Why in the News?
In Assam’s Makum Coalfield, BSIP scientists found 24–23 million-year-old fossil leaves resembling today’s Nothopegia, now limited to the Western Ghats.
![[pib] Ancient Assam Fossils Link to Western Ghats Biodiversity](https://d18x2uyjeekruj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/assam-fossil.jpg)
About the Nothopegia Fossil Discovery
- Overview: Palaeo-scientists from Lucknow discovered fossil leaves in the Makum Coalfield of Assam. It dates back 24–23 million years to the late Oligocene epoch.
- Oldest Known Record: These are the oldest known fossils of the Nothopegia genus, a tropical plant now endemic to the Western Ghats, not found in Northeast India today.
- Identification Methods: Researchers used morphological analysis, herbarium comparisons, and cluster analysis to identify the fossil leaves.
- Tropical Legacy: Nothopegia belongs to the Anacardiaceae family and reflects ancient tropical ecosystems that once existed in Northeast India.
- Climate Reconstruction: Using the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP), scientists confirmed that the region once had a warm and humid climate, similar to the present-day Western Ghats.
Why did Nothopegia disappear from the Northeast?
- Tectonic Disruption: The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates led to the rise of the Himalayas, drastically altering climate, rainfall, and wind patterns in Northeast India.
- Habitat Loss: These shifts caused the region to cool and dry, rendering it unsuitable for tropical flora like Nothopegia.
- Southward Migration: Over time, the plant spread to the Western Ghats, which offered a climatically stable refuge and allowed its survival.
Significance of the Study:
- Climate Lessons: The extinction and migration pattern of Nothopegia illustrates a deep-time example of species response to long-term climate change.
- Scientific Value: Understanding ancient plant resilience aids in predicting survival pathways under current global warming scenarios.
- Refuge Significance: The study highlights how climate refuges like the Western Ghats help preserve ancient lineages during major environmental changes.
| [UPSC 2025] Which of the following are the evidence of the phenomenon of continental drift?
I. The belt of ancient rocks from the Brazil coast matches with those from Western Africa. II. The gold deposits of Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the two continents lay side by side. III. The Gondwana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere. Select the correct answer using the code given below: Options: (a) I and III only (b) I and II only (c) I, II and III *(d) II and III only |
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