Imphal: Scientists have discovered fossil evidence in Manipur suggesting that thorniness in bamboo—an important defence against herbivores—was already present in Asia during the Ice Age, according to an official release.
Researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, found a fossilised bamboo stem with distinct thorn scars in silt-rich deposits along the Chirang River in Imphal Valley.
The specimen, unearthed during a field survey in Imphal West district, showed unusual surface markings that prompted detailed laboratory analysis.
The team examined the fossil’s nodes, buds and thorn scars and identified it as belonging to the genus Chimonobambusa.
Comparisons with modern thorny bamboo species such as Bambusa bambos and Chimonobambusa callosa helped reconstruct its defensive features and ecological role.
“This is the first fossil evidence showing that thorniness in bamboo existed in Asia during the Ice Age,” the release noted, adding that the find is significant because such delicate structures rarely fossilise.
It also reveals that while colder, drier Ice Age climates wiped out bamboo from regions like Europe, Northeast India served as a climatic refuge where the plant could survive and evolve.
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The study, published in Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, underscores the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot as an important sanctuary during periods of global climate stress.
Researchers H Bhatia, P Kumari, N H Singh and G Srivastava led the analysis, which the release said adds critical insights into bamboo evolution and the region’s palaeoclimatic history.
Geologist N Herojit Singh of the Geological Survey of India, part of the discovery team, said that the fossil was collected during surveys in 2021–22 from exposed Quaternary deposits near Senjam-Chirang village.
Several samples were recovered, some nearly a foot long, and have been dated to late Pleistocene sediments in eastern India.
