3,700 Year Old Bamboo Discovered in Manipur, Could Reveal India’s Ice Age Mystery

A 3700 year old bamboo fossil has been found in Manipur, India. Scientists believe that it could reveal India’s Ice Age secrets. The bamboo is found in Manipur’s Imphal Valley, which may revolutionize botanical history in Asia and uncover mysteries from the Ice Age. The fossilized bamboo stem, which was discovered in the silty deposits of the Chirang River, provides evidence of an ancient anti herbivore defense mechanism, the now extinct thorns.

The discovery marks the oldest fossil ever discovered in Asia of a spiny bamboo and it also offers revolutionary proof that bamboo persisted throughout the Ice Age in the area. By comparing contemporary species with their habitats, scientists investigate the remains of bamboo. Additionally, the discovery emphasizes the significance of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot as a key ecosystem during the Ice Age.

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The fossil’s markings were identified as thorn scars by scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an independent DST agency, paving the way for additional research into its nature and meaning. In the lab, they assigned it to the genus Chimonobambusa based on its morphology, which included nodes, buds and thorn scars.

This is the earliest fossil proof that the thorns on bamboo plants, which serve as a defense against herbivores, existed in Asia throughout the Ice Age. Additionally, they contrasted it with live, thorny bamboos like Bambusa bambos and Chimonobambusa callosa in an attempt to understand its ecological function and defensive characteristics.

Bamboo was able to thrive in this area’s warm, humid environment even when it disappeared elsewhere. The study by H Bhatia, P Kumari, NH Singh, and G Srivastava adds a fresh perspective to our knowledge of both bamboo evolution and the history of the regional environment, according to the PIB.