Barringtonia Forster & Forster (Lecythidaceae) leaf from the late Oligocene of Assam, India

Abstract

Northeast India is considered as corridor for the plant migration from India to Southeast Asia and vice–versa after the collision of Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The fossil record of the family Lecythidaceae is very sparse globally. We report a fossil leaf of Barringtonia (Lecythidaceae) from the late Oligocene sediments of Assam, India. The modern distribution and fossil records of the genus indicate its origin in Gondwana derived continents. After collision and complete suturing of the Indian and Eurasian plates the genus most likely migrated from India to Southeast Asia.