The discovery of a new dinosaur, Tharosaurus indicus, in India is shaking up the study of a branch of sauropods, the long-necked, plant-eating group best known for brontosaurus. The find has also highlighted India’s growing status within paleontology, although the field continues to face many challenges in the country.
Fossils have been found around the world, with new species identified in Argentina, East Africa, China and the U.S. The discovery of a major one in India, now, greatly changes paleontology’s understanding of how these animals came about and radiated across the globe. T. indicus stands as the oldest dicraeosaurid ever found and also the oldest diplodocoid, a larger group of dinosaurs.
Researchers discovered vertebrae belonging to T. indicus spread across about 270 square feet in the Thar Desert (aka “The Great Indian Desert”) of western India. Climatic changes created the desert, but the area wasn’t always so dry. At the ...
