Plant fossils from Dafla Formation, West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

Dicotyledonous leaf impressions collected from the Dafla Formation (=Lower Siwalik) of Arunachal Pradesh are described in the present communication. The fossils belong to Middle-Upper Miocene in age and comprise of seven genera belonging to six families, namely, Tabernaemontana precoronaria Prasad (Apocynaceae), Salacia miocenica sp. nov. (Celastraceae), Millettia koilabasensis Prasad (Fabaceae), Actinodaphne palaeomalabarica sp. nov. and Litsea preglabrata sp. nov. (Lauraceae), Memecylon arunachalensis sp. nov. (Melastomataceae) and Randia miowallichii Prasad (Rubiaceae). In addition, Dicotylophyllum breyniodes sp. nov., a dicotyledonous leaf of uncertain affinities, is also reported. The distribution of modern counterparts of the fossils indicates tropical vegetation suggesting warm and humid climate during the deposition of the sediments.