Other name | BSIP |
---|---|
Former names | Institute of Palaeobotany, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany |
Type | Registered Society |
Established | 1946 |
Chairman | Prof.Nitin R. Karmalkar [1] |
Director | Prof. Mahesh G. Thakkar [2] |
Location | , , India 26°52′03″N80°56′20″E / 26.86750°N 80.93889°E |
Campus | 53 University Road, Lucknow |
Website | BSIP |
Bust of Birbal Sahni at Birla Industrial & Technological Museum |
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (formerly, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany; BSIP) [3] is an autonomous institute constituted under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The institute is located at Lucknow, [4] Uttar Pradesh, India and is a seat of higher learning in the field of plant fossil research.
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences was established in the year 1946, under the name, Institute of Palaeobotany, a progression of the Palaeobotanical society formed by a group of botanists led by the renowned Indian botanist, Professor Birbal Sahni, [5] known as the father of Dendrology, [6] [7] who became its first director. [8] The initial office of the institute was at the Department of Botany, Lucknow University. The then government of the United Provinces gifted a bungalow sitting on 3.50 acres of land to the institute in 1948, which until today remains its campus. [9]
Savitri Sahni took over the reins of the institute on her husband's death in 1949 and the Institute moved into a new purpose-built building in 1953. The institute, by that time, had already started to be known and, in 1951, UNESCO included it in their Technical Assistance Program. On 9 July 1969, the research activities were alienated from the society and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany was formed, in honor of the scientist, [7] as an independent autonomous research organization funded by the Government of India. [10]
BSIP works in close coordination with various organizations such as Geological Survey of India, Physical Research Laboratory, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Oil India Limited, Coal India Limited, Coal Mine Planning and Design Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Laboratory, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, Indian Institutes of Technology, Institute Francais de Pondicherry, Botanical Survey of India, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Laboratories under Department of Science and Technology, Archaeological Survey of India, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, different State and University Departments of Archaeology and Geology Departments of several Universities. The institute has signed specific MOUs with Oil and natural Gas Corporation, Geological Survey of India (Coal Wing), Delta Studies Institute, Vishakhapattanam (for delta/basin modeling in relation to paramecia and hydrocarbon exploration) and National Institute of Oceanography, Goa (for Quaternary palaeoclimate of marine and coastal areas).
The main objectives of the institute are set as: [11]
The institute has identified the thrust areas of activities on:
BSIP nurses a museum, [13] originally housing the fossil collections of Professor Sahni, but now holds later collections made by the scientists over the years. The collection includes holotype specimens, slides and figured specimens.
The museum, with its foundation stone, laid by Birbal Sahni, composed of fossils of various geological ages embedded in a marble-cement block, displays the specimens based on their general and geological relevance. The museum also maintains a Geological Time Clock.
The Institute library is an automated one with database services such as GEOREF, Web of Science, JCCC@INSTIRC and access to CSIR-DST consortium. It operates on a fully integrated multi-user LIBSYS 4 software package with addition of Web OPAC. The journals are made available online to the users.
The Herbarium functions with four different sections:
The fossil specimens such as leaves, cuticle, pollen, spores, fruits, seed and wood, numbering 51,472, are preserved according to their variation, local names, uses, distribution and ecology and include contributions from J. F. Duthie, R. R. Stewart, K. N. Kaul, Birbal Sahni, O. A. Hoeg and A. L. Takhtajan.
BSIP is well equipped with an advanced computer network with LAN, radio link facility from the Software Park of India, Lucknow and National Knowledge Network connection. The web site of the institute is also maintained by the Computer Centre.
The Palaeobotanist is a widely acknowledged journal in Palaeobotany, published by the institute. BSIP published the first volume in 1952 as an annual publication. However, the frequency has been increased over the time and, since 1962, is released three times a year. [14]
Paleobotany, also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeography), and the evolutionary history of plants, with a bearing upon the evolution of life in general. A synonym is paleophytology. It is a component of paleontology and paleobiology. The prefix palaeo- or paleo- means "ancient, old", and is derived from the Greek adjective παλαιός, palaios. Paleobotany includes the study of terrestrial plant fossils, as well as the study of prehistoric marine photoautotrophs, such as photosynthetic algae, seaweeds or kelp. A closely related field is palynology, which is the study of fossilized and extant spores and pollen.
