Kolkata; August 7, 2026

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) have achieved a landmark international recognition with their Siwalik Mammalian Fossil Collections, housed in the GSI Gallery of the Indian Museum, Kolkata, being accorded the prestigious International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Geo-Collection designation. The recognition was conferred during the 82nd Executive Committee Meeting of the IUGS, held in Bogotá, Colombia, on January 26, 2026, making it the first-ever IUGS Geo-Collection designation awarded to India.
The IUGS is one of the world's foremost scientific organisations dedicated to advancing geoscience through international cooperation, geological research and the conservation of geological heritage. An IUGS Geo-Collection recognises museum collections of outstanding global importance owing to their exceptional scientific, historical and educational value to the geosciences.
The designated Siwalik Mammalian Fossil Collections constitute one of South Asia's richest and most scientifically significant repositories of vertebrate fossils, spanning the Miocene to Pleistocene epochs, approximately 18 to 0.5 million years ago. The collection comprises a diversity of fossil vertebrates, including primates, carnivores, rodents, equids, proboscideans, rhinoceroses, giraffids, bovids, crocodilians and numerous other taxa recovered from the fossiliferous Siwalik Group and its extensions across India, Pakistan, Myanmar and adjoining regions.
A substantial part of the collection was assembled by pioneering geologists and palaeontologists of the Geological Survey of India during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These pioneering discoveries laid the foundation of vertebrate palaeontology in the Indian subcontinent and have continued to serve as an invaluable resource for evolutionary, stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental research.
The nomination for the IUGS Geo-Collection designation was prepared and submitted by the GSI, Central Headquarters, Kolkata, under the IUGS Geo-Collections Programme. The successful inscription reflects the exceptional scientific importance of India's geological and palaeontological heritage and acknowledges GSI's longstanding contributions to geoscientific research and heritage conservation.
This prestigious international recognition is expected to significantly enhance the global visibility of the Siwalik Mammalian Fossil Collections, strengthen ongoing efforts towards their conservation, documentation and digital curation, and foster greater international collaboration in palaeontological research. The designation further reaffirms the pivotal role of the Geological Survey of India, in collaboration with the Indian Museum, as custodian of one of the world's most significant palaeontological archives, preserving invaluable evidence of the evolutionary history of the Siwalik mammalian fauna and the geological heritage of the Indian subcontinent.
This achievement marks another significant milestone in India's growing recognition on the global geoscientific stage and highlights the country's commitment to the conservation, scientific study and dissemination of its rich geological and palaeontological heritage.
 

 

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