MIOCENE MEGAFLORA OF PENINSULAR INDIA: PRESENT STATUS AND FUTURE PROSPECT

The Miocene flora of peninsular India is of special interest because during this epoch large scale migration of taxa took place from Southeast Asia as a result of the establishment of land connections caused by the suturing of the Indian and Eurasian plates. In order to understand this change in the flora, the study of the Miocene flora of peninsular India is necessary. This flora is mostly preserved in the form of woods and is known mainly from Kachchh (Gujarat), Varkala (Kerala), Neyveli and Tiruvakkarai (Tamil Nadu), Birbhum (West Bengal) and northeast India. A cursory look at the flora indicates that most of the forms are common at least at the generic level which indicates a more or less uniform climatic condition in the peninsular part of India during the Miocene. The modern comparable forms of the fossil flora indicate the occurrence of evergreen to deciduous and littoral and swamp forests in the region during the depositional period. The presence of these forests indicates warm and humid climate in the region. The quantitative estimation of palaeoclimate using Coexistence Approach (CoA) indicates the mean annual temperature (MAP) 23–27 °C and mean annual precipitation (MAP) > 2000 mm. The above inference can be supported by the xylotomical features of the fossil woods present in the assemblage. Dipterocarpaceae, Ebenaceae and Rhamnaceae are some of the families which were absent during the Palaeogene in India but appeared during the Miocene due to migration from Southeast Asia.