🌿 24-Million-Year-Old Fossil Leaves in Assam Reveal Extinct Connection to Western Ghats

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🌱 Fossil Leaves in Assam Uncover a Lost World of Ancient Plants

Fossil leaves in Assam dating back 24 million years have stunned scientists and nature enthusiasts alike. This groundbreaking discovery from the Makum Coalfield in northeast India reveals an extinct botanical connection with the Western Ghats, once thought to be entirely unrelated.

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🧭 An Ancient Botanical Bridge Across India

🌍 The fossilized plant specimens unearthed in Assam’s coal-rich sedimentary beds belong to genera previously known only from the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot located over 2,000 km away. This unexpected fossil correlation suggests that much of peninsular India was once ecologically unified.

🔬 According to the paleobotanical team, the fossils include Dipterocarpaceae, Clusiaceae, and other wet evergreen forest species typically found in the southern Western Ghats, not northeastern India.

🪨 The Makum Coalfield: Time Capsule of Prehistoric Forests

🪴 Located in the Tinsukia district, the Makum Coalfield has long been a treasure trove for fossil hunters. But these particular fossil leaves in Assam stand out because of their astonishing preservation and ecological implications.

📅 These fossils date back to the Oligocene epoch, around 24 million years ago, when a much wetter and warmer climate prevailed. This opens up new theories about India’s prehistoric climate patterns, continental drift, and even floral migration.

🔍 What This Means for India’s Biodiversity Story

🧩 The discovery alters long-standing beliefs about how Indian ecosystems evolved. Previously, scientists believed the Western Ghats flora was geographically isolated due to tectonic shifts. But these Assam fossils suggest there may have once been a continuous green corridor across the subcontinent.

📚 This connection could mean many extinct plant lineages once had a much wider distribution across India, which was only later fragmented by climate shifts and the rise of the Himalayas.

🌿 Fossil Evidence Reshapes Conservation Priorities

🌳 These findings have modern implications too. The fossil species closely resemble endangered and endemic species now found in isolated pockets of the Western Ghats. By studying how these plants once thrived across a broader region, conservationists can learn how to protect what’s left.

💡 It also calls for enhanced conservation focus on northeastern India, which may be underestimated in terms of historical biodiversity.

🧠 What Scientists Are Saying

🗣️ “This is like discovering a lost chapter of India’s ecological past,” says Dr. Ruchira Roy, a lead paleobotanist on the study. “We always assumed that the Western Ghats’ flora evolved in isolation, but these fossil leaves in Assam challenge that idea entirely.”

🌐 The study was recently published in the Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology journal and is already influencing global theories on biogeographic distribution.

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🔗 Final Thoughts: A Green Thread Through Time

🧬 The 24-million-year-old fossil leaves in Assam serve as botanical time travelers, carrying the secrets of an ancient, unified forest that once spanned the Indian subcontinent. They are not just relics—they’re reminders of a lost natural heritage and warnings for our ecological future.

🌍 As India continues to develop rapidly, such fossil finds remind us that beneath our soil lies the deep memory of nature, waiting to be unearthed and understood.