Ranil P. NanayakkaraBiodiversity Education And Research (BEAR) and University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka · Zoology
Ranil P. Nanayakkara
PhD Candidate
About
64
Publications
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Introduction
I am a Conservation Biologist working in Sri Lanka, my research interests are biogeography, ecology & taxonomy.
The taxa that I am interested in are Terrestrial & Marine Mammals, and Mygalomorph spiders.
Publications
Publications (64)
The Arabian Sea Whale Network (ASWN) is an informal collaboration of researchers and conservation
bodies interested in the conservation of whale populations throughout the Northern Indian Ocean
Sri Lanka is considered one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Although Sri Lanka has a rich diversity of bats, Kerivoula malpasi is the only bat that is endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is represented by only five records. The other known species of Kerivoula in Sri Lanka, Kerivoula picta, is more widely distributed. This study maps the current a...
The painted bat, Kerivoula picta (Pallas, 1767) is considered one of the most aesthetically appealing bats in Sri Lanka with bright orange fur and black wings. However, very little information is available with regard to the ecology of this species in both local and global contexts. Of its roosting habits, Phillips (1980) reports that in Sri Lanka...
To date in Sri Lankan waters, there has been limited research on Killer Whales. These animals have been recorded almost all around the island, except in the northernmost waters and in Palk Bay. The highest observed concentrations are from the northeastern, south/southwestern and northwestern coastal waters of Sri Lanka. These have come from both op...
A new species of arboreal Theraphosidae spider from the genus Poecilotheria is described. This represents the second new Poecilotheria species described from the intermediate zone in Sri Lanka. Images are presented to distinguish the new species from Sri Lankan congeners
Thirty species of marine mammals have been recorded from Sri Lanka. Amongst them the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides is the only representative of the family Phocoenidae. The only previous record from Sri Lanka was a specimen caught on the Wadge Bank by a Smithsonian Carangid Survey team in 1970. Wadge Bank is west of the isl...
Creating awareness about the dugong and the threats it faces in Sri Lanka. And what we can do to mitigation them to conserve the species.
The greatest threat to cetaceans in Sri Lankan waters was considered to be the direct take of small- and medium-sized cetaceans using harpoons and/or as bycatch until recently. However, ship strikes have probably been occurring for years but have not been recognized for what they were. For the current study, only animals with visible and prominent...
A study to estimate the Sloth Bear Population in Wilpattu National Park. Once said to habour the largest population of Sloth Bears in a protected area in Sri Lanka. Due the terrorist war that prevailed in the island for the last 30 years, research in the north and northwest part of the country was hindered. After the war ending in 2009, the area wa...
The dugong (Dugong dugon, Muller 1776) is a mammal considered Vulnerable globally and Endangered locally. In Sri Lankan dugongs are found in calm shallow waters of the Northwest, North and east coast viz., from Kalpitiya to Jaffna with sporadic reports from Trincomalee and Batticaloa. It is a one of the least known mammals occurring in the Sri Lank...
The southern coast of Sri Lanka is one the busiest shipping lane in the world, with large ships traveling up and down close to the feeding ground of many cetaceans and specially the non migrating population of blue whales in Sri Lanka. Here we report the mortality of cetacean due to ship strike and the mitigation methods.
Dugong dugon is one of the most endangered mammals in Sri Lanka. Once found in large herds off the northwestern
and northern coastal water of Sri Lanka, today the population has decimated due to illegal fishing
practises and habitat destruction. Three fishermen with two Dugong carcasses were apprehended by the Sri
Lanka navy. The post mortem reveal...
The arboreal spiders in the genus Poecilotheria is represented by 16 species and restricted to India and Sri Lanka. Each country has eight endemic species. During a survey on Mygalomorph spiders in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, the Critically Endangered species of Theraphosidae, Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica was discovered for the first time...
The reproductive behaviour of Mygalomorph spiders in the wild is scarce, due to their nocturnal and cryptic habits. The current study describes and interprets the courtship behaviour exhibited by Smith's tiger spider Poecilotheria smithi in the wild. Behavioural observations were conducted in the area of Ranamure (GPS coordinates are 7°24'0" N and...
The Hog Deer Hyelaphus porcinus (Zimmermann, 1780) is an endangered ungulate, which has a wide distribution in the Asian region. However, in Sri Lanka it is restricted to the southwestern coastal belt. A one year study conducted from March 2009 to March 2010 to know the status and distribution of this ruminant showed its expanded range of occurrenc...
Until the last few years, the only records of Indian Ocean humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea) in Sri Lanka were a small number of older stranding records and one unconfirmed sighting, but repeated verified sightings have been made since the early 2000s in the Puttalam Lagoon area of northwestern Sri Lanka. To determine dolphin status and distributio...
