EARLY EOCENE ARECOID PALM WOOD, PALMOXYLON VASTANENSIS N. SP. FROM VASTAN LIGNITE, GUJARAT, INDIA: ITS PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

摘要

A new species of fossil palm wood, Palmoxylon vastanensis is reported and described from the Vastan Lignite Mine, Surat, Gujarat, India. The fossil wood is characterized by highly lacunar ground tissue with very large air spaces indicating that plants were growing in an aquatic or the marshy environment. A detailed anatomical study revealed its affinities with the extant arecoid taxa belonging to the family Arecaceae. Among them, it closely resembles Areca catechu as both fossil and living species possess similar anatomical features such as highly lacunar ground tissue, reniform, dorsal sclerenchymatous sheath of the fibrovascular bundles with the frequency of 30-35 per cm2. Based on the anatomical characters of the fossil and present day ecology of its modern equivalent, the palaeoenvironmental implications have been discussed