The paper deals with a systematic study of the pollen grains of Ctenolophonidites Van Hoeken Klinkenberg recovered in fair abundance from a lignite sample near Warkalli (Varkalai) in Kerala State. The geological age of the Warkalli lignite is Miocene, possibly Upper Miocene. The following species have been described in the paper, viz. Ctenolophonidites costatus, C. keralensis sp. nov., C. erdtmanii sp. novo and C. saadii sp. novo The fossil pollen grains show remarkable similarities with the pollen of the modern genus Ctenolophon of Ctenolophonaceae and are undoubtedly related to the latter. The paper comments upon the geological history of Ctenolophon both in time and space. The known geological history of this genus indicates that it enjoyed a much wider phytogeography during the Tertiary period compared to its present rather highly circumscribed distribution.
The paper deals with some well-preserved remains of fruit bodies of the microthyriaceous fungi recovered from the Upper Tertiary (U. Miocene) Warkalli lignite of Kerala state. Nototllyrites, Callimothallus, Asterina, Eutllyrites and Plochmopeltinites represent the common taxa in the material examined. The following are the species recorded, viz. Notothyrites setiferus, N. airensis, N. denticulatus sp. nov., Callimothallus pertusus, C. raoi sp. nov., Asterina eocenica, Asterotllyrites sp., Euthyrites keralensis sp. nov., and Plochmopeltillites cooksonii sp. novo Numerous germlings of microthyriaceous fungi have also been encountered in the lignite samples. The common occurrence of diverse types of microthyriaceous fungi in the Warkalli deposits clearly points toward the tropical humid climate in Kerala during the Upper Tertiary period. The paper also discusses briefly the geological history of the mierothyriaceous fungi.
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