Fossil leaf-impressions from the Late Tertiary sediments of Mahuadanr Valley, Latehar District, Jharkhand, India

Abstract

Morphotaxonomical study of the leaf impressions collected from the Late Tertiary sediments of Mahuadanr Valley, Jharkhand, India has been done. The comparison of morphological features between the fossils and extant taxa revealed the occurrence of 13 species of 5 dicotyledonous families. On the basis of present assemblage, the palaeoclimate and phytogeography of Mahuadanr area during the Late Tertiary have been deduced. Present distribution of all the modern comparable species of the fossils indicates that these are presently found to grow in the tropical forests of the Himalayan foot hills, central India, south India and adjoining area of the Mahuadanr Valley, suggesting a mixed, mesophytic type of forest was flourishing in and around the fossil locality during the sedimentation. As most of the comparable species are found now-a-days in the vicinity of fossil locality of Mahuadanr it indicates that same flora has continued till now which suggests that there has been no marked climatic change in the area since the Late Tertiary time.