The study of fossils excavated from Kutch in Gujarat has unveiled that the current hot and arid desert of Kutch was previously a humid subtropical forest. The fossil findings suggest that a rich diversity of fauna and flora thrived in warm, humid or wet, tropical to subtropical environmental conditions approximately during the Middle Miocene epoch. Thus, the Kutch Desert’s history and geography serves as a fascinating example of earth’s evolutionary process.
Discovering Fossils From Past Ages
The fossil excavated from Palasava reveals fascinating insights about the Middle Miocene, an era dating from about 23.03 to 5.332 million years ago. Up until now, the abundance of fossils discovered in Kutch were predominantly marine organisms, which is attributed to their proximity to the Arabian Sea.
Over the ages, geological changes terminated the salt-flats’ connection to the sea. This transformation led to the region becoming a large lake before evolving into salty wetlands. These findings provide valuable insights into how mammals dispersed between Africa and the Indian subcontinent when part of India was in the Gondwanaland supercontinent nearly 300 million years ago.
The Expanse of Kutch Desert
Kutch Desert encompasses a massive area of 45,612 square kilometers and is surrounded by Sindh (Pakistan) to the north and northwest, the Arabian Sea to the west and southwest, and Rajasthan to the northeast.
| Region | Area (sq. km) |
|---|---|
| Kutch Desert | 45,612 |
| Rann of Kachchh | 23,000 |
The diversity of the terrains in Kutch, including the Rann, the low-lying Banni plains, the hilly region, and the coastal plains, reflects the geology, climate and sea level changes in this region.
The Unique Wildlife of Kutch
The Rann of Kachchh is an exceptional example of Holocene sedimentation. This epoch is the latest interval of geologic time, covering approximately the last 11,700 years of Earth’s history. The sediments of the Holocene, both continental and marine, envelop the largest area of the globe of any epoch in the geologic record.
The Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary, situated in Kutch, is India’s most extensive wildlife sanctuary, spread across the entirety of the Little Rann of Kutch. The sanctuary’s grass-covered areas, known as ‘baits’, form a significant support source for the region’s fauna.
The Holocene and Miocene Epochs
The Holocene epoch is unique because it aligns with the late and post-Stone Age history of humankind. The human influence during this era was so profound that it merited a separate geologic name. In contrast, the Middle Miocene epoch when the now-desert Kutch was a humid forest, provides an interesting glimpse into the earth’s pre-human environmental conditions.