Oldest fruit of Phyllanthaceae from
the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Singpur,
Madhya Pradesh, India
1,
2 1 | Department of Botany, J.M. Patel College, Bhandara, Maharashtra 441904, India |
2 | Florida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, P.O. Box 117800, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A |
3 | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TN
United Kingdom |
Online publication date: 2017-06-15
Publication date: 2017-06-15
Acta Palaeobotanica 2017; 57(1): 33–38
ABSTRACT
A permineralized fruit from the latest Cretaceous of central India is recognized as a member of the
malpighialean family Phyllanthaceae. The fruit is a tricarpellate, septicidal capsule 2.8 mm in diameter possessing
two ellipsoidal seeds per locule. The pericarp includes two main layers, each uniseriate and composed mainly
of columnar cells. This fruit, named Phyllanthocarpon singpurensis gen. et sp. nov., confirms the presence of
Phyllanthaceae in India ca 66 million years ago, well prior to its tectonic fusion with Eurasia, and is an early
record for the euphorbioid clade in Malpighiales.