- Paleobiologist Advair Jukar talks about megafaunal extinction and explains why some species like elephants and tigers and rhinos survived in India, and some species disappeared.
- While talking about the four major species that India lost during the extinction – elephants (Palaeoloxodon namadicus and Stegodon namadicus), a zebra-like horse (Equus namadicus) and a hippopotamus – Jukar reveals how the biodiversity changed through time, with the arrival of humans and climate change.
- Jukar believes that there is lot of scope for indigenous palaeontology in India, although colonialism took away a wealth of information.
Paleobiology is an interdisciplinary field that combines earth sciences and life sciences. Paleobiologists study fossils from millions of years ago, to analyse and answer questions about evolution and past extinction, which also helps to understand the current and on-going extinctions.
In this episode of Imprints Mongabay-India Contributing Editor and podcast host, Sahana Ghosh speaks with paleobiologist Advait Jukar, Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University, to understand how megafauna goes extinct, why some megafauna in India survived extinction events, how the Kashmir Valley looked like millions of years ago and the challenges faced by paleobiologists.
Jukar answers questions such as ‘Why do we still have animals like elephants and tigers and rhinos in India, but not elsewhere on the planet?’, ‘How has biodiversity changed through time with the arrival of humans and climate change?’ and ‘How can India improve the scope of indigenous palaeontology?’.
[Podcast] Imprints: Digging up bones with Advait Jukar