A New Record of Acanthomorphic Acritarch Tappania Yin from the Early Mesoproterozoic Saraipali Formation, Singhora Group, Chhattisgarh Supergroup, India and its Biostratigraphic Significance

In the present paper, well-preserved specimens of taxonomically distinctive Proterozoic eukaryotic fossil Tappania Yin are recorded for the first time from the rocks of the Saraipali Formation of the Singhora Group, Chhattisgarh Supergroup, India. In the global context, among the various species of this genus, Tappania plana is widely distributed in the latest Palaeoproterozoic (Statherian) to the early Mesoproterozoic (Calymmian) organic-walled microfossil assemblages. Tappania plana of the Saraipali is subjected to transmitted light microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and laser Raman spectroscopy and these results are presented. Collectively, the occurrence of remarkable microfossil Tappania and other associated microfossils in the Saraipalli Formation of rocks demonstrate the Calymmian age for the lower sediments of the Chhattisgarh Supergroup.