Believe it or not: Arid Kutch was wetland once

AHMEDABAD: You may find it difficult to fathom but the present arid region of Kutch with 23,000 sq km of desert area was, once upon a time, a lush green ecosystem thriving with life including sharks, huge crocodiles, rhinos, elephants and even giraffes!


The flora and fauna had flourished in the region 14 million years ago, identified as Minocene period, in ‘a warm, humid/ wet, tropical or sub-tropical environment like a forest,’ claims a paper recently published in international journal ‘Historical Biology.’ The study was conducted by Gaurav Chauhan and MG Thakkar from KSKV Kachchh University in Gujarat, Vivesh Kapur from Lucknow-based Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences and Martin Pickford from Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

‘Prehistoric breeding ground of mammals’

The scientists claimed ‘forests of Kutch’ were breeding grounds for pre-historic mammals, reptiles and birds. The area of Palasava in Rapar district – from where fossils of an exhaustive list of life forms were found – was also connected to estuarine-marine system as fossils of dolphins, sharks and other fish were also found.

“It is surprising that Little Rann of Kutch and neighbouring areas could be part of a larger wetland comparable to present day’s Kaziranga sanctuary in Assam,” said Thakkar, professor and head of department of earth and environmental science at KSKVKU.

The fossils date back to 14 million years when the Himalayan range was rising and ranges such as Shivalik were forming up. Hence, similar fossils can be found in parts of present-day Pakistan.

Researchers said that the find will put Kutch region in new light as far as vertebrate palaeontology and allied sciences are concerned. Dr Kapur said that the study would help understand origin and early evolution of various mammalian categories. “It will also help us understand migration patterns between India, Africa and Eurasia during the Latest Paleogene-Neogene time interval,” he said.

The study was rolled out when Thakkar came across a fossilized rib in 2007. Following excavations threw up a prized cache of 163 different fossil material.

In all, the researchers found fossils of animals such as or related to sharks, rays, sawfish, turtles, crocodiles, snakes, flamingos, storks, pigs and several pre-historic animals which can be linked to present-day rhinos, elephants, giraffe and so on.

Researchers said that in countries like China and the US, the sites with biological heritage are preserved for further research and are declared national heritage sites. A similar step would ensure preservation of rare fossils, they added.