Fossil algae from the Cretaceous of Varagur, Tiruchirapalli District, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Algal remains from the limestone deposits at Varagur area, pertaining to Trichinopolly Group in Tiruchirapalli District, Tamil Nadu have been described. The assemblage comprises 31 species of 17 genera belonging to Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Rhodophyceae, of which, Palaeomastigocladus indicus gen. et sp. nov. and Amphiroa varagurense sp. nov. are newly proposed taxa. Cayeuxia sp. cf. C. kurdistanensis Elliott, Pycnoporidium lobatum Yabe & Toyama, Cylindroporella sp. cf. C. sugdeni Elliott, Thaumatoporella incrustata (Elliott) Johnson & Kaska, Ethelia alba (Pfender) Massieux & Denizot, Ethelia sp., Archaeolithothamnium parisiense (Grumbel) Lemoine, A rude Lemoine, Mesophyllum varzans Lemoine, Archaeolithophyllum sp., Amphiroa sp., A. elliotti Johnson and Amphiroa sp. cf. A. guatemalense Johnson & Kaska are new records for India. The Varagur algal assemblage mostly contains the forms which are known from the Upper Cretaceous. The palaeoecological interpretations of the Varagur deposits have been made and it is visualised that during Upper Cretaceous there was a shallow warm sea at the site of deposition.