Fossil evidence of bamboo thorniness during Ice Age found in Manipur

Scientists conducting a area survey in Manipur’s Imphal West district have found fossil evidence indicating that thorniness in bamboo was already current in Asia during the Ice Age, a authorities launch stated.

Researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous physique beneath the Department of Science and Technology (DST), found a bamboo stem with uncommon markings in silt-rich deposits alongside the Chirang River in Imphal Valley.

Their detailed evaluation recognized these as thorn scars, prompting additional investigation into its id and significance, it stated.

The staff studied the fossil’s morphology — together with nodes, buds and thorn scars — in the laboratory and assigned it to the genus Chimonobambusa. Comparisons with dwelling thorny bamboos equivalent to Bambusabambos and Chimonobambusa callosa helped reconstruct the plant’s defensive traits and ecological position.

“This is the first fossil evidence that thorniness in bamboo—a defence against herbivores—was already present in Asia during the Ice Age. Its preservation is particularly significant because it comes from a period of colder and drier global climates, when bamboo was wiped out in many other regions, including Europe. The fossil shows that while harsh Ice Age conditions restricted bamboo’s global distribution, Northeast India provided a safe refuge where the plant could continue to thrive,” the discharge stated.

The discovery printed in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology is exceptional for capturing fragile particulars like thorn scars—options that nearly by no means fossilise. The discovering additionally highlights the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot as a vital refugium during the Ice Age. While colder and drier climates eradicated bamboo from locations equivalent to Europe, the nice and cozy and humid situations of Northeast India allowed it to persist.

“This research … adds a new dimension to our understanding of both bamboo evolution and regional climate history. It also emphasises the role of this part of Asia in safeguarding biodiversity during times of global stress, making the discovery not only a botanical milestone but also an important contribution to palaeoclimatic and biogeographic studies,” the release added.

Meanwhile, geologist N. Herojit Singh of Geological Survey of India, a member of the team which discovered the fossil, said, “The fossil was found again in 2021-2022 on the silt-rich deposits of ‘quaternary deposits uncovered’ west of Senjam-Chirang village in Imphal West district. Several samples had been collected, some of which measured practically a foot lengthy.

Per the findings of the research, the “fossil bamboo culm” dates from “late Pleistocene sediments in eastern India.”