IGMIS - a Computer-Aided Information System on Indian Gondwana Megaspores

The Indian Gondwana Megaspore Information System (IGMIS) is an information system developed for storage and retrieval of Indian Gondwana megaspore (female reproductive unit of early land plants) records in a selective manner. At present, it provides information on 45 genera and 159 species recorded from Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sediments of India. The use of the database is to store and organize information on Indian Gondwana megaspores accrued over the past 70 years. This information system is a significant step towards ensuring safety and accessibility of the data on the dispersed Indian fossil megaspores, besides providing accessibility for handling the information in future, including new and emerging types of data format. Each record has a unique code number for further reference. Addition, deletion, modification and search facility are provided by this software. Additionally, search can be performed in terms of different morphotaxonomical characteristics (single or combination of characters). The program is useful for a quick and classified megaspore search on datagrid, especially of the published information on fossil megaspores and their horizontal and vertical distribution in India. The program and associated database are capable of computer-aided identification of Indian Gondwana megaspores and help avoid assigning multiple/different genera or species to the same category. Here we report our attempt to digitize and provide an updated knowledge on various aspects of Indian Gondwana megaspores, including their morphotaxonomical characters, distribution and photodocumentation in an information system.