Indian fossil monocotyledons: Current Status, Recent Developments and Future Directions

Abstract

The megafossil records of monocotyledons assigned to Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) onward from India have been reviewed along with their possible resemblances with the extant members to have a meaningful taxonomic and phylogenetic relationship. The early record of angiosperm megafossils assigned to the dicotyledons is from the Lower Cretaceous horizon of Rajmahal Hills, Bihar (now Jharkhand). A thorough search for the monocotyledons is yet to be made from these beds. The Deccan Intertrappean beds which belong to Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) - Palaeocene age, are very rich in angiosperms comprising both dicotyledons and monocotyledons preserved especially in the form of permineralizations. The later epochs or series, however, are rich in compressions and impressions. The monocotyledonous flora is dominated mainly by palms (Family-Arecaceae) followed by the families of Scitamineae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Araceae.
 In order to understand the early monocotyledonous diversification future work is to be concentrated in the Rajmahal Intertrappeans and contemporary horizons belonging to the Lower Cretaceous Period. Thorough search for entire herbaceous elements, woody juvenile and arborescent members (palms, pandans, aroids, liliales, grasses, Cyperaceae, etc.), reconstructions of entire plants based upon organic occurrences and associations in addition to the isolated reproductive and vegetative organs of taxonomic significance is to be given priority. In depth knowledge of morphology and anatomy of comparable extant flora is required for their phylogenetic assessments.

First fossil woods and palm stems from the mid‐Paleocene of Myanmar and implications for biogeography and wood anatomy

“…Numerous fossil palm stems have been described from India. More than 82 species are referred as Palmoxylon (e.g., Bonde, 2008). Among them, the vast majority are from the Deccan intertraps or dated to the Cretaceous.…”

A brief account of Cenozoic (Tertiary) flora of India: its development, significance and future considerations

“…More and more fossil plants were studied with a point of view of their taxonomy so that the antiquity of the taxon could be traced which may throw light on the evolution of particular taxon. A large amount of data was accumulated and synthesized for the proper evaluation of the Cenozoic (Tertiary) flora (Awasthi, 1974(Awasthi, , 1982(Awasthi, , 1992Bande, 1992;Bande et al, 1988;Bonde, 2008;Bonde & Kumaran, 2002a, b;Bera & Banerjee, 2001;*Chitaley, *1950*Chitaley, * , 1974Guleria, 1992Guleria, , 2005Guleria & Srivastava, 2001;Guleria et al, 2002;Gupta et al, 2002;*Mahabale, 1950a*Mahabale, , b, 1959*Mahabale, , 1963*Mahabale, , 1965*Mahabale, , 1968Prakash, 1974;Lakhanpal, 1970Lakhanpal, , 1988Lakhanpal, , 1991Lakhanpal, , 1998Mehrotra, 2003;Roy & Mukhopadhyay, 2005;Prasad, 2008;Prasad & Pandey, 2008;Puri, 1957;*Sahni, 1953*Sahni, , 1964Trivedi, 1974;Vishnu Mittre, 1965;Kar et al, 2004;Banerjee et al, 2005) and many more. For further references and details readers may consult Srivastava 1990;Srivastava and Guleria 2006.…”