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 […]
A Year Back Into Nature
“The extinction of wildlife would likely be caused not just by the greed of poachers, but equally by the rapacity of developers,” writes Prerna Singh Bindra in her book The Vanishing: India’s Wildlife Crisis. The year 2017 has given ample proof of both – the remorseless operations of the merchants of wildlife who will sell […]
To Breed or Not to Breed? Migratory Butterflies of India Make Smart Choices, Finds a New Study
Quick Notes Butterflies of peninsular India that undergo a bidirectional migration every year choose a reproductive pause to conserve energy. Migrating and non-migrating female butterflies have distinct morphological and physiological differences. A non-reproductive state helps migratory butterflies to use energy for the exhaustive 300 km migration journey from Western to Eastern Ghats. Post migration the […]
Going Wild Over Mushrooms
Come monsoons, and the thick undercover of Western Ghats forests are transformed into a magical kingdom of mushrooms – ending their mysterious life spent underground and popping out for a brief moment as if just for the purpose of enhancing the life nurturing quality of the season. Unlike the supermarket versions of the packed button […]
The Largest and the Smallest Animals Have the Highest Risk of Extinction
Our planet may be undergoing the sixth mass extinction, believe many scientists placing three fourth of animals on the planet at risk. In an attempt to learn more on which species could be the most threatened a new study has found out that the largest and the smallest species on Earth are facing the highest […]
Great Indian Bustard Numbers Rising in Rajasthan
Quick Notes The number of Great Indian Bustards in Rajasthan has gone up from 11 to 31. The bird is one of the rarest in the world and is marked Critically Endangered by IUCN. It is currently found in only 6 Indian states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The number […]
Humpback Whales Learn Songs Like Humans
Quick Notes Humpback whales can learn songs in segments – verse by verse – like humans Songs are not passed on from generation to generation but learnt from peers as a social learning Songs may be remixed over time, with old and new songs with similar structure pattern mixed together Humpback whales learn songs in […]
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 […]
Tiger Numbers Rise Significantly In Assam’s Orang National Park
India’s 49th National Park – Orang Tiger Reserve may not be big in size, but it has proven to be a big habitat for wild cats with a total of 28 big cats found here as per the latest census. The count was revealed during phase IV of the all-India tiger estimation programme of the […]
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 […]