Sunil Bajpai | |
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![]() Sunil Bajpai during field work near Jaisalmer City | |
Born | 30 September 1961 |
Nationality | Indian |
Education | Ph.D. in Paleontology |
Alma mater | Panjab University, Chandigarh |
Occupation | Vertebrate Paleontologist |
Employer(s) | Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand |
Organization(s) | Former Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow |
Sunil Bajpai is the Chair Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He is in service as a professor at IIT Roorkee since 1st January 1996 till 30 September 2026. [1] He also served as the director of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences from January 2013 to July 2018. [2]
Sunil Bajpai predominantly works on the Cenozoic vertebrates of India with focus on marine mammals, such as whales and sea cows. [3] [4] [5] [6] Bajpai and his collaborators fossil discoveries from the Eocene of Kutch (Gujarat) and the Himalayas have helped in understanding how whales have evolved. [3] [4] Bajpai also works on land mammals, which includes the early representatives of horses, artiodactyls, and primates, such as the stem perissodactyl family Cambaytheriidae, artiodactyl Gujaratia, and primates such as the adapoid Marcgodinotius and the omomyid Vastanomys. [7] [8] [9] Additionally, he has worked on many other fossil vertebrates such as sharks, bony fishes, frogs, snakes, lizards, insectivores, rodents, etc. [10] [11] [12] He has also been involved in studies of latest Cretaceous-Paleocene faunas of the Deccan volcanic province of India and their implications in understanding the northward drift of the Indian tectonic plate. [13]
In 2023, Bajpai and colleagues reported on Tharosaurus indicus , India's first dicraeosaurid dinosaur, from the Thar Desert of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan state, western India. The fossils were unearthed from Middle Jurassic outcrops of the Jaisalmer Formation. The taxon likely represents the oldest known record of this group and, seen in conjunction with previously known early Jurassic sauropods from India ( Barapasaurus , Kotasaurus ), suggests that what is now India may have been a major centre for neosauropod evolution. [14]
Bajpai carried out his Ph.D. studies in Paleontology from the Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1990. [15]
J. G. M. Thewissen, the Dutch-American Paleontologist from the Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstow, whose research is mainly focused on whale evolution, and Daryl Domning from Howard University, Washington D.C., specialist of fossil sirenians have been the main collaborators of Bajpai. [21] [22] [23] [24]
Pakicetidae is an extinct family of Archaeoceti that lived during the Early Eocene in Pakistan. A 2013 publication presents the emergence of cetacea in the Paleogene as starting with the pakicetids.
Mesonychia is an extinct taxon of small- to large-sized carnivorous ungulates related to artiodactyls. Mesonychians first appeared in the early Paleocene, went into a sharp decline at the end of the Eocene, and died out entirely when the last genus, Mongolestes, became extinct in the early Oligocene. In Asia, the record of their history suggests they grew gradually larger and more predatory over time, then shifted to scavenging and bone-crushing lifestyles before the group became extinct.
Pakicetus is an extinct genus of amphibious cetacean of the family Pakicetidae, which was endemic to Pakistan during the Ypresian period, roughly 50 million years ago. It was a wolf-like animal, about 1 metre to 2 metres long, and lived in and around water where it ate fish and other animals. The vast majority of paleontologists regard it as the most basal whale, representing a transitional stage between land mammals and whales. It belongs to the even-toed ungulates with the closest living non-cetacean relative being the hippopotamus.
Archaeoceti, or Zeuglodontes in older literature, is a paraphyletic group of primitive cetaceans that lived from the Early Eocene to the late Oligocene. Representing the earliest cetacean radiation, they include the initial amphibious stages in cetacean evolution, thus are the ancestors of both modern cetacean suborders, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. This initial diversification occurred in the shallow waters that separated India and Asia 53 to 45 mya, resulting in some 30 species adapted to a fully oceanic life. Echolocation and filter-feeding evolved during a second radiation 36 to 35 mya.
Himalayacetus is an extinct genus of carnivorous aquatic mammal of the family Ambulocetidae. The holotype was found in Himachal Pradesh, India, in what was the remnants of the ancient Tethys Ocean during the Early Eocene. This makes Himalayacetus the oldest archaeocete known, extending the fossil record of whales some 3.5 million years.
