After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, veteran Mohansinh Sodha relocated to Bhuj in Kutch (Gujarat, India), seeking solace in the vast desert landscape. During his daily travels, he began spotting unusual rocks scattered across the terrain. Fascinated by their shapes, textures, and patterns, he began collecting them, unaware of their significance. Over 10 years, he built a diverse repertoire at home.
As his rock collection grew, he wanted to learn more about them; hence, one day he consulted a scholar from a nearby university. To his surprise, he was told they were fossils—remnants of ancient life that once thrived in the region.
After this discovery, Mr. Sodha’s life changed. In 2002, he founded the Kutch Fossil Park, at Hirapar Village (near Nirona, a vibrant craft village in Kutch), about 55 km from Bhuj; it showcases a vast collection, from marine life fossils to dinosaur remains, offering visitors a glimpse into the region’s prehistoric past.
In September 2024, I visited this park—a fascinating world of fossils. This blog is an attempt to take you through the fossil collection and share the awe I experienced during my visit. I have also added a video at the end of this blog that offers a virtual tour of the fossil park.
What Are Fossils?
Fossils are remains or evidence of ancient organisms preserved in the earth’s crust. They come in various forms—bones, shells, exoskeletons, or imprints on rocks—and range from microfossils to large specimens. To be classified as fossils, the remains must be over 10,000 years old. Fossils are usually found in rock formations exposed by natural processes like tectonic movements and erosion. Body fossils, such as bones and shells, are the most common (e.g., most dinosaur fossils). Trace fossils capture evidence of an organism’s activity (e.g., leaf imprints, footprints), preserving the marks left behind rather than the organism itself.
The Kutch Fossil Park
The Kutch Fossil Park features not just fossils of ancient wood, plants, protozoa, corals, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, arthropods, echinoderms, and ammonites (an extinct shelled mollusc) from ancient seas, but also collections of metal, quartz, and gemstones, highlighting Kutch’s diverse marine life and geological significance.
Plant Fossils
Plant fossils are remains of ancient plants preserved in rock, appearing as imprints, compressions, casts, moulds, or petrified forms where minerals replace tissues. Dating back to the Cretaceous period (65–135 million years ago), they provide insights into earth’s past plant life.
Wood Fossils
Wood fossils, or petrified wood, form through permineralization—minerals from water replace the organic material in buried trees, turning the wood into stone, often composed of quartz, calcite, or pyrite, while preserving the tree’s structure.
Fossil Protozoa
Fossil protozoa are preserved remains of ancient single-celled microorganisms called protozoa—the simplest form of all living organisms. Mostly aquatic, protozoa are found in various environments, but their fossil record is less common than those of multicellular organisms.
Foraminifera, a large group of protozoans present since the Cambrian period (500 million years ago), is known for its calcareous, chambered or simple shells, and an extensive fossil record (from present day to the Cambrian). Their shells, often found accumulated in sedimentary rocks, offer insights into past climate changes.
Foraminifera are divided into two types: benthic (bottom-dwelling) species live on or near the sea, river, or lake floor, while planktonic species drift freely in water. When the foraminiferans die, their shells sink to the floor, contributing to limestone formation.
Coral Fossils
Coral fossils are the preserved remains of ancient corals. Corals are marine invertebrates that form colonies of soft polyps. Reef-building corals that inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans are an example. The polyps secrete a hard, calcareous skeleton made of aragonite, a crystal form of calcium carbonate. When the polyps die and decay, they leave their skeletons behind, which, over time, become fossilised.
Scleractinian corals, or stony corals, the most common among the coral fossils, form branching, dome-shaped, or massive skeletons. Coral fossils are found in sedimentary rocks, where the original calcium carbonate may be preserved or replaced by other minerals over time.
Brachiopod Fossils
Brachiopods are marine invertebrates with hard, unequal shells made of calcium carbonate or phosphate. Their history spans over 550 million years, starting in the Cambrian period. Although now rare, they flourished during the Paleozoic era, and have now become one of the most significant marine fossils. Brachiopods inhabit diverse seabeds, from tropical waters to polar depths.
These organisms are nearly defenceless and rely on their shells to protect their soft internal organs. They anchor themselves to hard sea-floor surfaces like rocks or shells using a fleshy stalk called pedicle. Unlike the more mobile marine animals, brachiopods are stationary and feed by filtering nutrients from the surrounding water.
Bivalve Fossils
Bivalves, a class of molluscs that include clams, oysters, mussels, are aquatic animals with a two-part, hinged shell—that is, two shell valves joined by a ligament. These animals open and close their shell by contracting and relaxing their adductor muscles, and the hinge mechanism enables movement.
The shell of bivalves is composed of calcium carbonate and conchiolin and is secreted by the mantle (a sheet-like organ), which covers the soft body parts. A muscular foot helps the bivalves move, dig, and anchor, and gills are used for respiration and filter-feeding.
Bivalves first appeared in the Cambrian period and have since diversified greatly. Their fossils vary in shape and size (from elongated and pointed to rounded and flat, often featuring patterns like radial ribbing) and show various adaptations. The taxonomy of the bivalves is based on their shell and hinge structures and internal anatomy.
Bivalve fossils provide insights about paleoecology and paleoclimatology, indicating whether species lived in shallow seas or deep oceans.
