FIRST REPORT OF THE FERTILE PLANT GENUSUMKOMASIAFROM LATE PERMIAN BEDS IN INDIA AND ITS BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE

The genus Umkomasia Thomas, a female fructification of Dicroidium, is reported from Late Permian beds exposed in the Behra Rivulet near the village of Karaonda in the Tatapani-Ramkola Coalfield, Chhattisgarh, India. This is the first record of this genus from the Late Permian, and from Indian Gondwana. Two species have been recognized: Umkomasia polycarpa Holmes and U. uniramia Axsmith, Taylor, Taylor and Cuneo. The find suggests that the genus Dicroidium appeared in the Late Permian before reaching its acme in the Middle-Upper Triassic.