Indian scientists have proven that the Indian Dickinsonia fossil discovered in 2021 at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Bhimbetka cave shelter was actually the remains of a fallen beehive and not a true fossil, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement.
The Vindhyan Supergroup is one of the world’s largest basins and the site of many fossil discoveries that explain how early life on Earth originated. The discovery of an Ediacaran fossil in the area by a group of American scientists piqued the interest of a group of Ediacaran paleontologists at BSIP.
A team from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences (BSIP), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, traveled to the discovery site and examined the Dickinsonia tenuis fossil, an important Ediacaran fossil (the oldest animal) listed by UNESCO. Bhimbetka Cave Shelter memorial site in 2021.
The biogenicity (a chemical and/or morphological signature preserved at a range of spatial scales in rocks, minerals, ice or dust particles that are uniquely produced by past or present organisms) of putative fossils from the Maihar Sandstone of the Vindhyan Basin has been determined. on the field.
Field observations, outcrop features and detailed laboratory analyzes (XRD, Raman Spectroscopy) published in the Journal of the Geological Society of India did not support the biogenicity and syngeneity of the fossil (formed at the same time as the surrounding rock) and it was inferred to be the remains of a fallen hive.
The study contradicts the interpretation given by well-known American researchers. The researchers discovered that unlike fossils, which are always preserved on the bedrock plane, the specimen was not completely preserved on the bedrock plane.
Part of it was preserved on the bedrock plane, the rest was preserved on the cross-cut face of the Maihar sandstone outcrop. Both fresh and decayed hives were found on the same litter.
A massive active hive was also discovered with several Apis dorsata bees attached to it. The honeycomb structure was also observed. This evidence suggests that the described fossil was misidentified as Dickinsonia. In addition, laser Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the presence of honey and wax in the material due to bees’ hive-making activity.
Read Now:President Murmu will review the combined graduation parade at AFA
