Millions of years ago, Gujarat stretched from Kutch to Raioli to Dahod. The river plains extending from the Narmada Basin served as ideal hatching grounds for dinosaurs from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous period.
About 65 million years ago, Raioli in Balasinor was a fertile breeding ground for many species of dinosaurs and it happens to be the second-largest dinosaur hatchery in the world.
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Excavations in Gujarat have unearthed more secrets about Gujarat’s prehistoric wildlife. It is believed that more than 13 species of dinosaurs flourished here around 65 million years ago. A unique specimen of a prehistoric snake known as Sanajeh also was unearthed here. Fossils discovered by paleontologists reveal that the land was an ideal habitat for Indian Titanosaurid sauropods and Abelisaurid theropods during the Late Cretaceous period.
The history of dinosaur finds in Gujarat began in 1981 when dinosaur eggs from the Late Cretaceous (67.5 million years) were first discovered. D.M. Mohabey of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) made the find in Lameta Formation of Balasinor, Kheda District. In 1982 G.N. Dwivedi and D.M. Mohabey found the skeletal remains of Titasaurid Sauropods (herbivores/plant eaters) Andabelisurid Theropods (carnivores/meat eaters) in the Lameta sediments at Raioli.
During a geological field mapping trip two GSI geologists discovered rounded, ball-like structures on the large pit of limestone bed. After comparing sections of the structures with known dinosaur eggshells from North America and Europe, they were convinced that these were indeed fossilized dinosaur eggs. Further studies confirmed that the fossil egg-bearing horizon is underlain by calcareous sandstone containing sauropod and theropod teeth, and a conglomerate horizon yielding an abundance of dinosaur bone fossils. Following these discoveries, the GSI turned over a dozen nest sites and hundreds of dinosaur eggs in Kheda and the adjoining Panchamahals District.
Today Raioli village, which sits about 115 kilometers from the state capital, Gandhinagar, is home to India’s first Dinosaur Museum and the world’s third largest fossil park.
The museum has ten galleries featuring several dinosaur exhibits and 3-D film presentations in Gujarati and English, an interactive and amusing Dino fun-for-kids area, and a vivid display of Mesozoic times. One gallery depicts the Jurassic era when dinosaurs may have roamed freely in Raioli. There are nearly 50 sculptures of dinosaurs, including a life-size one of an indigenous breed known as the king of dinosaurs. The squat, thick-legged, heavy-bodied carnivorous dinosaur with a crested horn was called the Rajasaurus Narmandensis (Dinosaur King of Narmada) – Raja because of its crested horn and Narmada after the geographical location where it was found.
Other galleries showcase fossil exhibits, posters, sculptures, eggs, and items discovered in the excavations.
Balasinor Fossil Park stretches over 428 hectares and is the burial ground of fossils that are at least 65.5 million years old.. Fossils here are from the late Cretaceous age. The fossil park contains fossil remains and other unidentified bones, bones, and eggs excavated since the 1980s – I spotted a femur, pelvic bones, a knee, a cranial cavity, and a spine. More than 10,000 dinosaur eggs were found in the area ranging in size from small eggs to cannon balls. The ruling family of Balasinor played a major role in creating the park after a guide told Princess Aliya Sultana Babi about the discovery.