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Pterospermumocarpon gen. nov.; Pterospermum; Malvaceae; phytogeography; Miocene; India; fossil fruit; Sindhudurg Formation; Maharashtra.

Pterospermumocarpon (Type: P. kalviwadiensis), a new morphogenus of fossil fruits showing resemblance with fruits of extant Pterospermum Schreb. (Malvaceae s.l.), is described from the Sindhudurg Formation (Miocene) at the Kalviwadi Village, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra, India. Diagnostic feature of the fossil taxon is the dehiscent pentalocular capsule with five distinct sutures and imprints of winged seedlike structures in the locules. Recent modifications in the systematics of the Malvales, their fossil record, and the distribution and migration of Pterospermum and other malvalean taxa in the context of the Indian subcontinent are discussed.

Rashmi Srivastava¹ R K Saxena¹ Gaurav Srivastava¹

1. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, India.

Published

February 2012

Manuscript received

31 May 2011

Manuscript revised

12 August 2011

Accepted

22 August 2011