New fossil leaves of Annonaceae and Achariaceae from Churia Group of Nepal and their phytogeographical implications MAHESH PRASAD 1 , SOMLATA GAUTAM 2* , NUPUR BHOWMIK 2 , SANJEEV KUMAR 3 AND SANJAI KUMAR SINGH 1 1 Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, India. 2 Department of Botany, University of Allahabad, Allahabad 211 002, India. 3 Department of Applied Geology, School for Environmental Science, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India. * Corresponding author: gautam.soma02@gmail.com (Received 16 June, 2017; revised version accepted 31 January, 2018) ABSTRACT Prasad M, Gautam S, Bhowmik N, Kumar S & Singh SK 2018. New fossil leaves of Annonaceae and Achariaceae from Churia Group of Nepal and their phytogeographical implications. The Palaeobotanist 67(1): 47–66. Study on the fossil leaves recovered from Churia Group of Arjun Khola area, western Nepal revealed the occurrence of fve new fossil species, four belonging to the family Annonaceae and one to Achariaceae. The analysis of present day distribution of the comparable extant species, Unona longifora Roxb., Annona reticulata Linn., Goniothalamus macranthus (Kurz) Boerlage, Artabotrys speciosus Kurz and Ryparosa caesia Blume ex Baill of fossils indicates that they do not grow in and around the study area as well as sub–Himalayan zone of India and Nepal but are presently distributed in the evergreen forests of north–east and south India and South–east Asian region. This suggests that after Miocene these taxa could not survive there most probably due to onset of drier conditions. Based on the data available the phytogeographical aspect of these fossil taxa of both the families has also been discussed. Key–words—Fossil leaves, Annonaceae, Achariaceae, Churia Group (Middle–Upper Miocene), Arjun Khola, western Nepal, Phytogeography. usiky ds pqfj;k lewg ls izkIr ,Uuksuslh ,oa ,dSfj,lh dh uwru thok'e ifRr;ka ,oa muds ikni Hkwxksyh; vk'k; egs'k izlkn] lkseyrk xkSre] uwiqj HkkSfed] latho dqekj ,oa lat; dqekj flag lkjka'k vtZqu [kksyk {ks=k if'peh usiky ds pqfj;k lewg ls izkIr thok'e ifRr;ksa ij v/;;u ls ikap vfHkuo thok'e tkfr;ksa pkj ,Uuksuslh o ,d ,dSfj,lh dqVqac dh mRifRr dk irk pykA rqyuh;ekStwnk tkfr;ksa muksuk ykWaxh¶yksjk jkWDlch] ,Uuksuk jsfVdqysVk fyu] xksfu;ksrysel esaØsaFkl ¼dtZ+½ cksyZ] vVkZckWVªht Lisflvksll dt+Z o jhijkslk dSfl;k dtZ+ thok'eksa dk vxz.kh dk ledkyhu forj.k dk fo'ys"k.k n~;ksfrr djrk gS fd os Hkkjr vkSj usiky ds bl v/;;u {ks=k esa o pgqavksj ds lkFk&gh&lkFk mi&fgeky;h vapy esa ugha mxrs ijarq os fQygky Hkkjr ds mRrj iwjc o nf{k.kh lnkgfjr ouksa rFkk nf{k.k&iwjc ,f'k;kbZ Hkw&Hkkx esa QSys gq, gSaA ;g trkrk gS fd laHkor% e/; uwruksaijkar 'kq"d fLFkfr;ksa ds izkjaHk gksus ds dkj.k ;s VSDlk ogka cp u ldhaA miyC/k vkadM+s ds vk/kkj ij nksuksa dqVqacksa ds bu thok'e VSDlk ds ikni Hkwxksyh; i{k ij Hkh fopkj fofue; fd;k x;k gSA lwpd 'kCnµthok'e ifRr;ka] ,Uuksuslh] ,dSfj,lh] pqfj;k lewg ¼e/;&Åijh e/;uwru½] vtqZu [kksyk] if'peh usiky] ikni HkwxksyA © Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, India The Palaeobotanist 67(2018): 47–66 0031–0174/2018