new species
December 8, 2004
New Species discovered in Maharashtra
By Mrityunjay Bose
A new species of amphibian was discovered recently in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra by a team of reseachers in Mumbai and has been named as Indotyphlus maharashtraensis -- in honour of the state of Maharashtra, an official of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) said. This discovery comes just in a year's time of anotherdiscovery of amphibian, which has been named Gegeneophus danieliafter noted naturalist Dr J C Daniel, who is an Honorary Secretaryof the over 100-year-old BNHS. BNHS's Public Relations Officer Issac Kehimkar said herethat a team of researchers from the BNHS, while doing a survey ofherpetofauna in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra came across thisspecies of caecilian, a leg-less amphibian near Koyna in Sataradistrict of Western Maharashtra. "This turned out to be a new species, hitherto unknown toscience," he said and added that this was a collaborative effort ofVarad Giri of BNHS and Dr Mark Wilkinson and Dr David Gower, who wasvisiting scientists from the London-based Natural History Museum andare experts on caecilians. The research team also comprised of Sameer Kehimkar, VithobaHegde, Vinod Patil and Ishan Agarwal. Mr Kehimkar said that this species grows up to 20 cm inlength and look like earthworm but differs from it in having smalleyes, jaw and teeth. Unlike other caecilians, which are found in thesoil and among leaf litter, this species is generally found underrocks on the open plateau in the forest. he added. "This is different from the only described species in thisgenus, I. battersbyi in having fewer primary annuli and many moreprimary annuli bearing secondary annular grooves and in the presenceof a modified subterminal region that has a depressed preanal stripextending anteriorly from around the vent," he said. Amphibians, the animals completing the life cycle in water andon land are first to react to the change in the environmentalconditions, informs Mr Kehimkar, who is known for his extensiveresearch on butterflies. Recently much attention has been paid to the decliningamphibian populations worldwide in relation to global warming. Dataon the conservation status of these leg less amphibians is verypoor. In a recent review of caecilian conservation biology it wasnoticed that not much is known about the biology of these amphibians. The Western Ghats of India is a global biodiversity hotspot,and also a centre of caecilian diversity. Despite more than 100years of research in the region, the number of recognised caecilianspecies in the Western Ghats is still increasing rapidly. MostWestern Ghats’ caecilians were previously described from thesouthern part of the peninsula. However, recent efforts inMaharashtra has uncovered several new species.
New Species discovered in Maharashtra
By Mrityunjay Bose
A new species of amphibian was discovered recently in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra by a team of reseachers in Mumbai and has been named as Indotyphlus maharashtraensis -- in honour of the state of Maharashtra, an official of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) said. This discovery comes just in a year's time of anotherdiscovery of amphibian, which has been named Gegeneophus danieliafter noted naturalist Dr J C Daniel, who is an Honorary Secretaryof the over 100-year-old BNHS. BNHS's Public Relations Officer Issac Kehimkar said herethat a team of researchers from the BNHS, while doing a survey ofherpetofauna in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra came across thisspecies of caecilian, a leg-less amphibian near Koyna in Sataradistrict of Western Maharashtra. "This turned out to be a new species, hitherto unknown toscience," he said and added that this was a collaborative effort ofVarad Giri of BNHS and Dr Mark Wilkinson and Dr David Gower, who wasvisiting scientists from the London-based Natural History Museum andare experts on caecilians. The research team also comprised of Sameer Kehimkar, VithobaHegde, Vinod Patil and Ishan Agarwal. Mr Kehimkar said that this species grows up to 20 cm inlength and look like earthworm but differs from it in having smalleyes, jaw and teeth. Unlike other caecilians, which are found in thesoil and among leaf litter, this species is generally found underrocks on the open plateau in the forest. he added. "This is different from the only described species in thisgenus, I. battersbyi in having fewer primary annuli and many moreprimary annuli bearing secondary annular grooves and in the presenceof a modified subterminal region that has a depressed preanal stripextending anteriorly from around the vent," he said. Amphibians, the animals completing the life cycle in water andon land are first to react to the change in the environmentalconditions, informs Mr Kehimkar, who is known for his extensiveresearch on butterflies. Recently much attention has been paid to the decliningamphibian populations worldwide in relation to global warming. Dataon the conservation status of these leg less amphibians is verypoor. In a recent review of caecilian conservation biology it wasnoticed that not much is known about the biology of these amphibians. The Western Ghats of India is a global biodiversity hotspot,and also a centre of caecilian diversity. Despite more than 100years of research in the region, the number of recognised caecilianspecies in the Western Ghats is still increasing rapidly. MostWestern Ghats’ caecilians were previously described from thesouthern part of the peninsula. However, recent efforts inMaharashtra has uncovered several new species.
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