India

Paleontological and geological field work in India by members of the Thewissen Lab started in 1992 and is in collaboration with Dr. Sunil Bajpai (Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India). Fossiliferous areas in India that are studied are on the coast in the western part of the country (Kachchh District, State of Gujarat) and in the western reaches of the lesser Himalayas (Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh).

A great variety of fossils is found in Gujarat. A rich middle Eocene fauna (about 43 to 46 million years old) includes many many species of whales (remingtonocetids, protocetids, dorudontids, and basilosaurids), several seacows (protosirenids and halitheriines), as well as sharks, giant crocodiles, snakes, and the occasional land mammal. Most of these animals lived in a near-shore marine environment, similar in some ways to modern-day South Florida. The whales in these areas are younger than those from the Pakistani fossil areas collected by the Thewissen-lab. Combined, fossils from these areas document the transition from land-to-water in whales.

Excavating a seacow skull in Kachchh

Oligocene sediments (approximately 28 million years old) in Kachchh yield beautiful fossils of seacows, sharks, and crocodiles, and (so far) only tantalizingly small fragments of whales. Miocene fossils include seacows, as well as a variety of land mammals, including elephants, rhinos, and anthracotheres. These are found in sediments that indicate that shallow marine environments prevailed in Kachchh around 25 million years ago. The land mammals probably floated down rivers before sinking to the seafloor.

Dr. Thewissen excavating a whale jaw in Kachchh

All pictures on Dr. Thewissen's pages are public access, although the source must be identified in publication.