STL Science Center

STL Science Center

07 August 2012

Paper Everywhere!

Indosuchus may not make a documentary star list or be in your child's next book on dinosaurs, but it certainly has had its share of ink. Thanks to The Theropod Archives we can read the original paper of von Huene and Matley from 1933 that names both Indosuchus and Indosaurus as well. Be warned, however, this is a comprehensive study of all dinosaurs found and described to the 1933 date in India making it a small book unto itself about the Central Provinces of India and their dinosaurs. You will certainly need to scan and skip if you are only interested in Indosuchus. The Indian Academy of Sciences has since had its own scientists redescribe Indian dinosaurs, perhaps to gain a domestic view on one hand and to update old findings within the country on the other hand, and has released a shorter glossing over of the subject as written by Ashok Sahni on its website. While shorter and much more a summary, it is important to see how Indian attitudes and culture affect the view of the creatures which come from its own soil and, as it is short, it is not too laborious a read. Jose Bonaparte also got in on the describing of large quantities, why this is a trend I do not know, of Indian dinosaurs in a single paper in 1999. We have Bonaparte to thank for the placement of Indosuchus as part of the abelisaurid family and his summary of the region's dinosaurs is worth reading as much as the original paper and Sahni's paper.

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