10 million-year-old egg fossils of ostrich like bird from HP

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) Geologists have recovered about
10 million (one crore)-year-old fossils of an ostrich-like
bird's egg shell, suggesting that valleys of Himachal Pradesh
were inhabited by some large birds.

A team of researchers led by experts from Punjab
University, Chandigarh, has recovered fossils of an egg shell
from Haritalyangar area near Dharmshala in Himachal Pradesh.

The team claims that the fossils bears closest similarity
to ostrich family.

The study team comprising experts Ashok Sahni and Rajiv
Patnaik from Centre for Advanced Geology of the University
recovered 45 egg shell fragments from the area, about 250 km
from state capital Shimla.

Scientists have reported in the Indian science journal
'Current Science' that these fragments were collected from a
very small area of about 40 square centimetre and bore
similarity in thickness, colour and morphology.

Some of them even fit like pieces of jigsaw puzzle,
suggesting that they were of one single egg.

The analysis of egg shells revealed that the bird fed on
primitive plants found during that time.

The locality of Haritalyangar has provided number of
fossils of fauna found in prehistoric time in the area. The
well known fossils recovered from the site include that of
apes, monkeys, adapid primate, horse, mouse deer, rodents, and
several other insectivores.

The pattern of fossils recovered from the site indicate
that the area was a beautiful dense forest full of water
streams and patches of large grasslands, scientists said.

But some of these creatures vanished about 8.5 million
(85 lakh) years ago as a result of climatic changes in the
areas.

The lifting up of Himalayan mountain ranges altered the
climatic condition and making monsoon systems more seasonal
and intense, they said. PTI ABS