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First fossil evidence of marginal winged fruits of Peltophorum (Caesalpinioideae: Fabaceae) from India

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Abstract

Peltophorum (Caesalpinioideae: Fabaceae) is a well-known extant legume genus characterized by marginally bi-winged fruits. No reliable fossils of Peltophorum have been reported previously. Here, we report for the first time well-substantiated fossil fruits of Peltophorum exhibiting an oblong to narrowly elliptic fruit body with longitudinal wings along both margins. The fossils originated from upper Neogene (Pliocene: Rajdanda Formation) sediments of Chotanagpur Plateau in eastern India. Our findings add a new fossil member, Peltophorum asiatica, to this pantropical genus and enrich our knowledge of its past diversity and evolution. We discuss the paleoclimatic significance of recovery of P. asiatica in eastern India by making inferences from extant Peltophorum. Our discovery adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the Pliocene climate of eastern India was warm, humid and tropical.

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Acknowledgments

TH, MH and MAK 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.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Taposhi Hazra, Manoshi Hazra & Mahasin Ali Khan

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

    Subir Bera

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  1. Taposhi Hazra
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Correspondence to Mahasin Ali Khan.

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Hazra, T., Hazra, M., Bera, S. et al. First fossil evidence of marginal winged fruits of Peltophorum (Caesalpinioideae: Fabaceae) from India. Brittonia 73, 241–250 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-021-09679-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-021-09679-4

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