Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of thorniness in bamboo in Manipur, proving that the plant’s defensive traits existed in Asia during the Ice Age. The discovery was made during a field survey in Imphal West district along the Chirang River by researchers from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The team found a bamboo stem with unusual markings in silt-rich deposits, which detailed laboratory analysis identified as thorn scars. Morphological studies of the fossil, including nodes, buds, and thorn scars, allowed researchers to assign it to the genus Chimonobambusa. Comparisons with living thorny bamboos like Bambusa bambos and Chimonobambusa callosa helped reconstruct its defensive and ecological traits.
“This is the first fossil evidence showing that bamboo used thorns as a defense against herbivores in Asia during the Ice Age,” said the release. The preservation is significant because bamboo had disappeared from many regions, including Europe, during the colder, drier climates of that era. Northeast India’s warm and humid environment acted as a refuge, allowing bamboo to persist despite global climatic stress.
The fossil, part of late Pleistocene sediments, captures delicate features such as thorn scars, which rarely fossilize, highlighting the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot’s importance as an Ice Age refugium.
Geologist N. Herojit Singh of the Geological Survey of India noted that the fossil was discovered in 2021–22, with some samples measuring nearly one foot. The finding not only provides insight into bamboo evolution but also contributes to palaeoclimatic and biogeographic research, shedding light on how Northeast Asia safeguarded biodiversity during periods of environmental stress.
This discovery, published in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, adds a new dimension to understanding plant adaptation and regional climate history.
