By Our Correspondent

IMPHAL, Nov 28: Scientists during a field survey in Manipur’s Imphal West district have discovered the first fossil evidence which showed thorniness in bamboo was already present in Asia during the Ice Age, a statement by PIB said.

“Scientists from Birbal Sahni Institution of Palaeosciences during field surveys in the silt-rich deposits of the Chirang River in Manipur’s Imphal Valley, chanced upon a bamboo stem with unusual markings” it said.

“This is the first fossil evidence that thorniness in bamboo—a defense against herbivores—was already present in Asia during the Ice Age. Its preservation is particularly significant because it comes from a period of colder and drier global climates, when bamboo was wiped out in many other regions, including Europe” it said.

“The fossil shows that while harsh Ice Age conditions restricted bamboo’s global distribution, Northeast India provided a safe refuge where the plant could continue to thrive” it said.

It also said that the research by H Bhatia, P Kumari, NH Singh and G Srivastava added a “new dimension to the understanding of both bamboo evolution and regional climate history.”

Meanwhile, geologist N Herojit Singh of Geological Survey of India, a member of the team which discovered the fossil, said “the fossil was discovered back in 2021-22 at the silt rich deposits of ‘quaternary deposits exposed’ west of Senjam-Chirang village in Imphal West district. Several samples were collected, some of which measured nearly 1 feet.”

Findings of the studies stated that the discovery of the “fossil bamboo culm” is from “late Pleistocene sediments in eastern India.”