Taposhi Hazra

Sidho Kanho Birsha University · Department of Botany

Six well-preserved early Eocene leaf fossils documented here have an affinity with the extant genus Alstonia (Apocynaceae). They come from the Gurha opencast lignite mine (Palana Formation), western Rajasthan, NW India. We determined their taxonomic position by detailed morphological comparisons with similar modern and fossil specimens. The leaf fo...

Plant‐insect interactions play a crucial role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems, influencing abundance and distribution of plant species. In the present study, we investigated leaf‐mining patterns on fossil leaves from Pliocene strata of the Mahuadanr Valley, Jharkhand, eastern India, deposited under a seasonal tropical climate, and reported comple...

Fossil leaves, fruits, and woods assigned to Rhamnaceae have been recorded from India; however, there are no previous reports of rhamnaceous fossil flowers from India. Here, we report the first fossil flowers in appreciable numbers from the early Eocene (Palana Formation) sedimentary sequences of Gurha Lignite Mine, Rajasthan, western India, and sh...

A new genus and species of fossil whitefly, Praealeurolobus indicus gen. et sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on puparia found on leaves of a malvaceous plant from the Pliocene Rajdanda Formation in Eastern India. It is the first record of whitefly puparia on leaves from the Neogene deposits of Asia and the second taxon formally named an...

We report a new type of fossil margin galls arranged in a linear series on dicot leaf impressions from the latest Neogene (Pliocene) sediments of the Chotanagpur Plateau, Jharkhand, eastern India. We collected ca. 1500 impression and compression leaf fossils, of which 1080 samples bear arthropod damage referable to 37 different damage types (DT) in...

Equisetum L. (Equisetaceae) has long been a focus of attention for botanists and palaeontologists because, given its extensive and well-documented fossil record, it is considered the oldest extant vascular plant and a key element in understanding vascular plant evolution. However, to date, no authentic fossil evidence of Equisetum has been found fr...

The Ventilago Gaertn. (Rhamnaceae) is widely distributed in pantropical areas of Africa, Asia, and Australia. However, fossil records of this taxon are sparse, which limits understanding of the evolution and biogeographic history of the genus. In the present study, we report and describe two new fossil species of Ventilago, V. siwalika sp. nov. fro...

The Eastern Himalayas are renowned for their high plant diversity. To understand how this modern botanical richness formed, it is critical to investigate past plant biodiversity preserved as fossils throughout the eastern Himalayan Siwalik succession (middle Miocene−early Pleistocene). Here, we present a summary of plant diversity records that docu...

Two impressed leaflet remains described here as a new species Pterocarpus emarginaticus Patel, Rana and Khan sp. nov., showing close resemblance with the extant leaflets of Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. (Fabaceae), commonly known as the Indian kino tree, have been recorded from the Early Cenozoic sedimentary sequences of the Gurha opencast lignite mi...

Palms, regarded as a model group for megathermal forest evolution, are well represented in the fossil record, where they are one of the earliest recognizable modern angiosperm families. Paleobotanists and geologists have reported a large number of palm remains (leaves, petioles, stems, roots, fruits, seeds, rachillae, peduncles, inflorescences, flo...

Cinnamomum Schaeffer (avocado family Lauraceae), commonly known as a cinnamon tree, is a highly diverse, economically important evergreen element of tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. In the present work, we have recovered six compressed leaf remains similar to modern leaves of Cinnamomum from the lower part of the Siwalik strata (midd...

Here, we report the in-situ occurrence of a new fossil-species of Meliolinites (fossil Meliolaceae), Meliolinites bhutanensis sp. nov. on the cuticle fragments of a compressed angiosperm dicot leaf recovered from the middle Siwalik (Formation II: latest Miocene to Pliocene) of Bhutan, eastern Himalaya. This unique foliicolous new fossil fungal spec...

Plants and insects are essential components of terrestrial ecosystems and insect herbivory is the most important type of biotic interaction in these ecosystems alongside the role of insects as pollinators. Insect damaged fossil leaves are the only direct sources of documenting the historical effect of folivorous arthropods on once living foliar tis...

Thespesia populnea (L) Sol. ex Corrêa (Malvaceae), known as the Indian tulip tree, is a well-known fast-growing, economically and ecologically important evergreen species in the tropical forests of India. However, no reliable fossil evidence of Thespesia has been reported from the Cenozoic sediments of India so far. Here, we document for the first...

Ten palm leaf impressions are documented from the latest Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous) to early Danian (earliest Paleocene) sediments (K-Pg, c. 66–64 Ma) of the Mandla Lobe of the Deccan Inter-trappean Beds, Madhya Pradesh, central India. The palmate leaf shape along with a definite well-preserved costa support their placement in the subfamily Co...

Although dicot megafossils are well-known from Siwalik sediments of India, the record of monocot fossils during the Siwalik period is rather poor. The present study highlights, for the first time, the recovery of a large number of monocot leaf remains from the middle Siwalik sediments (late Miocene) of Himachal Pradesh, western Himalaya. The diagno...

Plant–insect interactions in the fossil record are, as yet, sparsely known and understudied. Here, we document evidence of a new type of insect skeletonization on Abroma augustum (L.) L. f. (Malvaceae) leaf remains from the latest Neogene (Pliocene) sediments of Chotanagpur plateau, Jharkhand, eastern India. This unique skeletonization feeding trac...

