Source India Today NE
IMPHAL, MANIPUR—In a remarkable discovery poised to reshape the understanding of Asia’s Ice Age flora, scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) have unearthed a 37,000-year-old thorny bamboo fossil in Manipur’s Imphal Valley. The astonishingly well-preserved specimen provides the first fossil evidence of this defense mechanism in Asian bamboo during the Pleistocene epoch.
A Rare Glimpse into the Deep Past
Found in the silt-rich deposits of the Chirang River, the fossil is exceptionally rare. Bamboo’s hollow structure and fibrous tissues typically decay quickly, leaving little trace in the geological record. This stem, however, remained intact, notably retaining the fragile markings of its long-vanished thorns—a feature that almost never survives the fossilization process.
Detailed analysis in the laboratory confirmed the specimen belongs to the genus Chimonobambusa. Comparison with modern thorny species helped the researchers reconstruct its defensive traits and ecological role. The presence of thorns indicates that this plant already possessed a crucial defense against herbivores during the Ice Age.
The discovery carries profound significance for palaeobotany and climate history. The fossil dates to a time of colder and drier global climates—the peak of the Ice Age—when bamboo was entirely wiped out from many regions, including Europe.
The survival of this ancient bamboo species in Manipur demonstrates that while harsh global conditions restricted the plant’s distribution, the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot in Northeast India served as a vital refugium. The region’s warm and humid climate provided a safe haven, allowing the Chimonobambusa to not only persist but also to thrive while its relatives vanished elsewhere.
Published in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, the study adds a new dimension to the evolution of bamboo and reinforces the crucial role of Northeast India in safeguarding biodiversity through major climatic shifts.
