Fossil leafand fruit of the genus Harpullia Roxb. from Upper Miocene (Siwalik) sediments in the Sub-Himalayan zone of West Bengal and its biogeographic and palaeoclimatic significance

摘要

Fossil leaf and fruit resembling the extant taxa, Harpullia arborea (Blanco.) Radlk. of the family Sapindaceae have been reported for the first time from the Upper Miocene sediments of Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. The fossil leaf is characterized by an elliptic-lanceolate shape, oblique base, entire margin, and eucamptodromous type of venation and the fruit is a two-valved, inflated capsule having one or two seeds in a cell. The extant taxa is biogeographically important as presently distributed in the evergreen forests of the Indo-Malaysian region which suggests a tropical wet climate prevailed in the area during sedimentation.