The history of dinosaur collecting in central India, 1828–1947

The history of dinosaur collecting in central India (former Central Provinces and Central India Agency) began in 1828 when
W. H. Sleeman discovered isolated sauropod caudal vertebrae in the Lameta Formation near Jabalpur. Subsequently, the area
became a focal point for fossil collection, leading to a series of further discoveries that continues today.
The earliest discoveries were made by numerous collectors for whom palaeontology was a secondary pursuit, and who were employed
in the armed forces (W. H. Sleeman and W. T. Nicolls), medicine (G. G. Spilsbury) or as geologists (T. Oldham, H. B. Medlicott,
T. W. H. Hughes and C. A. Matley). Most of their finds were concentrated around Jabalpur or farther south near Pisdura and
often consisted of isolated, surface-collected bones.
Charles Matley undertook the two most extensive collecting efforts, in 1917–1919 and 1932–1933 (Percy Sladen Trust Expedition).
As a result he discovered significant deposits of dinosaurs on Bara Simla and Chhota Simla, revisited Pisdura, and mapped
the Lameta Formation. Many new dinosaur taxa resulted from Matley's studies, which still represent most of the known Lameta
Formation dinosaur fauna. Current scientific understanding places these fossils among the Sauropoda (as titanosaurians) and
Theropoda (as abelisaurids and noasaurids). Early reports of armoured ornithischians were erroneous; these materials also
pertain to sauropods and theropods.

中央印度（昔日中央省及中央印度管理局）恐龙收集史起始于1828年，当时W. H. Sleeman在贾巴尔普尔附近的拉梅塔地层发现了孤立的蜥脚类尾椎骨。此后，该地区成为化石收集的热点，进而引发了一系列持续至今的进一步发现。最早的发现由众多收藏家完成，他们对古生物学仅为副业，且在武装部队（W. H. Sleeman和W. T. Nicolls）、医学（G. G. Spilsbury）或地质学（T. Oldham、H. B. Medlicott、T. W. H. Hughes和C. A. Matley）等领域工作。他们的大部分发现集中于贾巴尔普尔或更南部的皮斯杜拉地区，通常由单独、地表采集的骨骼组成。查尔斯·马特利进行了两次最为广泛的收集工作，分别在1917-1919年和1932-1933年（珀西·斯莱登信托探险队）。因此，他在巴拉西姆拉和乔塔西姆拉发现了重要的恐龙沉积层，重新考察了皮斯杜拉，并绘制了拉梅塔地层的地图。马特利的研究成果导致了众多新恐龙物种的发现，这些物种至今仍构成已知拉梅塔地层恐龙群落的大部分。当前的科学理解将这些化石归类于蜥脚类（作为泰坦龙类）和兽脚类（作为异特龙类和诺萨龙类）。早期关于装甲鸟臀目的报道是错误的；这些材料也与蜥脚类和兽脚类相关。