified forests, Thiruvakkarai & Sathanur, Tamil Nadu

The word 'petrified' means turn to stone.

~20 million years ago/mya these tree trunks were submerged in a swamp & their cellulose was replaced by silica - a rock forming mineral.

Ranjith Kumar Inbasekaran (CCBY-SA)

2. Near Dholavira, Kutch, Gujarat

I was lucky to access this #fossil park during my Masters (not always accessible as it lies close to the border)

Some petrified logs & dinosaur eggs lie metres away from the salty stretches of the Rann of Kutch.

Nagarjun Kandukuru (CCBY)

Kutch region, Gujarat & Zanskar valley, Kashmir have #fossil of ancient marine creatures.

Trilobites, ammonites, molluscs & other vertebrates abound.

In #Nepal, the Kali Gandaki gorge is famous for 'shaligrams' - dark, river-smoothened, #fossil-bearing rocks.

Jmhullot, CCBY

Ironically, while Hinduism believes 'shaligrams' represent Lord Vishnu, creationists say #fossils were placed to test Man's faith in God

Yet more fossil finds & better dating technology indicates that life did indeed 'evolve' from the oceans & onto land.

#FossilFriday

How do we know this? #Stromatolites!

Stromatolites are fossil colonies of ancient cyanobacteria - the earliest adaptation of single-celled microbes, that evolved at the interface of ocean & land.

from the book Indica, Pranay Lal
#MustRead: pg 40-47 on stromatolite formation.

Apart from parks (I won't list them, just Google), one can find #fossils in the most unexpected places: monuments!

Like this fossil fern at the base of the #Sanchi stupa, #MadhyaPradesh.

Or a petrified log at the temple near Qutb Minar, Delhi.

Kishor Kumar Mishra, CCBY-SA

It seems, the Hazara Ram temple in Hampi also has a few fossils (can anyone confirm? I should keep an eye out on my next visit).

Would love to hear of other examples too!

Lamentably, in #India, we have little value for our #fossils, fossil sites, or #geoheritage.

#ReadingList:

Legislations for Geodiversity: https://science.thewire.in/environment/why-indias-incredible-geodiversity-needs-to-be-legislated-asap/

India’s geologists champion law to protect fossil treasures @PriyankaPulla: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02361-6

Exploring India's paleogeography sites by @rapiduplift: http://suvratk.blogspot.com/2017/03/exploring-indias-paleogeography-and.html

FIN/