Recently, a team of researchers discovered 24-million-year-old fossilized leaves resembling modern plant species of Nothopegia genus from Makum Coalfield of Assam.
About Nothopegia:
It is a genus of plants in the family Anacardiaceae.
The native range of this genus is Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka.
At present species of this genus are found in Western Ghats region.
Key findings
These fossilized leaves, dating back around 24–23 million years to the late Oligocene epoch, were the world’s oldest known fossil record of a plant genus called Nothopegia.
It is suggested that the ancient environment of northeast India once provided a perfect home for Nothopegia.
The Himalayas began their dramatic rise due to tectonic movements, bringing with them sweeping changes in temperature, rainfall, and wind patterns.
These geological convulsions cooled the northeast, rendering it inhospitable for many tropical plant species, including Nothopegia.
The species survived in the climatically stable Western Ghats, making it a living relic of an ancient ecological past.
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