Dinosaur and Fossil Park in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
The Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park in
Gandhinagar,
Gujarat,
India, is a park that houses
fossilized remains and petrified
eggs of dinosaurs. It is a man-made
fossil park and not the actual nesting grounds where the dinosaurs lived. The eggs and fossils on display here are from the world's 3rd-largest dinosaur fossil excavation site and 2nd-largest hatchery at Raiyoli, Balasinor, Gujarat.
[2] The Park was set up by the
Geological Survey of India
[2]
[3] and is the only dinosaur museum in the country.
[3]
History
In 1970, the Forest Department of the Gujarat Government began its planting and restoration efforts. The park, also known as India's Jurassic Park, is 428 hectares in size and contains sections such as the dinosaur section, fossil section, etc. Now, the park is managed by the Gujarat Ecological and Research Foundation (GEER).
[4]
The oldest record of dinosaur bone fossils is of middle Jurassic period, and they are found from Patcham formation of
Kutch basin. The fossils which were found in Upper
Cretaceous formations in the region date back 66 million years. The eggs are of different sizes, some the size of
cannonballs.
Fossil trackways of these gargantuan animals are also on display in the park.
[2]
Dinosaurs that are on display include
Tyrannosaurus rex,
Megalosaurus,
Titanosaurus,
Barapasaurus,
Brachiosaurus,
Antarctosaurus,
Stegosaurus and
Iguanodon.
[2] The park displays life-size models of the dinosaurs along with details of each period in which they existed and the characteristics of the animals.
[2]
The fossils were found in the Songhir Bagh Basin, the
Himatnagar basin of
Balasinor, south-eastern parts of
Kheda,
Panchmahal and
Vadodara districts of the state.
[2]
Gallery
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Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park, Gandhinagar
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Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park, Gandhinagar
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Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park, Gandhinagar
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Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park, Gandhinagar
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Fossilized Dinosaur eggs displayed at Indroda Fossil Park
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Fossilized Dinosaur eggs displayed at Indroda Fossil Park
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Fossilized Dinosaur eggs displayed at Indroda Fossil Park
References