Welcome to BSIP

Professor Birbal Sahni, FRS, and a great visionary, established the Institute as Institute of Palaeobotany in the year 1946 to establish palaeobotany as a science in itself. He envisaged that palaeobotany as discipline has immense prospects in solving issues of origin and evolution of plant life, other geological issues including exploration of fossil fuels. Initially, the institute laid emphasis on studying the plant fossils across geological time span and their related aspects. However, institute has widened its research dimensions and significantly expanded its mandate in the year 2015, and was renamed as (Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, accommodating a more holistic approach with reinforced strategies to pursue palaeosciences under one roof and cater enhancing needs of the country amidst global change. The newly widened mandate aims to look at

  • Understanding origin and evolution of life through time
  • Understanding climate change in recent and deep geological times
  • Understanding past civilization and human history
  • Application of palaeosciences to exploration programmes of oil and coal industry

BSIP is striving to attain excellence in R&D through a dedicated scientific team together with integrated innovative ideas in basic and applied research. The main research work involves the understanding of biotic evolution through geological time. Emphasis has been made to derive knowledge about the diversification of Precambrian life; diversity, distribution, origin, evolution of Gondwana and Cenozoic flora in a phylogenetic framework, intra- and inter-basinal correlation during Gondwanan and Cenozoic time-slices and work on organic petrology to evaluate the quality of Gondwana coals and Cenozoic lignite for their economic utilization. BSIP has been continuously exploring and diversifying to include sequence biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and geochronology to help in the correlation of surface and subsurface sediments, geochemistry, vertebrate palaeontology, palaeogenomics and exploring areas favourable for fossil fuel deposits.Understanding the link(s) between climate change and vegetation during the Quaternary Period is also an important part of research at the BSIP. Origin and antiquity of ancient civilizations, human history and subsequent interventions are also being done using ancient DNA analysis. It is pertinent to mention that BSIP is working not only pan-India but also working in the polarregions (Arctic/Antarctic) as well.

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Founder
Prof. Birbal Sahni, FRS
Founder BSIP
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Director
Prof. Mahesh G. Thakkar
Director
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Research Highlights

Pooja Tiwari*, Purnima Srivastava, Biswajeet Thakur*. 2024. Palynofacies and sediment texture response from sub-tropical mixed sub-urban to urban floodplains of the Gomati River, Lucknow, India. International Journal of Sediment Research doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsrc.2024.01.003     View PDF

Aggarwal, N. and Goswami, S. (26 Feb 2024): Tectonic inferences from palynology of Permian sequences of the Godavari Coalfield, southern India, Palynology DOI: 10.1080/01916122.2024.2323730.     View PDF

Joshi, H. and Aggarwal, N., 2024. Palynology of the Upper Gondwana deposits from the Chintalapudi Sub-basin, South India: Insights into age and palaeodepositional settings. Cretaceous Research, 154, 105734 doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105734     View PDF

Mandal S, Singh A, Banerjee S, Uddandam P, and Negi RS. Linking the impact of seismicity on palaeogeographic evolution and sedimentary architecture: A case study from Middle Jurassic succession of Spiti Himalaya. Geological Magazine doi.org/10.1017/S0016756823000778     View PDF

Chaddha, A.S.* , Sharma, A.* , Singh, N.K., Shamsad, A., Banerjee, M., 2024, Biotic-abiotic mingle in rock varnish formation: A new perspective, Chemical Geology, 648: 121961 doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.121961     View PDF

Tomar N, Roy I, Shri S, Chinthala BD, Shekhar M, Srivastava A, Ranhotra PS, Singh CP, and Bhattacharyya, A. 2024. Modern pollen dispersal in relation to present vegetation distribution and land use in the Baspa valley, Kinnaur, western Himalayas. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 196(2).194 doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12340-8     View PDF

Govind, N., Sahoo, M., Pillai, S.S.K., Sahu, S.K . 2024 IPSD: e-repository of Permian seeds from Indian Lower Gondwana. Acta Palaeobotanica 2023; 63(2): 151-161 https://doi.org/10.35535/acpa-2023-0010     View PDF

Sarkar, S., Singh, Y.P., Verma, P. 2024. Paleoecological and paleobiogeographic implications of a seagrass-indicating foralgal skeletal assemblage: Retracing the Burdigalian Quilon Limestone (Kerala Basin, SW India). Marine Micropaleontology 187, 102330. doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2023.102330     View PDF

Mohanty RB*, Mishra AK, Mishra K, Yadav AK, Quamar MF, Barua IC, Kar R*. 2024. Early onset of aridity in the past millennium: insights from vegetation dynamics and climate change in the alpine, cold-desert region of Trans Himalaya, India. PLOS ONE 19(1): e0295785 doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295785     View PDF

