Authors : Nimgade S. M.; Dahegaonkar R. R.; Patil S. W.; Kamble N. S.

Volume/Issue : Volume 9 - 2024, Issue 2 - February

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10716009

Abstract : The present paper describes a fossil megasporophyll with a pair of ovules from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds in the Indian state of Maharashtra, from Marai Patan, Taluka-Jiwati, District: Chandrapur. Two ovules are oppositely placed and are completely surrounded by an ovuliferous scale. Integument of small ovule is multilayered and differentiated into three zones, viz., outer and inner are sclerenchymatous, while middle one is parenchymatous. In a large ovule integument is two layered. Micropylar canal is narrow. It is compared with modern taxa of Cycadales and Coniferales with the families like Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae, Podocarpaceae, Cephalotaxaceae and Araucariaceae and also with earlier described fossil ovules. It is evident from the study that present fossil megasporophyll resembles with Coniferoovulites with minor differences and hence named as Coniferoovulites patanii sp. nov.

Keywords : Megasporophyll, Deccan Intertrappean, Ovules, Integument, Ovuliferous Scale.