In Sri Lanka thirty species of cetaceans have been recorded to date. The canyon at Trincomalee bay is a multiple submarine canyon complex and anecdotal reports suggest that the Trincomalee bay and its adjacent waters are utilised by a number of cetacean species. Though Cetaceans are known to be abundant in the waters off Trincomalee there is a dear...
Dive times of a single Blue Whale observed in Trincomalee Bay, Sri Lanka, in relation to the abiotic
parameters of the bay’s waters and its ability to support large densities of krill from May 2011 to July 2011.
Thirty five total dives were observed and its mean dive time was 9.6 ± 0.31 min. The observed whale’s
feeding dives lasted longer than wha...
The earth came into existence about 5,000 million years ago. The vast expanse of time that elapsed since then can be divided into five major periods, the Pre-Cambrian, the Palaeozoic, the Mesozoic, the Tertiary and the Quarternary. Life is said to have originated in the primordial salt concentrated oceans in the Pre-Cambrian period when the combina...
In a contest to find the animal which makes people cringe most, the bat must surely rate very high. Certainly among the first three alongside snakes and spiders. Although the vast majority of people have never seen a bat close up -the usual view is of shadowy forms flitting about in the twilight as they catch their evening meal, most people can ide...
Was it a case of predator following the prey due to recent seismic activity ask conservationists and biologists By Ranil Nanayakkara The unique sighting of a school of more than 100 to 150 sperm whales that marked their presence in the waters off the north western coast of Sri Lanka with the dawn of the Sinhala & Tamil New Year raised many question...
Rare Black Leopards have been recorded from Sri Lanka from time to time.
There are so many animals in the animal kingdom and the largest family is that of insects consisting of more than 80% of the animals in the animal kingdom…. So far, man has described and named just over a million species of insect, and there are certainly three or four times as many still unnamed. And amongst these millions there is a little dapper...
The book gives an insight in to spiders, while speaking about the families that are found in Sri Lanka and the more commonly seen spider in and around houses and home gardens. it also highlight the imoprtance of spiders as bio control agents and as bio indicators.
In the current study we attempt to identify eight baleen whale carcasses that were washed ashore to the Western, Northwestern and Southern coasts of Sri Lanka in 2010, using molecular phylogenetic techniques. Initial physical examination suggested that these carcasses belonged to blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus). Analysis of sequences of the mit...
Due to two unique specializations - echolocation and flight, bats have become one of the most successful groups of extant mammals in the world. Pilikuttuwa rajamaha viharaya, an ancient meditation monastery complex is a one of best places for bats which gives protection in Sri Lanka. In the present study, we evaluate the species diversity and popul...
Poecilotheria smithi is a Critically Endangered Theraposid known only from the type locality Haragama in the Kandy District, Sri Lanka. It was thought to be distribution specific to Haragama. During a survey on the genus Poecilotheria, which was initiated in 2011 by the authors, P. smithi was recorded, the first confirmed observation of P. smithi o...
Petinomys fuscocapillus (Kelaart, 1852) is one of two nocturnal Squirrels found in Sri Lanka, and the distribution of the species is only known through a few possible occurrences and museum specimens which were collected nearly hundred years ago. The species was considered to be extinct in India until 1989, when it was rediscovered in a coconut gro...
The small flying squirrel (Petinomys fuscocapillus) observed after 78 years in Sri Lanka Petinomys fuscocapillus (Kelaart, 1852) is one of two nocturnal Squirrels found in Sri Lanka (Phillips, 1980), and the distribution of the species is only known through a few possible occurrences and museum specimens which were collected nearly hundred years ag...
Saccolaimus saccolaimus Temminck, 1838, was first collected by the Museum of Natural History of Sri Lanka in
the year 1919 and the first published record of this bat was in 1935 by W.W.A. Philips, though specimens were
collected at various times for the collection of the Natural History Museum of Sri Lanka. However, after 1936
there were no reco...
This article (In the Red list 2012, Sri Lanka,MOE) discussed about the current situation of taxonomy and conservation as well as future perspectives of the spider studies in Sri Lanka and we published a systematic checklist of Spiders of Sri Lanka according to available literature and assessed the conservation status of some commonly found spider s...
Questions
Question (1)
I have been working on the stomach content of sperm whales stranded around Sri Lanka, and have collected a substantial amount of squid beaks from the stomachs. I have been looking for a copy of Malcolm Clarke's book ' Identifying squid beaks'', can anyone help me get a copy of the said, or even if anyone could help me in identifying the beaks?? Thank you in advance.
Projects
Projects (6)
Study on the diversity and ecology of different faunal groups in the country for their conservation monitoring.
