Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences: An overview of recent advances and developments

Abstract

The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP )was established in the year 1946 with the overall objective of deciphering the evolutionary history of plant kingdom through the study of fossil plants. Currently the basic mandate of BSIP is to carry out multidisciplinary research in palaeosciences pertaining to evolution of biotas, climates and ecosystems. Contributions from BSIP have a led to a significant refinement of the Gondwana biostratigraphy and the Gondwana biodiversity. BSIP has an ambitious program on polar studies, and its participation in India's Antarctic and Arctic expeditions has provided important results on palaeobiological and palaeoclimatic aspects. A comprehensive review of the megaflora, palynology and geological setting of the Talcher Basin of Orissa has also been published recently. Tracing the early evolutionary history of angiosperms is an important area of research at BSIP. Luminescence dating is one of the recently established laboratories at BSIP. A recently proposed mechanism seeks to understand the role of band-tail states of feldspars in infra-red luminescence production.