Fossil Species of Lagerstroemia and Millettia from Miocene Strata of the Sarkaghat Region in the Sub-Himalayan Zone of Himachal Pradesh, India, and their Palaeobotanical Inferences

Abstract

Palaeobotanical investigations were conducted on plant macrofossils obtained from the Middle Siwalik sediments of Sarkaghat, Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh, India as part of this current communication. This study discovered the existence of two previously unknownfossil species that correspond to the taxa that are now living, Lagerstroemia Linn. and Millettia Wight & Arn. of the families Lythraceae and Fabaceae, respectively. These modern comparable taxa of the macrofossils reported here are distributed in the tropical evergreen tomoist deciduous forests of the south-east Asian region which may suggest that tropical forests under moist conditions were prevalent during the Upper Miocene times in this region in contrast to mixed deciduous forest under the reduced precipitation at present. It alsoindicates the prevalence of a humid tropical climate during the Miocene in the Sarkaghat area.