Almost Famous Species News

Our Almost Famous Species series features lesser known species from India. It is created in the hope that familiarity will help generate concern and action for under-appreciated species. Through the series, we introduce to you India's gamut of invertebrates, birds and marine flora and fauna, which perhaps don't get as much attention as our more popular big cats and elephants. Stretching from the Nicobar Islands very close to the equator to the Western Himalaya in the north, India covers about 30 degrees of latitude, with a long coastline on its peninsula. The wide geographic extent, topographic features with multiple long mountain ranges and fertile river basins, and the monsoon winds give rise to a plethora of habitats that have been home to a variety of creatures. Yet, any mention of Indian wildlife always conjures up images of charismatic large mammals. We acknowledge that these are interesting; but we want to draw back the curtain on other species that are equally fascinating.

Saving the world’s largest mountain goat in Jammu and Kashmir

Architectural secrets of termite mounds

[Commentary] Tilapia: How an invasive fish came to dominate our ecology, food and psyche

The elongated tortoise battles habitat loss and fire in its leaf litter home

New Aloe species discovered from a desert in northwestern India

Bodh fish, the ‘shark of Bastar,’ threatened by a proposed hydropower project

A brand new family of bony fishes from south India

How dams affect the gene flow of golden mahseer in the Himalayas

The slender loris struggles to find canopy in Bengaluru

Conserving high elevation shola-grasslands crucial for the endemic Nilgiri pipit

Bat call library for the western Himalayas takes wing

Splintered habitats may imperil egg-carrying butterflies

A new species of blind, underground ant from Goa

Hunted and traded for body parts, the Bengal slow loris needs a conservation strategy

Protecting rivers and involving communities to conserve Himalayas’ shy otters

Discoveries and rediscoveries: Stoneflowers in northeast India

Watching my friendly neighbours, flying foxes

The Indus dolphin is struggling in India, thriving in Pakistan

Golden langurs cling to splintered forests and fringe villages in Assam

Overhead electricity wires prove death traps for Sarus cranes

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