C R Naik, is a local forest official at the Karaavali area of Karnataka. Sometime back, during one of his routine monitoring of biodiversity near his coastal village, the forester came across a sound that distinctly sounded familiar. It was the sound of a Kingfisher calling. What was peculiar though that the sound was not […]
New Damselfly Species Discovered In India
In the shola forests of Kerala, up in the mountains of Annamalai hills, scientists have discovered a new species. It is a damselfly and owing to it’s love for the mountain habitats it has been named – Protosticta monticola, monticola meaning ‘mountain dweller’. The discovery was made by Dr KG Emiliyamma and Dr Jafer Palot […]
Spider Discovered In Western Ghats Gets Name Inspired From Harry Potter Books
What do you call a spider that looks eerily similar to the sorting hat of the Harry Potter books? You officially name it Eriovixia gryffindori ! A new spider species discovered by Mumbai researchers in the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka has been named after the fictitious character Godric Gryffindor in the J K Rowling […]
New Lizard Species Discovered In Mumbai
A new ground dwelling lizard was discovered in Mumbai by researchers from Villanova University , USA National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, and Bombay Natural History Society. The new species has been named Cyrtodactylus Varadgirii in honor of Bangalore based scientist Varad Giri. The lizard was found in Goregaon’s Aarey Colony and Thane’s Badlapur forested […]
Human Activities Threatening India’s Three Prominent World Heritage Sites
The latest survey conducted by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has revealed that three of the most prominent World heritage sites of India have been subjected to great threats due to industrial activities such as mining. These sites are Western Ghats, Sunderbans National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary. Besides these, 114 out of 229 World Heritage […]
5 Spectacular Crabs Discovered In Western Ghats
The Western Ghats of India are a true explorer’s haven because of the diversity of life forms that exist here. This has been proven yet again with the discovery of 5 new species of brightly coloured freshwater crabs from this biodiversity hotspot. These crabs prefer to live on land and need freshwater pools for breeding. […]
IUCN Concerned about World Heritage Sites of India
A recent report by the Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has brought forth the question whether the places declared as World Heritage Sites are really well conserved. The assessment made by the IUCN showed that the sites such as the Western Ghats, Kaziranga National Park, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and Sunderbans in India are under […]
From Eggs to Baby Frogs! Rare Indian Frog bypasses Tadpole Stage
The bubble-nest frog or white-spotted bush frog is a Critically Endangered (CR) species found in the Western Ghats of India that was discovered again after 125 years. Now, researchers have also revealed a peculiar behavioral pattern of the frog. They observed that this white frog enters into a hollow living bamboo, lays its eggs there […]
Frogs in Western Ghats Affected by Logging even after 40 Years
Frogs living in Western Ghats forests that were logged more than 40 years ago are still recovering from the impacts of deforestation, shows a recent study. Comparatively, unlogged forests had twice the number of frogs. The study also found some species of amphibians to have completely disappeared from logged areas. Rough skinned Bush frog by […]
Tiny Catfish from the Western Ghats Baffles Scientists with its Uniqueness
Nature is full of suprises and we get to re-establish this fact everyday when new discoveries bringforth ever new challenges into the world that we human falsely believe we know a lot about. The latest puzzle by mother nature thrown to us humans is a tiny Catfish Kryptoglanis shajii, hardly the size of a little […]
Five New Insect Species Discovered in Western Ghats
NEW DISCOVERY: In addition to being the birth place of spices such as pepper and cardamom, the Western Ghats in India is also known as a proliferate biodiversity hotspot. While the forests in this tropical belt along the west coast of the country are home to many unique fauna and flora, new discoveries add to […]