Shekhar M, Sharma A, Pandey P, Sharma A, & Dimri AP. (2024). Assessing the past and future dynamics of the Asian summer monsoon: Insights from palaeomonsoon synthesis and CMIP6 data. Global Environmental Change Advances, 2, 100004 doi.org/10.1016/j.gecadv.2023.100004     View PDF

Prasad N, Quamar MF. 2023. Modern pollen-vegetation relationship from the Mahasamund District (Chhattisgarh), central India: implications in palaeoecological reconstruction. Grana doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2023.2280579     View PDF

Farooqui S, Quamar MF, Farooqui A, Agnihotri R & Khan S 2023. Palyno–morphological and isotopic characterization of monofloral and multifloral honeys from Lucknow, India. Journal of Palaeosciences 72(2): 91–118. doi.org/10.54991/jop.2023.1858     View PDF

Pillai, S.S.K.,Manoj, M.C., Mathew, R.P., Murthy, S., Sharma, A., Sahoo, M., Saxena, A., Pradhan, S., and Kumar, S. (2023). Lower Permian Gondwana sequence of Rajhara (Daltonganj Coalfield), Damodar Basin, India: Floristic and geochemical records and their implications on marine ingressions and depositional environment. Environmental Geochemistry and Health doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01517-8     View PDF

Basumatary, S. K., van Asperen, E. N., McDonald, H. G., Tripathi, Swati, & Gogoi, R. (2023). Pollen and non-pollen palynomorph depositional patterns in Kaziranga National Park, India: Implications for palaeoecology and palaeoherbivory analysis. The Holocene doi.org/10.1177/09596836231211851     View PDF

Murthy, S., Saxena, A., Khnagar, R., Pillai, S.S.K., Uhl, D., Singh, V.P., Gupta, S., & Borkar, N., (2023). Palynofloristics and wildfire evidence from the Permian deposits of the Satpura Gondwana Basin, India: A multiproxy approach. Historical Biology, 1-22. doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2272690     View PDF

Gupta, S., Saxena, A., Shabbar, H., Murthy, S., Singh, K. J., & Bali, R. (2023). First record of late Devonian-early Carboniferous palynoflora from the Lipak Formation, Spiti Basin, Tethyan Himalaya, India, and their biostratigraphic implications. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 68(1), 22-41. DOI: 10.1177/05529360231182233     View PDF

Quamar MF, Banerji US, Thakur B, Kar R. 2024. Hydroclimatic changes in the Core Monsoon Zone of India since the Last Glacial Maximum: an overview of the palynological data and correlation with the marine and continental records. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 633, 111844 doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111844     View PDF

Tripathi, S., & Pandey, A. (2023). Palynological response deduced through spatially distinct surface samples to reconstruct palaeoecology and palaeoclimate of the Barak Valley, Assam (Indo-Burma region), northeast India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India (December issue) doi.org/10.1177/05529360231205316.     View PDF

Singh AK, Shah SK, Pandey U, Deeksha, Thomte L, Rahman TW, Mehrotra N, Singh DS, Kotlia BS. 2023. Vegetation Index (NDVI) reconstruction from western Himalaya through dendrochronological analysis of Cedrus deodara. Theoretical and Applied Climatology doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04718-4     View PDF

A.H. Ansari, S.K. Pandey*, Shamim Ahmad, Mukund Sharma, Pawan Govil, Amritpal Singh Chaddha, Anupam Sharma (2023d). High primary productivity in an Ediacaran shallow marine basin influenced by strong seasonal to perennial upwelling. Geological Magazine doi.org/10.1017/S0016756823000614     View PDF

Tiwari P, Srivastava P, Thakur B. 2023. Diatom response in different climatic zones from west coast of India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India. 1–15 doi.org/10.1177/05529360231182261     View PDF

Choudhuri, A., El Albani, A., Mandal, S., Sarkar, S., 2023. Biotic vs abiotic origin of unusual features from Mesoproterozoic of Vindhyan Supergroup, India. Annales de Paléontologie, 109, 1-12 doi.org/10.1016/j.annpal.2023.102629     View PDF

Negi, R.S., Singh, B.P., Bhargava, O.M. (2023): Integrated sedimentological and ichnological studies of the Cambrian of the Tidong Valley, Kinnaur, its correlation with Zanskar-Spiti regions, and reconstruction of the northern margin of Indian plate.– journal of N.jb. Geol. Palaont. Abh., 309(1):1-18. doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/2023/1141     View PDF

Babushkina EA, Zhirnova DF, Belokopytova LV, Mehrotra N, Dergunov DR, Shah SK, Veganov EA. 2023. Conifer quantitative wood anatomy as proxy data: application in agricultural yield reconstruction. Trees doi.org/10.1007/s00468-023-02437-x     View PDF

Chaddha, A.S., Sharma, A., Singh, N.K., Patel, D.K., Satyanaryana, G.N.V. 2023. Rock Varnish: Nature Shield, ACS Earth and Space Chemistry doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00071     View PDF

