Record of fossil leaves of Ziziphus and Lagerstroemia from Mahuadanr Valley, Jharkhand, India and their ecological implications

Abstract

A study based on the fossil leaf assemblage collected from the Late Tertiary sediments of Mahuadanr Valley revealed the occurrence of two new extant species Ziziphus funiculosa (Rhamnaceae) and Lagerstroemia macrocarpa (Lythraceae) of the Dicotyledon in the area during Late Tertiary Period. Present day distribution of these modem comparable species of the fossils indicates that both the taxa presently distributed in the moist deciduous forests ofthe northeast India, central and south India, which suggests that such type offorest was flourishing in and around the fossil locality during the sedimentation.