1996-97 - Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany

BSIP
A number of petrified woods were studied from the Neogene sediments of
Gujarat and Rajasthan. The following taxa belonging to five different families, viz.,
A/zelia-II/tsia (Fabaceae), Barringtonio (Lecythidaceae), Diaspyros (Ebenaceae), Ficus
(Moraccae) and Syzygium (Myrtaceae) were identified. Besides, two types of palm
woods from the Deccan Intertrappean of Kachchh were identified.
Visited areas in Rajasthan (Bojri mine, Nal clay mine, KaJayat of Bikaner
District and Kapurdi Giral lignite mines, etc. of Barmer District) and Gujarat (Anjar,
Matanomadh, etc., of Kutch District) and collected a large number of megafossils
including woods and leaves. The Herbarium and Wood Anatomy Branch of the Forest
Research Institute, Dehradun were also· visited for comparing the fossil leaves and
woods with their living counterparts.
Programme 3.4 : Neogene plant megafossils of West Coast
Rashmi
Srivastava
A number of carbonised woods from Kerala Coast were studied and the
following taxa were identified which are new to the area: Dipterocarpus indicus
(Dipterocarpaceae), Mischocarpusjuscencens and Sap indus trifoliatus (Sapindaceae),
Rhus mysorensis (Anacardiaceae), Albizia amara and A. luc/da (Fabaceae), Sandoricum
indicum (Meliaceae), Artocarpus lakoocha (Moraceae) and Polyalthia andamanica
(Anonaceae). Their modern equivalents are distributed in Indo-Malayan region and
Myanmar indicating similar climate in Kerala Coast during deposition of Warkalli
Beds.
Visited Xylarium and Herbarium of the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun
for comparing fossil woods and leaves with the extant taxa.
Rashmi Srivastava & R.K. Saxena
Studied carbonised woods from Sindhudurg Formation (Miocene) in Ratnagiri
and Sindhudurg Districts, Maharashtra. The extant equivalents of these woods are
presently growing in Malaysia and Myanmar indicating more humid climate during
the sedimentation of Sindhudurg Formation.
Programme 3.6 Tertiary megafossils from Neyveli lignite, Tamil Nadu
Anil Agarwal
Sectioning and study of 15 carbonised fossil woods of old collection were
done but the preservation of all the woods is too poor to reveal any structural detail.
Photographs of 10 fossil leaves from old collection were also investigated.
About 126 carbonised fossil wood specimens and 125 fossil leaves from the
Neyveli lignite Mine 1 and 2 were collected. Tentative identification of about 35 fossil
leaves belonging to about 18 families, viz., Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae. Burseraceae,
Combretaceae, Clusiaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae,
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