Scientists have discovered several remains of what are thought to be ancestors of modern mammals in the Wagad plateau of eastern Kutch. The fossils, which the scientists said appear to be preserved parts of ancient giraffes, pigs, rhinos, elephants and crocodiles, are believed to be about 15 to 20 millions years old, known as the Miocene period. "We began digging last week and have just come back from the field," said Professor M G Thakkar, head of Kutch University’s Earth and Environmental Sciences department, over the phone from Bhuj.

The team includes scientists and researchers from three institutions, including J.G.M. Hans Thewissen from the Northeast Ohio Medical University in the US and Dr Sunil Bajpai from the Birbal Sahani Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow.

The Thewissen Lab has been working in Pakistan and India for the past two decades in Kashmir, Himachal and Kutch, with findings in the latter region including "43 to 46 million years old ... whales, sharks, giant crocodiles and snakes and the occasional land mammal."

The lab’s younger fossil finds in Kutch, which are considered about 28 million years old, also include seacows, sharks, crocodiles, and "tantalizingly small fragments of whales".

Courtesy : Indian Express