Gandhinagar, June 16: A real life model of the ’Rajasoruas-Narmdensis’ similar to the T-Rex, is the latest to join the most ferocious dinosaurs that will attract visitors at the Indroda Dinosaur Park here.

The Dinosaur Park, set up with the help of the Geological Survey of India is planning to develop a tertiary section which will display mammals that started evolving after dinosaurs became extinct, including ancestors of the cat family-Saber, according to C N Pande, director of Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation.

People who were awed by Micheal Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park that dealt with the dangers of biological tinkering of the DNA of extinct dinosaurs would find it interesting to note that all these creatures once roamed in the region of Gujarat about 65 million years ago. A number of fossilized bones of these creatures and eggs can be found in the Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park in Gandhinagar and at also in the museum hall of GSI.

In fact the paleontologists who study fossils to unravel the mystery of the past in terms of evolution consider this region to be the Jurassic Park of India. The fossilised eggs of these creatures placed in the ’Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park’ in Gandhinagar is a living testimony of the existence of these creatures. The park has been established in collaboration with the Geological Survey of India and is now rated to be the best in the country.

The Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park contains lifesize models of dinosaurs depicting details of their characteristics, the period in which they existed and their behaviour. It also contains a large number of cannon ball-like fossilized eggs, footprints of these creatures and bones. These creatures include the most ferocious T-Rex or the Tyrannosauras, Brachiosauras, Stegosaurus, Iguandon, Titanosaurus, Megalosautus, Barapasauraus and several others.

The fossils were found in the Songhir Bagh, the Himmatnagar basin of Balasior, southeastern parts of Kheda, Panchmahals and Vadodara district of the state. According to C N Pande, director Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation (GEERI), which looks after the dinosaur and fossil park, this region happens to be the second biggest hatchery of dinosaur eggs in the world.

In fact, the Kutch district is regarded by the paleontolgists as a ’Jurassic Park’ where several fossilised dinosaur eggs have been discovered in excavation. "The site is not only replete with fossilised skeletal parts of the dinosaurs hitherto unknown in the uppercretaceous formation of India, but also with well-prepared nursery of numerous dinosaurian eggs making this site very important on the world map", he adds.

Fossilized eggs and bones of dinosaurs and their contemporary fauna have been found in a number of places in the state including Balasinor, Kutch, Dahod, Gulf of Kutch etc. The fossils of associated plants have also been found at various places like Sabarkantha Kutch etc. The dinosaurs that roamed in this region include the most ferocious Tyrranosauras (T-Rex), the Megalosaurus, Brachiosautus, Titanosaurus, Baraspauras, Antaractosaurus, Stegosaurus, Iguanodon and several other varieties.

A visit to the fossil-cum-dinosaur park developed in around a three hectare area reveals huge life size models of the dinosaurs giving details of the period in which they existed and their characteristics. The park has been segregated into Cretaceous and Jurassic period and the models of the dinosaurs are placed according to the period of their existence.

Courtesy: Zee News - Noida,India