Plant fossils from the Gangapur Formation

Abstract

Plant fossils have been recovered from the Gangapur Formation, originally known as ‘Gangapur beds’ of the Kota ‘Stage’. The material was obtained from 11 localities in the vicinity of Gangapur Village, Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh. The megafossils belong to the common Upper Gondwana forms. The commonest fossil is Elatocladus. A new species of the genus (E. kingianus) has been identified on the basis of epidermal features. Epidermal features of a species of Pagiophyllum, viz., P. marwarensis, have also been studied. The palynological assemblage comprises about 64 taxa. The dominant element is the Araucariacites-Callialasporites complex. The stratigraphically important forms occurring in the samples are Trilites tuberculiformis, lschyosporites crateris, Cooksonites variabilis, and Microcachryridites antarcticus. After analyzing the available palaeobotanical and palynological data, a basal Lower Cretaceous age for the Gangapur Formation is suggested.