Evolutionary Significance of the Deccan Intertrappean Flora: A Review of Modern Angiosperm Origins and Global Migration
Keywords:
Deccan Intertrappean, Out-of-India Hypothesis, Maastrichtian-Danian, Angiosperm Evolution, PaleobiogeographyAbstract
The Deccan Intertrappean beds of Central India preserve a high-resolution terrestrial archive of angiosperm diversification during the Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene transition. This review synthesizes seminal paleobotanical investigations that have established the Indian subcontinent as a primary evolutionary "cradle" for several modern plant lineages. Critical records including the oldest known fossils of the rice tribe (Poaceae), the grape family (Vitaceae), the leaf-flower family (Phyllanthaceae), and the earliest record of the genus Cocos (Arecaceae) collectively underscore the role of the Indian Plate as a "biotic ferry." These findings provide robust evidence for the "Out-of-India" hypothesis, suggesting that Gondwanan lineages diversified in isolation during India’s northward drift before dispersing globally following the collision with Eurasia. Anatomical evidence from these fossil assemblages indicates that complex, multi-stratal tropical evergreen forests thrived under humid, megathermal conditions amidst the episodic pulses of Deccan volcanism. These records serve as essential temporal anchors for molecular dating and remain vital for reconstructing the historical phytogeography of modern global floras.
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