Gastropod Fossils
Gastropods (snails and slugs) are another class of molluscs. They have a muscular foot for movement, and a head with eyes, tentacles, and a mouth. A radula (a file-like tongue) is used to scrape or cut food. Many species have a coiled, spiral shell of calcium carbonate for protection, which can be sealed with an operculum (a trapdoor-like structure) when the animal withdraws.
While most species are marine, many have adapted to freshwater and land ecosystems.
Gastropod fossils form when the soft body decays, leaving the hard shell, which becomes embedded in sediment. Over time, minerals replace the organic material, preserving the shell’s structure. Fossils of early gastropods, dating back to the Cambrian period (over 500 million years ago), are abundant, reflecting their evolutionary success. Although common in marine sediments, gastropod fossils are also found in freshwater and terrestrial environments. Variety in shell shapes indicates the evolution of gastropods and their adaptation to different environments.
Ammonoid Fossils
Ammonoids, marine molluscs that thrived from the Devonian period (about 400 million years ago) to the end of the Upper Cretaceous (66 million years ago), became extinct along with the dinosaurs. They are closely related to octopuses and squids. Their coiled, chambered shells, commonly found as fossils, were divided by septa (walls separating the chambers) that formed complex suture patterns, which became more intricate over time.
Ammonoids used their shells for buoyancy control, adjusting gas or liquid in chambers to navigate water, regulated by a siphuncle. Their shells evolved over time and acquired various shapes and features like ribs and spines for defence, contributing to species identification.
Arthropod Fossils
Arthropods are invertebrates with segmented bodies, jointed legs, and chitin exoskeletons. They include insects, spiders, crustaceans (e.g., crabs, lobsters), and ancient trilobites. Their exoskeleton, which offers protection, is shed during growth, a process called moulting.
This group, which originated in the Precambrian era (4540 to 542 million years ago), is the most evolutionarily successful one. These adaptable creatures thrive in diverse ecosystems, from deep oceans to arid deserts. Early arthropods, like the extinct trilobites, left a rich fossil record, which offers insights into the early history of life on Earth.
Echinoderm Fossils
Echinoderms are marine invertebrates with radial symmetry and a hard calcareous exoskeleton (e.g., starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, brittle stars, crinoids). Fossilized echinoderms often preserve key anatomical features.
Fossil starfish often display the central disc and radiating arms. Their exoskeleton, composed of calcareous plates or ossicles, is sometimes well preserved.
Fossil sea urchins often preserve their spherical shape and spines.
Sea cucumbers leave fragments of calcareous plates or spicules, while brittle stars may retain their slender arms and central disc. Arm ossicles are sometimes found separately.
Echinoderm fossils are usually found in sedimentary rocks, particularly marine deposits.
Nautiloidea Fossils
Nautiloidea are ancient marine cephalopods (a group of mollusc) with chambered, spiral shells divided by septa. The genus Nautilus is the only current representative of this group
Preserved in sedimentary rocks, Nautiloidea fossils vary in size and shape, often featuring ridges or ribbing for reinforcement.
Sea cow Fossil
One of Mr. Sodha’s notable finds was a sea cow fossil from Hirapar Village. The IIT Roorkee’s Earth Sciences Department analysed it and identified it as a new species, later named Domningia sodhae in his honour. This discovery underscores the importance of his work in bringing to light Kutch’s rich paleontological heritage.
Dinosaur Fossil
The Kutch Fossil Park features a remarkable collection of dinosaur fossils: an egg, teeth, vertebrae, and other skeletal remains.
Tortoise Fossil
A tortoise shell and fossil, displayed side by side, offer a striking contrast: the polished shell with intricate patterns represents a recent animal, while the weathered fossil, embedded in rock, reveals its history and transformation over millennia.
Trace Fossil
A notable exhibit at the park is a trace fossil of sea waves—a slab with distinct ripple marks. The wave-like structure etched into stone captures ancient water movement patterns.
Final Thought
The sheer volume and diversity of fossils Mohansinh Sodha had collected is mind-boggling. His passion clearly extended beyond any desire for profit, driven instead by a love for palaeontology and a relentless pursuit to uncover and preserve ancient life. Shakespeare said, ‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.’ Well, Mr. Sodha truly embodied the second, having achieved greatness through his unwavering dedication and passion.
For 40 years, he travelled over 800,000 km across Kutch, collecting fossils. Currently, his son Vikramsinh Sodha manages the Kutch Fossil Park, combining his father’s passion for palaeontology with his own interests in shooting, birding, and astrophotography. Vikramsinh’s dedication has turned the park into a major educational and tourist destination, attracting visitors from worldwide.
The park is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., including weekends and public holidays. It takes about 2 hours to appreciate the entire collection. So plan your visit accordingly.
Wow !! Thats was a very interesting blog. Has tickled my interest in them and the collection. Amazing peep into the fossil world. The blog is well written and simple to understand. Has the government given permission for the owner to display? Anybody who find such fossils can keep them? How does it work?
If Mr Sodha collected fossils, you did collect the related wealthy information, short and crisp, for the benefit of readers. Salute to you Mr Dev Anand Paul.
N.Kannan
Nicely accounted details. Good work Dev!
Thanks for this. Pretty exhaustive account on different kinds of fossils. Awesome work Dev 🫡