Ichthyolestes is an extinct genus of archaic cetacean that was endemic to Indo-Pakistan during the Lutetian stage. To date, this monotypic genus is only represented by Ichthyolestes pinfoldi.
Kutchicetus is an extinct genus of early whale of the family Remingtonocetidae that lived during Early-Middle Eocene in what is now the coastal border of Pakistan and India. It is closely related to Andrewsiphius with which it was synonymized by Gingerich et al. 2001. Thewissen & Bajpai 2009 proposed a new clade, Andrewsiphiinae, for the two species. Later authors, however, still accept both as separate genera.
Indohyus is an extinct genus of digitigrade even-toed ungulates known from Eocene fossils in Asia. This small chevrotain-like animal found in the Himalayas is one of the earliest known non-cetacean ancestors of whales.
The Raoellidae, previously grouped within Helohyidae, are an extinct family of semiaquatic digitigrade artiodactyls in the clade Whippomorpha. Fossils of raoellids are found in Eocene strata of South and Southeast Asia.
Remingtonocetus is an extinct genus of early cetacean freshwater aquatic mammals of the family Remingtonocetidae endemic to the coastline of the ancient Tethys Ocean during the Eocene. It was named after naturalist Remington Kellogg.
Eotheroides is an extinct genus of Eocene sirenian. It is an early member of the family Dugongidae, which includes the extant dugong. Fossils have been found from Egypt, India, and Madagascar. Eotheroides was first described by Richard Owen in 1875 under the name Eotherium, which was replaced by the current name in 1899.
Remingtonocetidae is a diverse family of early aquatic mammals of the order Cetacea. The family is named after paleocetologist Remington Kellogg.
Indobune is an extinct genus of ungulate endemic to Asia during the Eocene from 55.8—48.6 Ma, living for approximately 7.2 million years.
The Willwood Formation is a sedimentary sequence deposited during the late Paleocene to early Eocene, or Clarkforkian, Wasatchian and Bridgerian in the NALMA classification.
Andrewsiphius is an extinct remingtonocetid early whale known from the Eocene of Gujarat and Kutch, India and Balochistan, Pakistan.
Cambaytherium is an extinct genus of placental mammals in the family Cambaytheriidae whose fossils were found in an open pit coal mine located in Gujarat, India. The mine was a treasure trove full of teeth and bones, over 200 of which were identified as belonging to Cambaytherium thewissi. The fossils were dated to the Early Eocene, 54.5 million years ago, making them slightly younger than the oldest known fossils belonging to the order Perissodactyla.
Marcgodinotius is a genus of adapiform primate that lived in Asia during the early Eocene. It is a monotypic genus, the only species being Marcgodinotius indicus. Another adapiform primate Suratius robustus was found in the same horizon. Anthrasimias may be a junior synonym of Marcgodinotius and Anthrasimias gujaratensis a junior synonym of Marcgodinotius indicus.
The Andrewsiphiinae is an extinct subfamily of early whales of the family Remingtonocetidae. Thiewessen & Bajpai (2009) proposed the clade when Andrewsiphius and Kuchicetus were accepted as separate genera. Kuchicetus was originally synonymized with Andrewsiphius in 2001 by Gingerich et al., but later authors, however, still accept both as separate genera.
The Kuldana Formation is a fossil-bearing geological formation of Lutetian age which crops out in northern Pakistan. The abundant fossil remains were deposited by rivers and estuaries crossing an arid to semi-arid environment, between several marine transgressions. Its fossil fauna is best known for the early cetaceans Indohyus, Pakicetus and Ambulocetus, that helped to shed a new light on the evolution of whales, but it also features a large number of early ungulates, rodents and primates.
Cambaytheriidae is a family of primitive four or five-toed ungulates native to the Indian subcontinent. They lived during the Early Eocene epoch and are distinguished by the presence of bunodont teeth suitable for eating tough vegetation. They are related to, but distinct from, the early perissodactyls, and may also be closely related to the anthracobunids as a sister group to the Perissodactyla.