Choudhuri, A., Mandal, S., Bumby, A., Pillai, S.S.K., 2023. Glacial sedimentation in Northern Gondwana: insights from the Talchir Formation, Manendragarh, India. Geological Magazine https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756823000353.     View PDF

Pandey U, Nakatsuka T, Mehrotra N, Zhen L, Kato Y, Sano M, Shah SK. 2023. Tree-rings stable isotope (δ18O and δ2H) based 368 years long term precipitation reconstruction of South Eastern Kashmir Himalaya. Science of the Total Environment 892: 164640 doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164640     View PDF

Khan, H., Govil, P., Panchang, R., Agrawal, S., Kumar, P., Kumar, B. and Verma, D. 2023. Surface and thermocline ocean circulation intensity changes in the western Arabian Sea during ~172 kyr. Quaternary Science Reviews, 311, 108133. doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108133     View PDF

Ansari AH, Singh VK, Kumar P, Sharma M, Sharma A, Patnaik S, Gundiga GP, Rahi IC, Ansari MA, Ramanathan A. Hydrogeochemistry, Geothermometry, and Sourcing of High Dissolved Boron, Tungsten, and Chlorine Concentrations in the Trans-Himalayan Hotsprings of Ladakh, India. Hydrology, 10(6):118. doi.org/10.3390/hydrology10060118     View PDF

Mehrotra N, Basavaiah N, Shah SK. 2023. Revisit the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age in Proxy Records from Zemu Glacier Sediments, Eastern Himalaya: Vegetation and Climate Reconstruction. Quaternary 6(2): 32 doi.org/10.3390/quat6020032     View PDF

Bhattacharyya A, Dhyani R, Joshi R, Shekhar M, Kuniyal JC, Ranhotra PS, Singh SP. 2023. Is survival of Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara) threatened? An evaluation based on predicted scenarios of its growth trend under future climate change. Science of The Total Environment. 882: 163630 dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163630     View PDF

Shukla SK*, Crosta X, Ikehara M. 2023. Synergic role of frontal migration and silicic acid concentration in driving diatom productivity in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean over the past 350 ka. Marine Micropaleontology, 181, 102245 doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2023.102245     View PDF

Thomte L, Shah SK, Mehrotra N, Saikia A, Bhagabati AK. 2023. Dendrochronology in the tropics using tree-rings of Pinus kesiya. Dendrochronologia 78: 126070 doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2023.126070     View PDF

Ansari AH. 2023. Detection of organic matter on Mars, results from various Mars missions, challenges, and future strategy: A review. Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences. 10:1075052 doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2023.1075052     View PDF

Pandey A, Tripathi S, Basumatary SK. 2022. Non-Pollen Palynomorphs from the Late-Holocene Sediments of Majuli Island, Assam (Indo-Burma Region): Implications to Palaeoenvironmental Studies. In: Phartiyal, B., Mohan, R., Chakraborty, S., Dutta, V., Gupta, A.K. (eds) Climate Change and Environmental Impacts: Past, Present, and Future Perspective. Society of Earth Scientists Series. Springer, Cham doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13119-6_5     View PDF

Tripathi S, Srivastava J, Garg A, Khan S, Farooqui A, Quamar MF, Thakur B, Ranhotra PS, Basumatary SK, Trivedi A, Pandey S, Anupama K, Prasad S, Reghu N. 2022. Surface pollen quantification and floristic survey at Shaheed Chandra Shekhar Azad (SCSA) Bird Sanctuary, Central Ganga Plain, India: a pilot study for the palaeoecological implications. Journal of Palaeosciences, 71(2), 159–176 doi.org/10.54991/jop.2022.1838     View PDF

Tripathi S, Thakur B, Sharma A, Phartiyal B, Basumatary SK, Ghosh R et al. 2023. Modern biotic and abiotic analogues from the surface soil of Ganga-Ghaghara-Gandak interfluves of the Central Ganga Plain (CGP), India: Implications for the palaeoecological reconstruction. Catena 224:106975 doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.106975     View PDF

Agarwal S, Shukla SK*, Srivastava P, Sundriyal Y. 2023. Peat sequence diatoms from Kedarnath, Central Himalaya, used to reconstruct mid-late Holocene hydroclimatic conditions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 612, 111381 doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111381     View PDF

Joshi Priyanka, Phartiyal Binita* Joshi Mallickarjun, Agrawal Shailesh, Pankaj Baghel and Rajveer Sharma. 2023. Reconstruction of landscape and climate during last 7000 cal yr BP of the largest basin of the Ladakh Range, NW Indian Himalaya. doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2022.106907     View PDF

Shah SK, Berkelhammer M, Li Q, Mehrotra N, Thomte L, Shell R, Pandey U, Gaire NP, Kathayat G, Sinha A. 2023. Regional tree-ring oxygen isotope deduced summer monsoon drought variability for Kumaun-Gharwal Himalaya. Quaternary Science Review 301: 107927. doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107927     View PDF