The nesting grounds of Gujarat
Eggs, a horned predator and a snake in a nest: the Late Cretaceous record of western India.
A survey that found more than rock
In 1981, geologists of the Geological Survey of India working near the village of Raiyoli in Gujarat came across fossil eggs and bones in Late Cretaceous sediments of the Lameta Formation. Further work across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra has since made the Lameta beds among the most important dinosaur egg-bearing deposits in the world.
Rajasaurus
In 2003 an international team described Rajasaurus narmadensis from bones collected at Rahioli. It is an abelisaurid — a group of short-snouted predators also found in Madagascar and South America — and its discovery reinforced the idea that these landmasses shared animals long after they began to separate.
The snake in the nest
The most remarkable specimen may be Sanajeh indicus, described in 2010. The fossil snake lies coiled around a crushed sauropod egg beside a hatchling. The authors argued that Sanajeh preyed on young sauropods.
The fossil is documented. The behaviour is an interpretation — a strong one, argued carefully from the evidence.
Visiting responsibly
Fossil sites are irreplaceable. Photograph, observe and report — but do not remove material. Context is the evidence.