biostudies-literatureUnknown28(9)Agnihotri PThe Eocene Epoch represented a pinnacle in Indian paleobiodiversity, explained by the ESAT (energy-stability-area-time) theory, which links climatic stability and geological time in fostering immense biodiversity. We provide a reconstruction of a middle Eocene tropical ecosystem from an amber biota recovered from the Harudi Formation (∼41.6 ± 0.5 to ∼40.8 ± 0.5 Ma), Umarsar Lignite Mine (ULM), western India. It reveals a highly diverse ecosystem (>800 arthropods of various taxonomic ranks along with 78 genera and 118 species of palynomorphs) thriving in warm and humid conditions (mean temperature ∼25°C; rainfall ∼2,450 mm/year), analogous to modern tropical climates. The findings show that favorable climate, ecological complexity, and India's northward drift facilitated tropical lineage diiScience113430https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12496201biostudies-literatureEocene amber fossils reveal how complex trophic interactions shaped tropical rainforest biodiversity.PMC12496201Singh VPSingh HGrimaldi DDutta SMishra SAgnihotri PThakkar MGPriya TSubramanian KAfalseEocene amber fossils reveal how complex trophic interactions shaped tropical rainforest biodiversity.The Eocene Epoch represented a pinnacle in Indian paleobiodiversity, explained by the ESAT (energy-stability-area-time) theory, which links climatic stability and geological time in fostering immense biodiversity. We provide a reconstruction of a middle Eocene tropical ecosystem from an amber biota recovered from the Harudi Formation (∼41.6 ± 0.5 to ∼40.8 ± 0.5 Ma), Umarsar Lignite Mine (ULM), western India. It reveals a highly diverse ecosystem (>800 arthropods of various taxonomic ranks along with 78 genera and 118 species of palynomorphs) thriving in warm and humid conditions (mean temperature ∼25°C; rainfall ∼2,450 mm/year), analogous to modern tropical climates. The findings show that favorable climate, ecological complexity, and India's northward drift facilitated tropical lineage di2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Sep2026-06-04T06:54:45.409Z2026-05-06T03:12:27.433ZS-EPMC124962014105451110.1016/j.isci.2025.113430