Early Permian megaspores from Goutham Khani Open Cast Mine, Kothagudem Area, Godavari Graben, Telangana, India ARUN JOSHI * AND RAJNI TEWARI Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, India. * Corresponding author: arunjoshi119@gmail.com (Received 13 October, 2015; revised version accepted 28 November, 2015) ABSTRACT Joshi A & Tewari R 2015. Early Permian megaspores from Goutham Khani Open Cast Mine, Kothagudem Area, Godavari Graben, Telangana, India. The Palaeobotanist 64(2): 139–150. Early Permian megaspores are reported for the irst time from the Barakar Formation of Index Seam, Goutham Khani Open Cast Mine, Kothagudem Area, Godavari Graben, Telangana, India. The megaspore assemblage includes three genera and ten species, namely Biharisporites spinosus, Biharisporites sp. A (in Tewari et al., 2009), Biharisporites sp., Jhariatriletes iliformis, Jhariatriletes sp., Singhisporites indica, S. nautiyalii, S. radialis, S. surangei and Singhisporites sp. Besides adding to the existing knowledge of megaspores from the Godavari Graben, the comparison of megaspores from the Goutham Khani Open Cast Mine with those of the other Indian Lower Gondwana basins, namely Damodar, Satpura, Wardha, South Rewa and other areas of the Godavari Graben reveals that majority of these differ in the presence of dense ornamentations on their exosporia. The previous records of megaspores from the late Permian of the Godavari Graben show dense spinate exosporia. Presence of such dense diverse spines on megaspores of this study indicates their early appearance during the Barakar Formation. An analysis of the developmental pattern of the exosporium architecture of Lower Gondwana megaspores in general, indicates that during the early Permian Talchir and Karharbari formations, the megaspores had simple outer layer with usually smooth, granulate, verrucate and sometimes baculate/ connate ornamentations whereas, dense spinate exosporia were more common during Barakar and Raniganj formations indicating fresh water aquatic conditions. As such, the spinate megaspores of Kothagudem region also point towards terrestrial aquatic conditions. Key–words—Megaspores, Barakar Formation, Palaeoenvironment, Kothagudem Area, Godavari Graben. xkSre [kfu foo`r [kku] dksBkxqMse {ks=k] xksnkojh nzksf.kdk] rsyaxkuk] Hkkjr ls çkjafHkd ijfe;u ds LFkwy chtk.k v:.k tks'kh ,oa jtuh frokjh lkjka'k lwpd laLrj] xkSre [kfu] foo`r [kku] dksBkxqMse {ks=k] xksnkojh nzksf.kdk] rsyaxkuk] Hkkjr ds cjkdkj 'kSylewg ls igyh ejfrck çkjafHkd ifeZ;u ds LFkwy chtk.kq feys gSaA LFkwy chtk.kq leqPp; esa rhu oa'k ,ao nl tkfr uker% fcgkjhLiksfjfVl Likbuksll] fcgkjhLiksfjfVl tkfr , ¼frokjh o vU; 2009½] fcgkjhLiks fjbfVl tkfr] >fj;kVª kbfyfVl fQ+ yhQkW jfel] >fj;kVª kbfyfVl tkfr] fla ghLiks fjfVl ba fMdk] ,l- ukS fV;kykbZ ] ,l- jsfM,fyl] ,l- lqjaxbZ ,oa flaghLiksfjfVl tkfr lfUufgr gSaA xksnkojh nzksf.kdk ls izkIr LFkwy chtk.kqvksa dh ekStwnk tkudkjh dks lfEefyr djus ds vykok] vU; Hkkjrh; xkasMokuk nzksf.k;ksa] uker% nkeksnj] lriqM+k] o/kkZ] nf{k.k jhok rFkk xksnkojh nzksf.kdk ds vU; {ks=kksa dh muds lkFk xkSre [kfu] foo`r [kku ls LFkwy chtk.kqvksa dh rqyuk [kqyklk djrh gS fd ,DlvksLiksfj;k ij l?ku vyadj.kksa dh ekStwnxh esa ;s T+;knrj vygnk gSaA vkt dh rkjh[k rd] xksnkojh nzksf.kdk ds foyafcr ifeZ;u ls vfHkfyf[kr LFkwy chtk.kqvksa esa l?ku 'kwy ,DlvksLiksfj;k n'kkZ;hA bl v/;;u ds LFkwy chtk.kqvksa ij l?ku ukukfo/k 'kwyksa dh fon~;ekurk cjkdkj 'kSylewg ds nkSjku mudk izkjafHkd vkfoHkkZo n'kkZrh gSA lkekU;r% v/kks xksaMokuk LFkwy chtk.kqvksa ij ,DlvksLiksfj;e LFkkiR; dyk dk fodklkVkd iz:i dk fo'ys"k.k ladsr nsrk gS fd izkjafHkd ifeZ;u ds nkSjku rYphj ,oa djgjckM+h 'kSylewg esa vkerkSj ij fpdus] nkusnkj] os:ZdsV rFkk dHkh&dHkkj ckdqyk;qDr@lgtkr vyadj.kksa lfgr LFkwychtk.kqvksa dh lk/kkj.k ckg~; ijr Fkh] tcfd cjkdkj ,oa jkuhxat 'kSylewgksa ds nkSjku l?ku 'kwy ,DlvksLiksfj;k vfr lkekU; FksA l?ku 'kwy vyo.kh; ty tyh; fLFkfr;k¡ bafxr dj jgs gSaA rnuqlkj] dksBkxqMse vapy ds 'kwy LFkwychtk.kq LFkyh; tyh; fLFkfr;ksa dh vksj Hkh b'kkjk djrs gSaA lwpd 'kCnµLFkwychtk.kq] cjkdkj 'kSylewg] iqjki;kZoj.k] dksBkxqMse {ks=k] xksnkojh nzksf.kdkA © Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, India The Palaeobotanist 64(2015): 139–150 0031–0174/2015