Fossil Drupe Fruit Revealing Angiosperm Diversity from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Singhpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

A well-preserved dicot fruit was collected from Singhpur (Lat 21.616095° N and Long 78.730775° E) in Chhindwara District, M.P. The fruit is elongated to ovoid or ellipsoidal with a distinct basal long stalk. The fossil fruit is unilocular and is characterized by the presence of bitegmic seed. The fruit is a drupe and dehiscent, not clearly seen. The fruit, though, shows some characteristics of the present-day families like Salvadoraceae, Rubiaceae, Urticaceae and Oleaceae. It has close affinities with the members of the family Oleaceae. It could not conclusively be traced to any particular genus, but it is broadly placed under Oleaceae.