Following the sound trail: pulling India’s cicadas out of oblivion
On a wet rainy day in 2014, Kiran Marathe was busy looking for loud, clamorous cicadas hiding in the bushes, in Verlem district in South Goa. Marathe, a young 20-something…
New species News
A tiny new fish discovered in a secluded stream in the Western Ghats
The Kabini river originates in the Western Ghats of northern Kerala. Cutting through the Ghats, it flows eastwards to join the Cauvery river in the neighbouring state of Karnataka. During…
Killer skin fungus mapped in all frog hotspots in India
Something wicked this way comes for amphibians in India? The chytrid fungus, which has spelt doom for amphibian populations across the globe, has been detected in frogs across all major…
Scientists describe new species of shieldtail snakes found in Anaikatti hills
About an hour’s drive away from Coimbatore, in the Anaikatti hills, scientists from the herpetology division of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) have found a new…
International Day for Biological Diversity: A thumbnail-sized fern has Indian scientists divided over its identity
A Gujarat-based scientist duo from the Bapalal Vaidya Botanical Research Centre of the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, have found a very small fern— just about the size of a…
A new subspecies of bamboo bat discovered in the Andamans
Researchers have identified an entirely new subspecies of bamboo bat - characterised by distinctive flattened skulls - from the Andaman archipelago, that differs from other members of its species in…
Two new ants described from the Andamans using 3D imaging
Adding to the over 13,000 species of ants that are known so far across the world, a team of researchers has discovered and documented two new endemic ant species Tetramorium…
Fan-throated lizards fanned out when the monsoons took hold
Fan-throated lizards are small, colourful reptiles found in the dry shrublands and coastal areas of South Asia. Males have a loose patch of skin drooping from their throats – it…
A new species of blind cave-dwelling fish in Meghalaya
A new species of eyeless fish has been discovered from deep within an extensive cave system in Meghalaya. The small, slender freshwater loach has been described from Krem Khung, a…
The first official record of animal diversity of the Great Nicobar
The Great Nicobar Island is located further south than Kanyakumari and is closer to Myanmar and Sumatra than to the Indian mainland. Over millennia of evolution and isolation, the island…
