Two new species of jumping spiders have been discovered from the Valley of Flowers National Park in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, raising the number in the catalogued diversity of this family of arthropods to 250. Specimens of both these new species measure between 2mm to 5mm and were collected from the alpine meadows of the […]
Lost Species Of Shark Seen Again In India
Field biologists Mahesh Babu and Ganesh Pallela of EGREE Foundation were out surveying the Godavari River estuaries in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh when they spotted an unusual marine animal. It was a shark, not longer than 3 feet, and had distinct black tip on the dorsal, pectoral and tail fins. Could it be the rare Pondicherry […]
Is This the Rarely Photographed Leaf Curling Spider?
Quick Notes Wildlife enthusiast Rajiv Basu clicks photo of a spider rarely seen in Agumbe forests and believes it is the leaf curling spider The last time the spider was officially clicked was in 1928 by W R Sheriff A research paper published in June 2018 says the spider that Sheriff clicked could have been […]
New Frog Species Discovered in Goa
A new terrestrial frog has been discovered in Goa, seen in the high elevation areas near paddy fields and ponds. The frog is brown coloured and has been given the scientific name Fejervarya goemchi in honor of the state where it was identified. The team that made the discovery was led by KP Dinesh, from […]
Snow Leopard Photographed for the First Time in Arunachal Pradesh
Scientists have obtained the first evidence of the elusive snow leopard in Arunachal Pradesh. Camera traps have captured images of the big cat at Thembang village’s Community Conserved Area, a community-owned reserve, in West Kameng district. The presence of the species outside a protected areas highlights the importance of community support for conservation as well as landscape-scale […]
New Aquatic Species of Snake Discovered in the Western Ghats
Quick Notes A new species of aquatic snake has been discovered in the Western Ghats. It is endemic to India. The snake prefers to live in fresh water streams. Juveniles and adults have different coloration. The snake was earlier mistaken to be Olive forest snake but was correctly identified after DNA testing to be a […]
4 New Species Of Burrowing Frogs Discovered In India
For researcher Sonali Garg, the discovery of not 1 but four new species of frogs by her comes as a complete surprise. It is because for her field study in the Western Ghats, she was on the lookout for only a single species of burrowing frog named the Rufescent Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya rufescens) that builds its […]
Blind, Albino Crab Discovered In Meghalaya, India
It is almost blind, white in colour and is the first cave dwelling crab discovered from India. In Meghalaya, a north eastern Indian state, scientists from the zoological survey of India have found a new crab species in a 7.3 km long cave, the 8th longest cave in the country. The discovery was made by […]
Caracal Spotted In Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary For The First Time
The caracal is not a commonly known wild cat in India because of its very rare appearance. But the cat does exist here and it was recently spotted for the first time in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan. While they are known to live in the state, the earlier sightings in Rajasthan have only been […]
Critically Endangered Bengal Florican Seen In Dudhwa
The Bengal Florican is a critically endangered bird found in India, and any sighting of the species is a rare event and a cause to rejoice. Recently one member of the species was sighted in the grasslands of Dudhwa National Park for the first time this season. According to a report by the Bombay Natural […]
World’s Oldest Plant Fossil Discovered In India
A recent discovery of a 1.6 billion year old plant fossil from India has led to a reassessment by scientists of timelines in the evolution of life on Earth. The plant fossils appear like red algae and may signify the earliest-known plants when earth was very much a barren land. They were excavated from phosphate-rich […]