Glossopteris is the largest and best-known genus of the extinct Permian order of seed plants known as Glossopteridales. The genus Glossopteris refers only to leaves, within a framework of form genera used in paleobotany. Species of Glossopteris were the dominant trees of the middle to high-latitude lowland vegetation across the supercontinent Gondwana during the Permian Period. Glossopteris fossils were critical in recognizing former connections between the various fragments of Gondwana: South America, Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica.
Birbal Sahni FRS was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. He also took an interest in geology and archaeology. He founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany at Lucknow in 1946. His major contributions were in the study of the fossil plants of India and in plant evolution. He was also involved in the establishment of Indian science education and served as the President of the National Academy of Sciences, India and as an Honorary President of the International Botanical Congress, Stockholm.
Droseridites is a genus of extinct plants of possible droseracean or nepenthacean affinity. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen. Species assigned to this genus originate from numerous regions of the world, including Europe, India, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Kerguelen Islands.
Droserapollis is a genus of extinct plants in the family Droseraceae. It is a form taxon known only from fossil pollen.
William Brian Keith Holmes is an Australian palaeobotanist, best known for his work "Fructifications of Glossopteris" (1974), published in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Despite having received no formal training in palaeontology, he has become an important contributor in the field and has described some 80 new species, mostly from 2 quarries at Nymboida in northern New South Wales, and situated on the Triassic.
The Rajmahal Hills are located in the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand, India. They were located on the northern margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, and its hills are today inhabited by the Sauria Paharia people whilst its valleys are dominated by the Santhal people. The hills span over an area of 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi).
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is a department within the Ministry of Science and Technology in India. It was established in May 1971 to promote new areas of science and technology and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting Scientific and Technological activities in the country. It gives funds to various approved scientific projects in India. It also supports various researchers in India to attend conferences abroad and to go for experimental works.
Pachypteris (Brongn.) T.M.Harris. is a Mesozoic pteridosperm leaf fossil, it has either been aligned with the peltasperms or the corystosperms.
Chester Arthur Arnold was an American paleobotanist, born June 25, 1901, in Leeton, Missouri, and died on 19 November 1977.
Pathakhera is a town in the municipal council of Sarni in the Betul District, Madhya Pradesh, India. The town is also known as Coal Nagari and also locally as NCDC, an acronym for National Coal Development Corporation.
Zophotermes is an extinct genus of termite in the Isoptera family Rhinotermitidae known from two Eocene fossils found in India. The genus contains a single described species, Zophotermes ashoki placed in the subfamily Prorhinotermitinae.
Ruchi Ram Sahni was an Indian scientist and educationist active during the pre-partition era in Punjab. A pioneer meteorologist and physicist, he was the father of renowned paleobotanist Birbal Sahni.
Shyamala "Shya" Chitaley was an Indian American Paleobotanist who had a nearly 60-year career of teaching and research in both the United States and India. She was the founder and first curator of the paleobotany department at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, winner of the 2010 Botanical Society of America Award for Contributions to Paleobotany, and author of approximately 150 publications.
Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan was an Indian plant pathologist, academic and the director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany of the University of Madras. He was the founder of the School of Physiological Plant Pathology at Madras University and was a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the highest Indian award in the science category. He was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and Indian Botanical Society and an elected member of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1974, for his contributions to science.
Vishnu-Mittre or Vishnu Mittre was an Indian paleobotanist who worked at the Birbal Sahni Institute and wrote numerous influential papers and popular books on earth history, particularly with reference to the Indian region. He worked along with archaeologists in pioneering studies of agricultural crops in early human settlements on the Indian Subcontinent.
Savitri Sahni, born Savitri Suri, was president of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences from 1949 to 1969.
Rajendra Nath Lakhanpal was an Indian paleobotanist. He was a specialist on palaeo-ecology and the identification of plants from pollen microfossils.
Raghavendra P. Tiwari is the Vice Chancellor of Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. He has also served as the Vice-Chancellor in Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar M.P.
Shripad Narayan Agashe is an Indian botanist and palynologist, best known for his academic books Paleobotany: Plants of the Past, Their Evolution, Paleoenvironment, and Application in Exploration of Fossil Fuels (1997), Palynology and Its Applications (2006), and Pollen and Spores: Applications with Special Emphasis on Aerobiology and Allergy (2019). He serves as professor of botany for Bangalore University.
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