Alpine meadows, also known as bugyals, are a valuable part of the Himalayan ecosystem. These meadows start appearing at the height of 3000 meters above sea level, where the treeline…
Found among the lush forests of Kerala and Tamil Nadu with a minor distribution in southern Karnataka and Goa, the Petinomys fuscocapillus, or the Travancore flying squirrel, is among the…
It was a bright afternoon after two days of heavy rain in Kerala and Professor P. Manimohan’s two Ph.D. students K. P. Deepna Latha and K. N. Anil Raj were…
A new species of small burrowing frog has been discovered from the Chota Nagpur plateau in Jharkhand. Scientists have named it ‘Magadha Burrowing Frog,’ (Sphaerotheca magadha) after the ancient kingdom of…
It was September 7, barely a month after the floods of 2018 had wrecked large parts of Kerala. Though life was far from normal in Thrissur's coastal Kodungalloor, 48-year-old Jaison…
A new study has, for the first time, thrown light on when and from where black pepper (Piper nigrum) had come to India. The species arrived into India from Southeast…
For about a year now, P. O. Nameer and Kiran Thomas have been walking the slopes of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala looking for a special kind of squirrel. Called…
Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata), a commonly seen plant in Kerala, is locally known as “Communist Pacha (green)”, as it spread all over the state within a short span of time just like Communism…
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.…
Most households in South Asia would have at some point given shelter to the common house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus. This pale colourless reptile inhabiting the corners of our ceilings, has…
