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Dipterocarpus (Dipterocarpaceae) leaves from the K-Pg of India: a Cretaceous Gondwana presence of the Dipterocarpaceae

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Abstract

Dipterocarpaceae, a tropical plant family that forms a major component of low-lying rainforests in Southeast Asia, is represented by a large number of fossils from the Cenozoic sedimentary successions of India, but the origin and antiquity of this family has been actively debated. The earliest reliable dipterocarp megafossils so far reported in India come from Eocene (34–23 Ma) sediments of the Cambay Basin of western India and in Southeast Asia from Eocene (34–23 Ma) sediments within China. More recently, pollen attributable to the family was recovered from Maastrichtian sediments in India, but because pollen is highly durable, can be transported over long distances and offers only low taxonomic resolution, more definitive evidence is required to demonstrate, unequivocally, that the Dipterocarpaceae were in India prior to its contact with Eurasia early in the Paleogene. The Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) leaf fossils documented here have an affinity with the extant genus Dipterocarpus (family Dipterocarpaceae) and come from the Mandla Lobe Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Central India. They provide compelling evidence that this tropical rain forest element was present in India during Chron 29R, which spans the K-Pg transition, and when the bulk of the subcontinent was still in the Southern Hemisphere. We suggest that only later did their dispersal to Southeast Asia occur, consistent with the “Out-of-India” hypothesis. These fossil leaves represent the earliest reliable fossil record of the Dipterocarpaceae and, in particular, Dipterocarpus.

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Acknowledgements

MK, KR, TH, SM and SK gratefully acknowledge the Department of Botany, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University for providing infrastructural facilities to accomplish this work. SB acknowledges the Centre of Advanced Study (Phase-VII), Department of Botany, University of Calcutta for providing necessary facilities. RAS and TEVS were supported by NERC/NSFC BETR Project NE/P013805/1. We are thankful to Dr. Tapas Kumar Gangopadhyay, Sr. Geologist, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Howrah for help and cooperation during collection of fossil specimen. Thanks are due to the authorities of Central National Herbarium, Sibpur, Howrah, for permission to consult the Herbarium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Ranchi Road, Purulia, 723104, India

    Mahasin Ali Khan, Kaustav Roy, Taposhi Hazra, Sumana Mahato & Sanchita Kumar

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, People’s Republic of China

    Robert A. Spicer & Teresa E. V. Spicer

  3. School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    Robert A. Spicer

  4. Presidency University, 86/1, College Street, Calcutta University Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 70073, India

    Manoshi Hazra

  5. Centre of Advanced Study, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, 35, B.C. Road, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Subir Bera

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  1. Mahasin Ali Khan
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by MAK, RAS, TH, MH and KR. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MAK, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mahasin Ali Khan.

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No specific permits were required for the described field studies. The sampling sites are not protected in any way, and the field studies did not involve endangered or protected species.

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Khan, M.A., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V. et al. Dipterocarpus (Dipterocarpaceae) leaves from the K-Pg of India: a Cretaceous Gondwana presence of the Dipterocarpaceae. Plant Syst Evol 306, 90 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01718-z

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