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This 24-million-year-old leaf fossil in Assam has stunned scientists– here's why
In a finding that sheds new light on India's ancient past, scientists have discovered fossilised leaves in Assam's Makum Coalfield that point to a surprising link between northeast India and the Western Ghats.
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These fossils are over 24 million years old and are helping researchers better understand how plants spread and survived through major climate changes across the Indian subcontinent.
Ancient leaves tell a story of changing climates
A research team from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) in Lucknow studied the fossil leaves and found they closely resemble modern plants from the Nothopegia genus. Today, these plants grow only in the Western Ghats and are not found in northeast India.
What makes this discovery remarkable is that it's the oldest known fossil record of Nothopegia anywhere in the world, dating back to the late Oligocene period.
Climate shifts shaped plant migration
As stated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, by using advanced climate tools like the CLAMP method, scientists found that northeast India had a warm and humid climate during the late Oligocene, very similar to the climate in the Western Ghats today. These conditions were ideal for tropical plants like Nothopegia to grow.
But things changed when the Himalayas began to rise because of tectonic shifts. The region got cooler, and rainfall patterns changed, making it harder for tropical species to survive. As a result, plants like Nothopegia slowly disappeared from the northeast but continued to thrive in the Western Ghats, where the climate stayed more stable.
Tracing biodiversity through time
As mentioned by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the study, published in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, used fossil evidence along with climate modelling to trace how Nothopegia plants moved over time.
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The findings highlight how climate change has played a key role in where plants survive and how they spread across different regions.
According to Dr. Harshita Bhatia, co-author of the study, 'This fossil discovery is a window into the past that helps us understand the future.' The study highlights that while plants have moved to new areas over millions of years because of natural climate changes, today's climate shift is happening much faster, and it's mostly caused by human activity.
Thumbnail image credit: Canva. For representative purposes only.