Indian Cenozoic deposits contain well-preserved diverse angiosperm leaf assemblages, but galling, a common form of angiosperm leaf damage in modern tropical forests, has not been well-documented. Here we report insect herbivory on diverse angiosperm fossil leaf specimens from Pliocene (Rajdanda Formation) sediments of the Chotanagpur Plateau, easte...

Evidence of predatory marks on fossil leaf remains provides a unique window into ecological and evolutionary associations of the past, but finding both damage and the phytophagous insects causing that damage pattern in the same fossil specimen is a very rare phenomenon. Normally, caterpillars have little fossilization potential because of their del...

We report for the first time well-preserved leaflets of Hylodesmum palaeoglutinosum from the latest Neogene sediments (Rajdanda Formation: Pliocene) of Jharkhand, eastern India. Macromorphological features show that the fossil leaflet remains are identical to those of modern endemic taxon H. glutinosum (Muhl. ex Wild.) Ohashi & Mill (tribe: Desmodi...

Peltophorum (Caesalpinioideae: Fabaceae) is a well-known extant legume genus characterized by marginally bi-winged fruits. No reliable fossils of Peltophorum have been reported previously. Here, we report for the first time well-substantiated fossil fruits of Peltophorum exhibiting an oblong to narrowly elliptic fruit body with longitudinal wings a...

Although Asia shows moderate species richness of mulberry (Morus L.) today, unfortunately no mulberry fossil has been reported from the Cenozoic sediments of this continent to date. Here, we report for the first time the occurrence of leaf remains (both impression and compression) having similarity with modern leaves of Morus from the early Eocene...

Fabaceae, presently a significant dominant taxon of the tropical vegetation of India, has been recognized as the most widespread and common component of Indian Cenozoic flora and known from numerous fossil woods, leaflets, pollen, and fruits. However, unfortunately no fossil legume flower has been reported from the Cenozoic sediments of India so fa...

Albizia, a diverse tree genus, occupies monsoonal warm, humid rain forests in tropical and subtropical regions. We recovered a well-preserved compound fossil leaf and two fossil fruits of Albizia (Fabaceae) from the latest Neogene (Rajdanda Formation: Pliocene) sediments of Jharkhand of Chotanagpur Plateau, eastern India. On the basis of the archit...

Although presently indigenous to eastern Himalaya in India, no Engelhardioideae have been reported from the Cenozoic sediments of India till date. Here, we report the first Indian occurrence of a characteristic engelhardioid winged samaroid fruit having a tri‐lobed wing (oblong‐ovate shaped median lobe and two lateral lobes) and a globose nut from...

After India separated from Gondwana, its 9000 km northward voyage from the Southern Hemisphere to its modern position joined with Eurasia took 160 million years. During that journey, India experienced a range of climatic conditions due to secular climate variations and its changing latitudinal position. Documenting India's climate during its trans-...

Dipterocarpaceae, a tropical plant family that forms a major component of low-lying rainforests in Southeast Asia, is represented by a large number of fossils from the Cenozoic sedimentary successions of India, but the origin and antiquity of this family has been actively debated. The earliest reliable dipterocarp megafossils so far reported in Ind...

Here, we describe a new impressed palm frond from the latest Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous)-earliest Danian (early Palaeocene) sediments of the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Madhya Pradesh, Central India. The diagnostic characters of the recovered fossil specimen are large palmate fan-shaped leaf with well-preserved long costa (costapalmate), plica...

Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight & Arn., a large evergreen tree, shows massive flowering during spring season (March–April). The floral characteristics with deep seated nectar having high sugar concentration serve this plant as an important pollen and nectar source for Apis bees. The inflorescences with clusters of flowers of this plant provide an e...

A well-preserved fossil dragonfly (Odonata: Anisoptera) recovered from the late Neogene sediments of the Chotanagpur plateau, Jharkhand, eastern India.

Here we study a well-preserved petrified palm stem from the latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) to earliest Danian (early Paleocene) sediments (c. 66-65 Ma old) of the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Madhya Pradesh, Central India. We infer its systematic relationships and relevance to palm evolution. The significant anatomical attributes of the fos...

A compressed fossil fish bearing close resemblance to sub-family Leuciscinae (family: Cyprinidae) is reported from latest Neogene (?Pliocene) sediments of Chotanagpur plateau, eastern India. The recovered fossil fish contains exceptionally well-preserved skeleton. It is characterized by compressed belly, medium-sized head, well-preserved skull, ten...

In situ preservation of fossil insect damage in plant fossils is an excellent tool to study the coevolution of flora and fauna through geological time, but finding both damage and the insect causing that damage in the same specimen is a very rare phenomenon. Galling is a common form of angiosperm leaf damage, which can be regarded as a kind of exte...

A fossil leaf assemblage from latest Neogene (Pliocene) sediments exposed in Jharkhand of Chotonagpur Plateau, eastern India, is subjected to a CLAMP (Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program) analysis using a new high spatial resolution (~1 km2) WorldClim2 gridded climate data and PhysgAsia2 calibration. The CLAMP analysis of 80 different morpho...

A new petrified palm stem Palmoxylon dindoriensis Khan, Roy et Bera, sp. nov. from the latest Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous)-earliest Danian (early Paleocene) sediments of the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Madhya Pradesh, central India is reported. Sections from different parts of the recovered stem were prepared by using standard thin section tech...