A ‘mysterious’ new frog species with hidden spots and an insect-like call
It was after a heavy spell of rain during the 2015 monsoon that Sonali Garg walked out to a spot she had been visiting regularly, and unsuccessfully, for more than…
Articles by Sandhya Sekar
Program Manager, Mongabay-India. Sandhya lives in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. She has been a freelance science writer since 2013, writing regularly for Indian and international news portals including the BBC, New Scientist, Science Now and The Scientist. She started as an intern with Mongabay in 2013 and began her current role as Program Manager of Monagabay-India in October 2017.
All creatures great and small: Best of Almost Famous species 2018
The year 2019 is here, and with it there is a general feeling of excitement, which we all feel when something is "new". Before the feeling gets old, let's take…
(Commentary) Workplace well-being within ecology and conservation academic circles in India
It is 226 and counting. That is the number of respondents to a survey about workplace well-being and harassment in environment and conservation academic circles. The survey was circulated during…
A blood-red, snake-like burrowing fish from Meghalaya
A blood-red, snake-like creature with an elongated body and sightless black spots for eyes, was spotted burrowing into the moist soil of a rainforest in Meghalaya. Amphibian biologist Rachunliu G.…
[Photo-feature] Meet the new species of dragon lizards from the Western Ghats
The Western Ghats have revealed two new genera of dragon lizards from the family Agamidae -- Monilesauras and Microauris. Using a combination of extensive field surveys, detailed taxonomic analyses and genetic…
[Commentary] Hot and dry: What plants do when pushed to their very limits
About 10 percent of the world’s land surface experienced drought in 2005. The number is set to skyrocket over the twenty-first century to about 40 percent, as the globe warms…
When drought and extreme heat strike forests at the same time
The frequency of extreme weather events is going up around the world, and droughts and heatwaves are no exception. When the globe warms by 3-4 degrees - a possibility during…
Novel ‘begging’ behaviour observed in bonnet macaques at Bandipur
The visitor information centre at Bandipur Tiger Reserve is often a stage for a lot of monkey-human drama, with two troupes of bonnet macaques jostling with thronging tourists. Adult monkeys…
[Video] Tree crickets turn leaves into megaphones to attract mates
When a male tree cricket decides to serenade, he sometimes searches for a large leaf. He makes his way deliberately to the underside of the leaf, cuts out a pear-shaped…
The Eastern Ghats yield two new species of large geckos
It was a cold December day in Kanger Valley National Park in Chhattisgarh, India, and Zeeshan Mirza was not happy. He was on a faunal survey for the state government,…
