The Thar Desert today is a scorching region in western India’s Rajasthan state. It is the first of that group discovered in India, and the oldest ever found in the world’s fossil record. The all-Indian team that discovered the species named it Tharosaurus indicus, referencing the Thar Desert, and its country of origin. Dicraeosaurids like Tharosaurus indicus are part of a larger group called diplodocoid sauropods. Earlier theories suggested that India was inhabited only by the predecessors of diplodocoids.

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Persons: Sunil Bajpai Organizations: Indian Institute of Technology Locations: India’s Rajasthan, India, Africa, Americas, China, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee