1995-96 - Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany

1995-96
PROJECT 3
Programme 3.2
Objective
Programme 3.4
CENOZOIC PLANT BIOGEOGRAPHY OF PEN]NSULAR INDIA
Programme 3.] Floristics and plant megafossil biostratigraphy ofthe Deccan
Intertrappean sediments
Objective To study and understand the Deccan Intertrappean fossils
To determine their age for reconstruction of vegetational
history and phytogeography of peninsular India
A number of petrified woods from Nawargaon area of Wardha District, Maharashtra
were studied and compared with the extant taxa belonging to the family Flacourtiaceae,
Tiliaceae, Sterculiaceae, Simaroubaceae, Burseraceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Sapindaceac,
Anacardiaeeae and Lecythidaceae. Amongst them, the important genera are Homalium,
Grewia, Sterculia, Elaeocarpus, Ailanthus, Euphoria, Dracontomelum, Barringtonia,
Araucaria, and Podocarpus. These taxa are also reported from Mohgaonkalan (Chhindwara
District), Mahurzari (Nagpur District) and Shahpura (Mandla District) which suggest that
central India witnessed unifonn floral pattern and climate during Late Cretaceous-Early
Tertiary.
N. Awasthi & E.G. Khare (PhD. work)
Studies on the Tertiary noras of western India
To build up floristic history and phytogeography of western
India
Thirty petrified and carbonised woods were sectioned and studied in detail. Most
of them belong to the known genera, viz., Lagerstroemia, MilleUia, Pongamia, Terminalia
and Sonneratia. Two new fossil woods namely Syzygium and Parastemon have been
identified which arc new to western India. Their occurrence indicates the existence of
moist humid conditions during the Late Tertiary in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Neogene plant megafossils
of West Coast
1.S. Guleria
Objective
To study morphotaxonomy of plant megafossils, palaeo floristics,
palaeoecology and palaeogeography
Out of a rich collection of carbonised woods from KeraJa Coast five woods were
identified as Poeciloneuron (Clusiaceae), Adenanthera and Koompasia (Fabaccae), Parinari
(Chrysobalanaceae) and Bischofia (Bischofiaceae). A paper dealing with these woods highlighting
their palaeoecological and phytogeographical significance was finalized. Two more
woods were tentatively identified, one as Artocarpus (Moraceae) and the other having
banded parenchyma showing affinities with the family Fabaeeae or Meliaceae.
Two carbollised woods from Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra were studied and
identified as Shorea (Dipterocarpaceae) and Bouea (Anacardiaceae).
Rashmi Srivastava
Programme 3.6
Objective
Tertiary megafossils from Neyveli Lignite, Tamil Nadu
To study morpho taxonomy of Tertiary megafossils ji'om Neyveli
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