When we think about time, we observe that time is a sequence of events occurring in a continuous manner; with conditions; irreversibility of past, a succession through the present and towards future. Paleobiology is a study related to palaeontology concerning fossil organisms. We understand that we know a little of our oceans than our moon, and there are always discoveries that regularly surprise us from the bottom of the sea. The study of the sea involves marine science.

Interestingly, an Associate Professor from IISER Pune, Devapriya Chattopadhyay, is one gem in the ocean of science. She has taken charge of dwelling deeper into the marine ecology of the past. She focuses on studying the fossil records from the Miocene epoch. At this time, the Mediterranean sea and the Arabian sea became apart. She is optimistic about finding pathways to answer the questions on biodiversity crisis in the present. Typically she focuses on shelled Molluscs along the Indian coast and investigates the ocean’s circulation in prehistoric times. Why Molluscs, firstly because its shells can portray as a geochemical sample. Secondly, it has an impressive fossil record and availability in the present ecosystem.

In addition, her team members are solving questions on present organisms by using underwater observations. Her recent published paper focused on drilling predation i.e., “Effectiveness of small size against drilling predation: Insights from lower Miocene faunal assemblage of Quilon Limestone, India”,

In an interview with the Economics Times, she stated”

“If you want to understand the processes that trigger these changes, how these factors operate and how these are interlinked, you need to understand the long-term effects, which is through the fossil record.” She also mentions, “We are looking at the evolutionary trajectory before and after it happened as well as trying to understand the effect of climatic changes during this time on sea creatures.”

She and her team find triggers controlling the molluscs distribution on the northwestern coast of India. “It gives us a clue about what global warming might be doing because the melting of ice and freshening of water is leading to a drop in salinity of the seawater. While we work with molluscs, this is probably true for other marine groups, too,” she says. “We should be, really worried” she adds.

 One of her remarkable discoveries includes how melting ice caps lower the sea’s salinity, which, in turn, affects marine lives as it decreases the salinity of the sea. Her being a woman and an Indian scientist is helping the world answer questions critical to our present situation.

Picture source – IISER, Pune